Koraput: Rath yatra was celebrated with much pomp and gaiety here by the tribal communities on Saturday.

Men, women and children had came down from the hilly and inaccessible villages to take part in the festivities.

While tribal groups such as Bonda, Kondh and Paraja communities, dressed in their traditional attires, performed traditional dances as the chariot moved, a man named Dasia Nayak peformed the chhera pahanra (ceremonial cleaning of the chariot), which is conducted by the Puri Gajapati during the rath yatra in Puri.

Officials of the temple management committee said the practise of a tribal doing the chhera pahanra had been adopted since the first rath yatra was celebrated here on July 12, 1972.

"A man from the crowd was invited to perform the ritual during the first rath yatra and it was later known he was a village head from the Sabara community. Since then, the practise of a tribal person performing chhera pahanra continues," said Gadadhar Parida, secretary of the temple management.

Parida said before the festival, special invitations are sent to the villages.

Not only does a tribal conduct the chhera pahanra, but during the nine-day period of the festival, various tribal groups are engaged in different chores of the temple, including cooking at the temple kitchen and cleaning the temple premises.

On the concluding day of the festival, the various village heads are presented with sirapas (head gears) by the temple management committee.

"I have seen rath yatra at various parts of the state but the enthusiasm with which the tribal people take part here is worth experiencing," said Asish Hota, a tourist from Rourkela, who was in Koraput on Saturday.