Sulia Jatra is celebrated in the village of Khairguda, situated in Balangir district

Balangir District

Balangir District, also called Bolangir District, is a district situated in the western orissa region of India. The district has an area of 5,165 km², and a population of 1,335,760 . The town of Balangir is the district headquarters...

, western Orissa. It is widely reported that thousands of animals and birds are sacrificed during this festival which takes place on the second Tuesday of the month of Pausha

Pausha

Pausha is a month of the Hindu calendar In the Indian national calendar, Pausha is the tenth month of the year, beginning with the solstice on 22 December and ending on 20 January....

.

Origin

Sulia Jatra is named after the god Sulia of tribal communities. The place is surrounded with nature. The animal sacrifice

Animal sacrifice in Hinduism

Practices of Hindu animal sacrifice are mostly associated with Shaktism, and in currents of folk Hinduism strongly rooted in local tribal traditions. It is not practiced in contemporary Vedantic or Brahminical Hinduism.-Terminology:...

 is a long tradition of the Kandha tribes. They believe that it will bring success and prosperity to the community by offering blood to the Sulia god. It was also reported that eight sub castes

Caste system in India

The Indian caste system is a system of social stratification and social restriction in India in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups called Jātis....

of the Kandha worship Sulia as their presiding deity in this 500-year-old tradition.

External links

• Tradition splashed tribal festival with animal blood
• Sulia Jatra
• Tribals sacrifice hundreds of animals in Orissa