ShodhPatra: International Journal of Science and Humanities

A Study on Folk Festivals Among the Gond Tribes of Nuapada, Odisha

Gonds, one of the historically significant and numerous tribes among the 62 tribes in Odisha, have a wide distribution over every district of Odisha. The Gonds make up a major tribal community in Nuapada. The Gonds of Nuapada speak Kosali or Sambarpuri instead of Gondi. The Gond community in Nuapada organises and performs a variety of folk festivals. Each festival has its own socio-religious importance for the sustainability of people’s unity, integrity, and rational sense of community and is held on a certain day of the lunar fortnight. It assumes that the festivities promoted peaceful cooperation among the people of Gond tribe and served a structural and functional purpose in society. There are scanty and inadequate materials regarding folk festivals. Therefore, to maintain traditions, protect cultural identity and sustainability of Gond tribes’ folk festivals are given particular attention in the current study, with special reference to the Nuapada area. The current study has adopted descriptive research approaches to acquire responses from participants through interviews, personal observation, and schedule, while secondary data have been obtained by using a variety of platforms. The present study analysed and document what their folk festivals are and how they are observed. Keywords: Folk festival, Gond, Nuapada, Odisha