Karam Festival

About Karam Festival:

• Karma Puja, one of the most popular festivals, is related to the harvest and a tribute to the Karam tree. This tree symbolises fertility, prosperity and everything that is auspicious.
• Origin: The origin of the festival can be traced to the beginning of agriculture by tribal communities.
• How is it celebrated?

• About a week before the festival commences, young women bring clear sand from the river, in which they sow seven types of grains. 
• On the day of the festival, a branch of the Karam tree is planted in the courtyard or ‘akhra’.
• Devotees come with jawa (hibiscus) flowers, and the pahan (priest) worships the Karam Raja. Dancing and singing of traditional Karam songs follow. 
• The festival concludes with the immersion of the Karam branch in a river or pond, and the jawa is distributed among the devotees. 
• Towards the end of the Karam festival, branches from sal or bhelua trees are often planted in the fields with the hope that the Karam Raja/ Devta will protect their crops.

• It is traditionally celebrated on the Ekadashi tithi (eleventh day) of the lunar fortnight in the month of Bhado/ Bhadra, which corresponds to August-September in the Gregorian calendar. 
• The festival is popular especially among the Munda, Ho, Oraon, Baiga, Kharia, and Santhal peoples. 
• It is mainly celebrated in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and Odisha.