Community-Specific Festivals and Traditional Knowledge in Odisha: A Study of Cultural Documentation and Preservation
Author
Diptimayee Sahu
Abstract
Odisha’s cultural diversity is reflected not only in widely recognised celebrations but also in community-specific festivals that connect ritual practices, agricultural knowledge, spirituality, social relationships, and collective identity. These festivals can provide settings for the transmission of traditional knowledge across generations, yet their significance cannot be fully understood through descriptions of ceremonies alone. This article examines selected festivals in Odisha, focusing on Burlang Yatra, Nuakhai, and Bhai Jiuntia. It adopts a qualitative, descriptive-analytical approach based on secondary sources, including academic publications on festivals, folklore, oral tradition, and cultural documentation. The analysis identifies connections between festivals, environmental knowledge, agrarian practices, kinship, spirituality, and cultural transmission. It also considers the limitations of documenting festivals without sufficient attention to local context and community participation. Based on the reviewed literature, the article proposes a community-centred framework that incorporates identification, ritual practices, traditional knowledge, social relationships, intergenerational transmission, and ethical access. The study argues that responsible documentation should recognise festivals as living cultural practices rather than isolated events. As a secondary-source study, it offers an analytical framework for future research and does not claim to provide comprehensive empirical documentation of all community festivals in Odisha.
Keywords
Community Festivals; Traditional Knowledge; Odisha; Folklore; Cultural Documentation; Intergenerational Transmission
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References
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