Society of Koraput has the tribal culture. Koraput is a part of the tribal belt in southern Odisha. Jagannath temple of Koraput is one of the main attractions in Koraput. The culture and the society show the royal rule in bugone era with some of the ancient rituals and customs among the people of Koraput, who are mainly following Vaishnavism cult.
Hat Poda of Koraput
Most of the area of Koraput was under thick forest cover until a few years ago. Many adivasi communities live in this district. Largely due to deforestation, industrialization and urbanization these communities have almost come to modernity and are adopting new ways of life. However, on any Sunday one can see the adivasis selling their products (vegetables and fruits of organic origin) in Sunday markets popularly known as Hat Poda.
The "hat poda" or the `haat` plays an important role in maintaining Adivasi identity.
Dongar Festival
In the month of November (2nd-3rd week), a famous festival of tribal, organised by the district administration Dongar Festival or Parab is being organised every year to showcase the life of adivasis. In reality, one could see the Adivasis being paraded as `museum specimens` for the sake of the voyeuristic tourist. Many foreign tourists also visit this place to witness this festival. The adivasi languages, culture and traditional knowledge are closely connected with their ecosystem.
Religion of Koraput
Though it is one of the tribal belts in Odisha, the people of Koraput has the Vaishnavism faith. Koraput is mostly famous for its Jagannath Temple which is also known as Sabara Srikhetra. Srikhetra is normally referred to as Puri Jagannath, but the unique identity of the Koraput temple is because of the fact that no section of the society is barred entry.
Thousands of persons flock to the temple every day for darshan. The trust body of Jagannath temple of Koraput has built huge accommodation centres for pilgrims and is an important force behind the growing number of tourist arrivals. Jagannath temple of Koraput also runs COATS (Council of Analytical Tribal Studies), a university-like educational institute is a successful attempt to restore and educate tribal way of life, customs, tradition, medicine, language, social structure and history.
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