Faith, folk music, and the earthy rhythms of Oraon tradition filled Raipur on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, as the Uraon Adivasi Vikas Sangh hosted its Karam Puja Parv Mahotsav — and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai was there to witness it.

Posting four images from the celebration, CM Sai wrote in Hindi: 'Raipur mein Uraon Adivasi Vikas Sangh dwara aayojit Karam Puja Parv Mahotsav mein aastha, lok-sanskriti aur paramparik ullas ka sundar sangam dekhne ko mila' — 'A beautiful confluence of faith, folk culture, and traditional joy was on display at the Karam Puja festival organised by the Uraon Adivasi Vikas Sangh in Raipur.'

What Karam Puja means to the Oraon community

Karam Puja is a harvest festival observed by the Oraon tribe, one of Chhattisgarh's most prominent Adivasi communities. At its heart is the worship of the Karam tree, believed to bestow prosperity and well-being. Families bring branches of the tree indoors, offer prayers, and celebrate through the night with song and dance rooted in generations of oral tradition. It is as much a social ritual as a spiritual one — a moment when community bonds are renewed.

The Uraon Adivasi Vikas Sangh, the tribal welfare body that organised this edition, has long worked to keep these observances alive in an increasingly urbanised capital. Hosting the festival in Raipur rather than a village setting signals a deliberate effort to carry Oraon heritage into the state's public mainstream.

CM Sai's consistent engagement with tribal culture

For CM Sai — himself from a tribal background — participation in such events carries particular weight. Since taking office, he has made visible attendance at Adivasi festivals a recurring feature of his public calendar, framing them as expressions of Chhattisgarh's composite cultural identity rather than niche community affairs.

In his post, Sai went further than a routine greeting. He argued that cultural heritage does more than preserve the past — it 'strengthens mutual harmony and unity' and plays a 'vital role in passing this glorious legacy to future generations.' The framing positions tribal festivals not as folklore relics but as living instruments of social cohesion.

Chhattisgarh's tribal population accounts for roughly 30 per cent of the state's people, spread across dozens of distinct communities. Successive governments have encouraged Adivasi festival participation; the current BJP administration has continued — and in some respects amplified — that pattern alongside welfare outreach programmes targeting Scheduled Tribes.

If Karam Puja is a reminder of where Chhattisgarh's roots lie, events like this one in Raipur are increasingly the arena where those roots are tended — publicly, visibly, and with the Chief Minister watching.