Bija Pandu is a festival celebrated by the Koya tribe of
Orissa. It is a tribal version of 'Chaitra Parva'. The worshipped deity is ‘Gudimata’, the Mother Earth.
During the festival women keep on singing and dancing in the day time while the men go out hunting and fishing in groups and come home before the dark falls. In the evening, men wear huge headgears of 'Bisson'-horns and play long cylindrical drums. Women dress up in brass-caps and hold sticks fitted with tinkling bells. Both men and women dance together singing songs of love. Dance is followed by feast and drink.
