The Annual Karma Festival was organised yesterday by Sampoorna Adivasi Sanskritik Foundation (All Adivasi Cultural Foundation) in Punjabi Bagh Club, New Delhi. The ground was bristling with thousands of Adivasis singing and dancing to the drum beat of the folk singers from Jharkhand. The merry-making crowds consisted of Adivasis mostly in blue collar jobs in NCR. The guests of honour were Amb Amrit Lugun and the Delhi Bureau Chief of Brighter Kashmir, Prof. D.K. Giri and his associates. They were received by more than 50 women brightly and colourfully dressed, jumping, tapping their feet and swinging sideways merrily in typical Adivasi dance form.

But what is Karma Festival? Karma is the Festival where a tree teaches India how to live. In the last week of August, when the paddy fields of Chhotanagpur are green and expectant, Adivasi villages in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and Bihar prepare for Karma.
Also called Karam, it is not a temple festival. It is a field festival. Celebrated on the 11th day of the full moon in the month of Bhadra — Bhadra Ekadashi — by communities like Munda, Ho, Oraon, Santhal, Kharia, Baiga, Karmali, Gond and Kudmi, it is dedicated to Karam Devta — the god of youth, power and fate — who resides in the Karam tree.
The ritual begins not with a priest, but with young unmarried women. For 7 to 9 days before, they bring clean sand from the river to the courtyard, sow seven types of grains — the Jawa — and nurture them. They fast, sing, and guard the seedlings. It is an agriculture school in miniature: life watched growing day by day.
On the main evening, young men go to the forest in a singing procession, bring a branch of the sacred Karam tree, and plant it in the village akhra — the common dancing ground. The pahan, the village priest, worships it with Jawa flowers, rice beer, and vermillion. Around it, the entire village dances to the beat of mandar and dhol till late night. The famous Karam songs are sung — stories of two brothers, Karma and Dharma, of hardship, of loyalty, of repentance.
There is a myth: seven brothers insulted Karam Rani by throwing her branch into the river. Their fields withered, cattle fell sick, poverty came. Only when they searched the forest, brought back the branch and worshipped it with humility did prosperity return.
The next morning, the branch is immersed in a river or pond, and the Jawa seedlings are distributed among villagers. Some farmers take branches of Chirchitti and Sindwar and plant them in their paddy fields as natural insect repellent. Faith and agronomy blend seamlessly.
This is not just harvest worship. It is three festivals in one — as Adivasi elders in Ranchi told me: a prayer for a good harvest, a prayer by sisters for the well-being of their brothers, and a lesson in Karma — doing good deeds. What does Karma say to contemporary India and the world?
Ecology as religion, not resource: Karma does not worship an idol made of clay; it worships a living tree. The tree is not timber, it is kin. At a time when India is debating climate change in air-conditioned conferences, Adivasis have been practising what we now call sustainability for centuries — cut a branch with permission, plant many, use leaves as medicine, never uproot.
Youth at the centre, not at the margins: The festival is led by youth, especially young women. Their fasting, their Jawa, their songs — it places youthfulness, not old power, at the heart of culture. Karam Devta is literally the God of youth. In an ageing, job-scares India, Karma says: trust the young to nurture the future.
Community over consumption: There is no individual gift, no market shopping. Paddy, sand, flowers, dance — all come from the commons and return to the commons. The akhra (the dance platform) is not a stage for performers and spectators; everyone dances. In an era of atomised, screen-driven life, Karma offers a model of togetherness without cost.
4. A feminist ethic: While many mainstream festivals restrict women during menstruation or confine them to the kitchen, Karma puts unmarried girls as custodians of fertility and prosperity. Sisters pray not for husbands alone, but for the well-being of brothers — a bond of equality, not dependency.
India calls itself the Mother of Democracy. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted it in several global platforms. One of the democratic lessons lies not just in Parliament or Legislatures, but in the Adivasi akhra — where decisions are sung, not shouted, and nature is not conquered but consulted.
The world today searches for green growth, for climate justice, for de-growth etc. Karma answers: you do not need to invent a new philosophy. You need to remember an old one. The Schumacherian principle, ‘small is beautiful’ is validated by Adivasis in this festival. The symbol of agriculture here is a branch and that is enough.
The other significant contribution of Adivasis to a sustainable livelihood, which is often ignored, is seen in their lifestyle and livelihood generation. Their lives consist of five ja (a Hindi alphabet) – jal (water), jungle (forest), jameen (earth), jan (humans) and jaanwar (cattle & other animals). The co-existence of these five agencies defines sustainability. That is a message given by Adivasis to India and the world.

Email:-------------------dr.dkgiri@gmail.com