RAYAGADA: THE Car Festival in Rayagada district was celebrated with religious fervour on Wednesday.
The Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) Dongria Kondhs from Niyamgiri hills and Langia Sauras of Putasing area under Gunupur sub-division participated in the festival.
Wearing colourful costumes and armed with traditional weapons, they performed folk dances at the fete. Rath Yatra was celebrated at 16 places across the district. At Gunupur, two chariots were constructed and each of them housed the idols of the Trinity. While the bigger chariot was pulled by men, the smaller one was pulled by women devotees. Over 20,000 devotees thronged Rayagada town to witness the rituals.
Tribal Development Minister, Lal Bihari Himirika, Collector Guha Punam Tapas Kumar, SP K Siba Subramani, DFO P Sanjeeba Reddy, Sub-Collector Muralidhar Swain and CRPF Commandant Manoj Sharma were present.
Elaborate security arrangements were made to avert any untoward situation.