Gumla district is dominated by tribal population .ORAON tribe is in majority .KHARIYA,KHERWAR,KORBA, ASUR,GOND,  CHIK BARAIK , LOHRA, MAHALI and MUNDA are some other tribes . They all are nature-loving and this  appears in all of their religious functions and festivals. They belong to SARNA religion .They worship sal (sakhuwa) trees .According to them GOD has no shape and he lives in nature. They are against IDOLOGY SARNA STHAL  is the place of worship.BAIGA and PAHAN are the chief priest .

NAWA KHANI :

It is celebrated after harvesting of crops . People offer new rice and wine to their so called deity . It is celebrated in rotation from one family to other .In the family where it is celebrated the village men  gather and they enjoy local wine HARIA . They do folk dance in which each person of the village participate without any difference of age, caste & sex.

SARHUL :

SARAHUL is the main festival of the tribal population of Chhotanagpur. The verbal meaning of SARHUL is “WORSHIP OF SAL” The word SARHUL has derived from two words SAR and HUL. ‘SAR’ means SARAI (seed of Sal tree) and HUL means WORSHIP /PRAY. In KURUKH language it is known as KHADDI. Therefore SARHUL is worship of nature in which local people worship DHARTI MATA as SITA, wife of lord RAMA. Since the local inhabitants are great admirer, devotee, and follower of lord RAMA, they have great respect for MOTHER SITA. They also worship SAL TREE (SARNA TREE) that is believed as the place of goddess SARNA, who protects the village and the community from all kinds of natural calamities and disasters.

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