This compilation of fifteen essays seeks to examine some important aspects of tribal and folk tradition in India, with special reference to the tradition of ‘Yatra’ of West Odisha. It analyses the role of co-existence in bringing about cultural changes in rural and tribal areas in the perspective of tribal-caste interaction, tribal-non-tribal interaction and little tradition-great tradition.

Further, it relates the revivalism of tribal and folk tradition to the emerging local socio-economic and political aspirations of the elite and the persistence of the tribal and folk tradition. Finally, it tries to establish the distinctiveness of this ‘Yatra’ tradition through tribe-cast and tribal-non-tribal interactions over the centuries.