According to one legend, the ritual was started when an ogre named Ura or Onra, which had been killed by Kibitsuhiko no mikoto and become a deity to give divine messages to people through sounds of steam from an iron pot.
同神事は、かつて吉備津彦命に討たれた温羅が人々に託宣を下す神となり、釜の音で吉凶が告げられるようになったことが始まりという説がある。