Some say that the festival originated from Michiae-matsuri Festival (or Dokyosai (道饗祭)), and as Dokyo(道饗) and Dokyo(道鏡, deity) were pronounced the same way, Dokyo was associated with the above-described sexual event, thus being regarded as an enshrined deity.
一説に、この祭は道饗祭に起こり、道饗と道鏡とは音が相通じるから、上のような性的な行事に付会され、道鏡を祭神と考えるようになったのであろうという。