Boita Bandana also known as Danga Bhasa, is a traditional Odia festival celebrated annually throughout Odisha. The name could be translated as "to float ritual boats and worshipping with lighted lamp" and comes from the tradition of making decorated boats, which are then floated on a river as a symbolic gesture of their ancestors' voyage. During the ceremony, men, women and children dressed up in traditional costumes place tiny boats made from banana peels, paper or solapitha with lighted lamps inside and Odia women perform the rite of the festival to pay homage to the Sadhabas (anceint Odia mariner merchants) who embarked on the voyage to distant lands for trade, commerce and cultural exchange.