{"id":40408,"date":"2021-10-13T12:13:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-13T10:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magikindia.com\/?p=40408\/"},"modified":"2024-05-27T10:37:36","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T08:37:36","slug":"dussehra-bastar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magikindia.com\/en\/dussehra-bastar\/","title":{"rendered":"Dussehra Bastar, a hindu-ethnic festival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dussehra is a festival celebrated mainly in North India; It takes place after the nine days of the Navaratri festival and marks the victory of the God Rama over the king-demon Ravana or the triumph of the Goddess Durga over Mahisasura. However, the Dussehra Festival of the Bastar region in the state of Chhattisgarh<\/a> is totally unique: it is dedicated to Devi Danteshwari, the native goddess of the region, and draws its roots and its originality from the tribal culture.<\/strong>
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Dussehra Bastar has another particularity, the festival lasts 75 days against 1 day normally<\/strong>. It begins at Amavasya, the dark moon of the month of Shravan, and ends on the thirteenth day of the brilliant moon of Ashwin’s month. This corresponds roughly to the period from July to September in our Gregorian calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Danteshwari <\/strong>Goddess<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Goddess Danteshwari<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Danteshwari is an avatar of goddess Durga and one of the most venerated Shakti Peeth<\/strong><\/a>. Local tribes have integrated this deity along with their local deities called ‘Anga Deo’<\/strong> (see below). Danteshwari is highly respected by the tribes: according to a local legend, she saved the king of Bastar from several attackers by protecting him in a forest. Since that time the tribes have continued to pay tribute to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Origins of Dussehra<\/strong> in Bastar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The current Maharaja of Bastar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Legend has it that the Bastar Dussehra tradition dates back to the Maharaja Kakatiya Purushottam Deo<\/strong> (descendant of the great Chalukya dynasty<\/strong><\/a>); It is said that he walked one year in prosternation to reach Jagannath temple<\/strong> in Puri<\/strong><\/a> to honor Jagannath (Lord Krishna)<\/a>.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jagannath was pleased by the king’s penance and, as a reward, he offered him a 12-wheeled chariot for the return journey and he also gave him the name of ‘Rath Pati’ (divine chariot driver). On the way back, that chariot was broken up into two, an eight and a four-wheeler chariot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The great chariot of Dussehra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From then on, this tradition have continued; it is a festival that is now 500 years old<\/strong>. The two current chariots processing in the streets of Jagdalpur are supposed to be replicas of those two chariots given by Krishna to the king Kakatiya Purushottam Deo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally a Hindu tradition, this festival then incorporated and assimilated the customs of local tribes. It was a way somehow for the king to unite all tribes and traditions of Bastar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anga Deo,<\/strong> the tribal deities of Bastar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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During the Dussehra Festival, all the tribes of the Bastar region come to Jagdalpur<\/strong><\/a> accompanied by their local deities who are represented by a kind of decorated wooden palanquins called ‘Anga Deo’.<\/strong> These divinities are the primitive forms of religious idols, close to animist practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Anga Deo, tribal deity of Bastar<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During Bheetar Raini,<\/strong> the day when the 8-wheeled chariot goes on processionn Jagdalpur, the Angas – sorts of tribal sorcerers – carry these deities on their shoulders and, bewitched by the frenetic sound of percussions and moharis (sort of clarinets), they dance and go into a trance (with the great help of mahua or silpi, the local beers) ;). These trances are meant to cast out evils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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During the festival the tribes gather at Jagdalpur Palace with their deities<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

[ Watch! Anga Deo trance dance]<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n