Bastar Dussehra festival started, Patjatra rituals completed
Bastar. Like every year in Bastar, this year also Dussehra started with the ceremony of Pat Jatra on Hareli Amavas. As a first ritual, according to tradition, the rituals of Patjatra were completed with the worship materials sent from the palace. The first wood for chariot construction is called Thurlu Khotla. The first wood of the chariot to be prepared for Dussehra is brought from village Bilauri in front of Danteshwari temple, where worship rituals are performed by artisans and villagers in the presence of Manjhi, Chalaki, Membarin and other members.
Like every year in Bastar, this year also Dussehra started with the ceremony of Pat Jatra on Hareli Amavas. As a first ritual, according to tradition, the ritual of Patjatra was completed with the worship materials sent from the palace.
In Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, it has started with the Pat Jatra ritual on Hareli festival. In front of Danteshwari temple, Thurlu Khotla, who reached from village Billauri on Monday, was worshiped according to law. Bastar Dussehra, which is celebrated for the longest duration in the world, will not be celebrated this time for 75 days, but will be completed in 107 days due to two months of excess. The special thing is that neither Lord Rama nor Ravana is killed in this Dussehra. Rather this festival is dedicated to Mother Goddess. Rath Yatra takes place during Bastar Dussehra. Mother Goddess rides on these chariots. The first wood for chariot construction is called Thurlu Khotla and Teeka Pata in the local dialect. On Hareli Amavasya, wood brought from Machkot forest (Thurlu khotla) is worshipped. Which is called Pat Jatra ritual. After this, the villagers of Biringpal village complete the ceremony of Derigadai by installing a branch of Sarai tree in Sirasar Bhawan. With this, the process of transporting wood from the forests to the city begins for the construction of the chariot.
The first wooden chariot to be prepared for Bastar Dussehra has reached Jagdalpur from village Bilauri in front of Danteshwari temple. The ritual of Paat Jatra will be completed by the artisans and villagers who make the chariot, with Manjhi cleverness, Mebrin along with the people’s representatives, along with the Puja Vidhan and sacrifice of the goat. Bastar Dussehra is being celebrated with great enthusiasm and pomp in Jagdalpur city since 1408 AD. Lakhs of tribals from entire Bastar participate in this. The ritual of this festival starts 75 days before the Pat Jatra. A two-storey chariot is pulled in this. In which the umbrella of Maa Danteshwari rides.
Every year Maiji’s doli comes from Dantewada to participate in Dussehra. Around two hundred villagers of Jharumargaon and Bedaumargaon are responsible for the construction of the chariot and make it with traditional tools in 10 days. The nails and iron strips used in this are also traditionally prepared in the local blacksmith Sirasar Bhavan. Two different chariots run in Bastar Dussehra. The chariot with four wheels is called Phool Rath and the chariot with eight wheels is called Vijay Rath. Folk litterateur Rudranarayan Panigrahi states that the flower chariot is drawn every year for six days from II to Saptami and Vijay Rath on Vijayadashami and Ekadashi as raini inside and for two days outside as raini.
Bastar Dussehra was started during the reign of King Purushottam Dev. He was given a 16 wheeled chariot with the title of Rathapati at Jagannath Puri. The 16 wheeled chariot was first pulled in the year 1410 at Badedongar. Maharaja Purushottam Dev was a devotee of Lord Jagannath. That’s why he separated four wheels from the 16-wheeled chariot and made the Goncha chariot. Which is operated in Goncha festival. In this way the Dussehra chariot with 12 wheels was pulled for a total of 200 years. Native and foreign devotees and tourists arrive every year to visit Maa Danteshwari, the worship of the tribals of Bastar. According to the historical fact of Bastar Dussehra, in the year 1408, a huge chariot with 16 wheels was presented to Purushottam Dev, the Kakatiya ruler of Bastar. In this way Dussehra is being celebrated in Bastar for 615 years. King Purushottam Dev had distributed the chariot of 16 wheels that he had received as a boon from Jagannath Puri. He first dedicated four wheels of the chariot to Lord Jagannath and by offering the remaining 12 wheels to Danteshwari Mai, started the tradition of celebrating Bastar Dussehra, a Bastar Gancha festival, since then this tradition has been going on till now. Is.
