The world famous Dussehra celebrations in tribal dominated Bastar have begun with ‘Path Jatra’ (worship of wood) and will conclude with farewell to the deities. Preparations are in full swing for different rituals of the 75-day-long festival.
Unlike other parts of the country, the Dussehra festival of Bastar is unique as people do not celebrate the killing of Ravana, instead, they celebrate it as gathering of local deities in the temple of Ma Danteshwari Devi.
The festival started with ritual Deri Gadai (installation of pillars) a few days ago. This will be followed by ‘Kachan Gadi Puja’ which is regarded as a symbolic permission from the deities to commence the festival.
The Parikrama of two-storeyed wooden Rath (chariot) is the major attraction for domestic and foreign tourists visiting Bastar for Dussehra celebrations. Every year a new Rath (chariot) is prepared for the festival. The chariot has either four wheels or eight wheels and it is eight-wheeled this year.
The preparations for the Rath have begun and wood is being stocked at Sirasar Chowk of the city. The chariot is prepared in a traditional style by the families of expert artisans accomplishing the task successfully for many generations.
The chariot is pulled on the last two days of the festival. Apart from preparation of Rath, the cleaning and decoration of temples like Kachan Gadi temple, Mavlimata temple, Giyadera, Nisha Jatra temple etc is also in final stages.