Amid blaring of ‘Tupki’, Goncha mahaparva of Bastar commenced on Wednesday as devotees pulled the customary chariot carrying lord Jagannath, elder brother Balbhadra and Sister Subhadra and took three rounds of Gol Bazaar before being taken to their aunt's house. People blared ‘tupki’ as a mark of respect (salute) to lord Jagannath and his siblings. Earlier, after performing religious rituals and puja, the trio was put on the well decorated chariot amid chants of Vedic hymns.
During the travel of chariot, priests sitting atop chariot along the lord also distributed Prasad comprising coconut and ‘Gajamoong’. A cultural troupe of folk dancers travelled ahead of chariots whereas presence of members of Aranyak Brahmin families in large number also graced the occasion. Hundreds of cameras clicked the images of beautifully decorated idols of deities as both domestic and foreign visitors were present to watch the mesmerising rituals of Goncha festival.
large crowd was present near Goncha Mandir when rath yatra commenced. While people blew ‘Tupki’ in respect of the deity, they also fired Malkagni seeds from their ‘tupki’ on young girls with a view to tease them as this is the practice which makes Bastar Goncha fest unique for very often this teasing turns in to life partnership between Tribal boys and girls. ‘Tupki’ is a gun like musical instrument made up of hollow bamboo in which small seeds of Malkagni are put and then fired on other people by the blower with pressure of air from his mouth. The Malkagni seeds fired from ‘tupki’ hits the target like bullet and attracts attention of the person.
Notably, Goncha festival is celebrated in Bastar from 14th Century. According to folk lore Maharaja Purushottam Dev was ruling Bastar in 14th Century. Once he saw lord Jagannath in his dream and thereafter he went to Puri in Odisha where he was given the title of ‘Rathpati’ along with 8 wheels of chariot. Since then Goncha festival is celebrated in Bastar with two chariots of 4 wheels each.
To make the festival graceful, Aranyak Brahmin samaj made ornament of 14 kg of silver which was dedicated to the lord Jagannath on the occasion of ‘Netrtosav’. On Wednesday, lord Jagannath and his siblings were decorated with new clothes and ornaments before being taken to chariot on which they were taken to Sirhasar Bhawan (Janakpuri), their aunt's house, where they will stay for the next 9 days.