A delegation of Goncha Mahaparv Organising Committee under the leadership of Tribal and Scheduled Caste Development minister Kedar Kashyap called on chief minister Dr Raman Singh at his residence here and invited him to participate in the Goncha Mahaparv to be organised at Jagadalpur, divisional headquarters of sprawling Bastar region.
The delegation said that Goncha Mahaparv, which was being celebrated in Bastar continuously since more than six hundred years, is a symbol of social harmony and love. The festival, the second long running one after Bastar Dussehra, has been started with the Chandan Yatra on June 23.
In this series Netrotsav pooja will be held on July 9 and Goncha Rathyatra will be celebrated on July 10. The Mahaparv would be concluded on July 18 with the Bahuda Goncha Rathyatra, the delegation informed.
The delegation honoured the CM by presenting him ‘Tupki’. It is a year-old tradition to play Tupki at the Goncha festival. The tribal of Bastar make Tupki from poly bamboo and press on it with the fruits of a special plant which produces a sound that resembling to the sound of firecrackers.
Raman extended hearty congratulations for the Goncha festival. The delegation comprised 360 Ghar Aranyak Brahman Samaj president Sreeram Joshi, Goncha Samiti president Rajneesh Panigrahi, ex-president Arjun Pandey, Omkar Pandey, Vanmali Panigrahi, Rakesh Pandey, Narendra Panigrahi, Atul Sinha, Deepti Pandey and Asha Acharya.