Chhattisgarh
Festivals, Fairs and Special Traditions
Festivals, Fairs and Special Traditions — Quick Revision
One-page CGPSC quick revision for Festivals, Fairs and Special Traditions — every date, name and fact in tables for last-minute Prelims and Mains revision.
This one-page sheet covers Chhattisgarh’s festivals, fairs and special traditions. For explanations, read Bastar Dussehra, Harvest and Agrarian Festivals, Teej and Women’s Festivals, Fairs (Melas) and Rites and Traditions.
How to use this sheet
Scan top to bottom the week before Prelims. Bold lines are the facts examiners return to most often.
Timeline / Key Facts
Bastar Dussehra
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Venue / deity | Jagdalpur; Danteshwari Mai (main temple at Dantewada) |
| Duration | About 75 days; no Ravana effigy |
| Start | Pat Jatra on Hariyali (Shravan) Amavasya: worship of the log for the chariot |
| Kachhan Gadi | Eve of Navratri: girl on a swing of thorns grants permission |
| Jogi Bithai | Youth fasts in a pit through Navratri |
| Phool Rath | 4-wheeled chariot, circles the town during Navratri |
| Nisha Jatra | Night rite around Ashtami |
| Mawli Parghav | Welcome of Danteshwari’s doli and chhatra from Dantewada |
| Bhitar Raini | Vijayadashami: 8-wheeled Vijay Rath; taken to Kumhdakot |
| Bahar Raini | Next day: nawakhai, chariot brought back |
| Muria Darbar | Assembly of village heads with the ruler / government |
| Kutumb Jatra, farewell | Visiting deities and Danteshwari’s doli sent off |
| Origin | Traditionally Purushottam Dev (Kakatiya ruler of Bastar) after his Puri pilgrimage; 1408 most often cited |
| Goncha | Jagdalpur’s Jagannath Rath Yatra in Ashadh; tupki bamboo guns |
Festival Calendar
| Festival | Date | Key association |
|---|---|---|
| Akti | Vaishakh Shukla Tritiya | Farm year begins; doll weddings |
| Hareli | Shravan Amavasya | Farm tools, neem, gedi |
| Bhojli | Shravan; immersed the day after Rakhi | Wheat seedlings; friendship |
| Kamarchhath | Bhadrapada Krishna Shashthi | Mothers; sagri; pasahar rice |
| Pola | Bhadrapada Amavasya | Bullocks; clay bulls; thethri-khurmi |
| Teeja | Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya | At the maika; karu bhat; nirjala fast |
| Karma | Bhadrapada Shukla Ekadashi | Karam branch; Karma dance |
| Nawakhai | Bhadrapada (varies) | First eating of new grain |
| Sua | Kartik, before Diwali | Women dance around a clay parrot |
| Gaura-Gauri | Diwali night | Marriage of Shiva and Parvati |
| Matar | Diwali period | Raut/Yadav herders; Raut Nacha |
| Cherchera | Paush Purnima | Door-to-door paddy donation |
| Sarhul | Chaitra | Sal flowers; Oraon; Surguja-Jashpur |
| Jot-Jawara | Chaitra and Kwar Navratri | Wheat sprouts and lamps for the Devi |
Fairs and Mahotsavs
| Mela | Place | Key fact |
|---|---|---|
| Rajim Kumbh Kalp | Rajim, Gariaband | Mahanadi + Pairi + Sondur; Magh Purnima–Mahashivratri; Rajiv Lochan and Kuleshwar temples |
| Rajim name | — | Punni Mela → Rajim Kumbh (2000s) → Maghi Punni Mela (2019) → Rajim Kumbh Kalp (cabinet decision, Feb 2024) |
| Shivrinarayan | Janjgir-Champa | Mahanadi + Shivnath + Jonk; Magh Purnima to Mahashivratri; “Gupt Prayag” |
| Giraudpuri | Baloda Bazar-Bhatapara | Satnami, Guru Ghasidas’s birthplace; Phalgun Shukla 5–7; Jaitkhamb about 77 m |
| Damakheda | Baloda Bazar-Bhatapara | Kabirpanth (Dharamdasi); Magh gathering |
| Bada Bhajan Mela | Rotating villages, Mahanadi valley | Ramnami Samaj; Paush |
| Phagun Madai | Dantewada | Phalgun, about 10 days; Danteshwari |
| Mawli Mela | Narayanpur | Phalgun madai |
| Navratri fairs | Dongargarh / Ratanpur / Chandrapur | Bamleshwari / Mahamaya / Chandrahasini |
| Chakradhar Samaroh | Raigarh | Since 1985; Ganesh Chaturthi; Raigarh gharana of Kathak |
| Sirpur / Bhoramdeo Mahotsav | Mahasamund / Kabirdham | Heritage-site cultural festivals |
Rites and Traditions
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Ghotul | Muria youth dormitory; chelik (boys), motiari (girls); Elwin, The Muria and their Ghotul (1947) |
| Dhumkuria | Oraon youth dormitory |
| Godna | Traditional tattoo; “the only ornament that goes with you after death” |
| Ramnami Samaj | Parasuram Bhardwaj, Charpara (Janjgir-Champa), 1890s; “Ram” tattoos as protest against caste exclusion |
| Ritual friendship | Mitan, Mahaprasad, Gangajal, Bhojli, Jawara |
| Dudh Lautawa | Cross-cousin marriage |
| Lamsena | Service marriage (groom works at the bride’s home) |
| Pathoni | Bride’s party goes to the groom’s village |
| Udhariya / Paithu | Elopement / intrusion |
| Chhatthi / Dashgatra | 6th day after birth / 10th day after death |
| Chulmati, Mangrohan, Bhanwar, Tikawan | Plains wedding rites: clay for the hearth, wedding post, circles, gifts |
| Memorial pillars | Maria and Muria of Bastar |
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|---|---|
| Hareli (Shravan Amavasya, tools) | Pola (Bhadrapada Amavasya, bullocks) | |
| Kamarchhath (Bhado Krishna 6, mothers’ fast) | Chhath Puja (Kartik Shukla 6, Sun worship) | |
| Bhojli (seedlings, day after Rakhi) | Jawara (sprouts, Navratri) | |
| Bastar Dussehra (Ashvin, Danteshwari) | Goncha (Ashadh, Jagannath, tupki) | |
| Bhitar Raini (Vijayadashami) | Bahar Raini (day after) | |
| Rajim (Pairi, Sondur) | Shivrinarayan (Shivnath, Jonk) | |
| Giraudpuri (Satnami) | Damakheda (Kabirpanth) | |
| Phagun Madai (Dantewada) | Mawli Mela (Narayanpur) | |
| Ghotul (Muria) | Dhumkuria (Oraon) | |
| Ramnami (Parasuram, Ram tattoos) | Satnami (Guru Ghasidas, Jaitkhamb) | |
| Lamsena (service) | Udhariya (elopement) |
Favourite MCQ trap
Bastar Dussehra starts on Hariyali Amavasya (the Hareli day), not on the first day of Navratri, and it has no Ravana effigy. Statement questions often slip in one of these two errors.
Second favourite
Rajim’s rivers are Mahanadi, Pairi and Sondur. If the Shivnath appears in the option, the examiner is describing Shivrinarayan.
Advertisement