A gathering of gods

It’s a divine assembly. In more ways than one.

The Bastar region’s many deities meet once a year at the mavli mela in Narayanpur, headquarters of the district by the same name. This annual madai (gathering of gods) is held after the harvest, and is said to be over 700 years old.

Deities from in and around Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region are brought and carried here by individual tribal families and communities – from remote Abhujhmad (also spelt as Abhujhmarh and Abhujmad) to far away Kanker. Their happy journey and joyous arrival are accompanied by music and dance.

People bring their family deities to this madai. The tribal people here consider their ancestors to also be their deities, and at the mavli mela, one family’s deity meets up with another’s deities. The tribal deities behave like humans, and have relatives who meet with each other, hug and celebrate together.

“It’s a week-long mela,” says the elderly Vishwanath Dewangan, a non-tribal and a resident of Narayanpur. Many non-tribals are also here to witness the events.

It begins with the mavli mata’s [mother goddess] mela and is followed by the arrival of other deities from in and around. Also read: In Gangrel: dance of the displaced deity

I’ve arrived here on a warm February morning. The large community grounds at Narayanpur are located near the market and filling rapidly. Thousands of people are arriving by buses, taxis and many have been walking from their villages since yesterday to reach here. Many have no footwear.

Gagru Lal is in his eighties and from Lalsuhnar village in Narayanpur district. He has come in a motor vehicle. “I am old so can’t walk carrying the deities. Our young chaps have brought our family deities,” says the Muria Gond. “My wife is too old to walk, so she is at home,” he explains, and smiles showing his few teeth.

By afternoon most of the families and their deities have reached and people are busy meeting each other. Some are also greeting the deities with flowers. It is said that the deities love flowers!

Later, the streets of Narayanpur will transform into a spectacle of colour as deities are marched through the town’s main road. People line the path, offering prayers and flowers as the procession makes its way to the weekly market—the heart of the celebrations.

“Earlier we would visit the mela in bullock carts,” elderly Halba tribal, Gumti Pujari tells me, now resting in the grounds with her family members. “The mela is always wonderful, both in the past as well as at present,” she adds.

The deosthal (area where the deities rest together during this festival) has old trees offering shade. Tents are set up and people are participating in cooking meals. Gond music from the nagada, dhol and mahuri (percussion instruments) as well as wind instruments, fills the air. Gond food specialities such as red ant chutney and dishes made with local flowers, are on sale. As are tribal jewellery and the accessories worn by deities.

This event is organised by the Gondwana Samaj who invite the villagers with their deities, and request them to come a day before. All arrangements for food and rest are taken care of by the Samaj – a cultural society of the Gond people.

The Bastar region is a largely tribal area – 76 per cent of the people here are Gond which includes Abhuj Maria Gond, Bhatra, Muria Gond, Halba, Dhurva and other communities listed as Scheduled Tribes. Bastar is known for its rich and vibrant tribal culture, madai-melas (deity fairs) and weekly haats (markets), closely tied to the life and livelihood of people, the surrounding forests and agriculture.

Nearby to the mela is Abhujhmad, which has been the most major site of conflict between state forces and Maoists for years.

“Earlier it was different and now it’s different.”

Gumti Pujari goes on to explain that “now it’s rule of likhapadhi raj [educated people’s rule],” while earlier it was a time of tribal rule. He’s making a point about how non-tribal people have become educated and smart. “We are not educated,” he adds with a smile.

I ask him if he and his wife get the state’s old age pension, and if yes how much?

“Yes, me and my wife get a pension of 350 [rupees] each,” he tells me.

But now the pension is Rs. 500!

“I used to withdraw once in a year, I have not yet withdrawn, so [I have] no idea,” is his answer.

By this time, the procession has reached the venue – the weekly market of Narayanpur. The procession takes a few hours to circumambulate the market.

“There were Muria dance and Munjra Manjhi dancing to the gadam gadam tune of the drums,” recalls Vedbati Patel an elderly woman who has come with her daughter to witness the mela. “Earlier the mela was great! We were young and enjoyed dancing through the night,” she adds.

At Narayanpur, after a night of dance and music, most people have gone to sleep. But a few youth from Abhujhmad are still busy in drumming and dancing.