A significant adivasi festival of Chhattisgarh, Madai is celebrated across the state with gaiety and fervour. Tribal communities venerate Goddess Danteshwari and unite her with local deities from various surrounding villages – about 500 approximately – in the month of March. Devotees bring the idols of the gods to the Danteshwari Temple in Dantewada and honour them for 10 days. They perform the Relo, Cheetal and masked dances and conclude the festivities with a grand feast of fruits and local specialties, along with brews made from the flowers of mahua trees.
The goddess’ reunion with her family is an occasion for people to get together with their loved ones and indulge in revelries. Residents of remote villages throng the markets that are set up during the festival to purchase a year’s supply of salt, spices, cooking oil and other house-hold supplies.
History
Madai was started by Purushottam Dev, the king of of Bastar in the late 13th century CE. It is said he began the tradition of worshipping Danteshwari and indulging in festivities to give the people a respite from the mundaneness of their daily lives. According to the Puranas, present-day Dantewada was the place where the teeth of goddess Sati were found. Hence, the name Dantewada (daant means teeth in Hindi). Danteshwari Temple is one of the 52 sacred Shaktipeeths in the country.
Orientation
The town of Dantewada is the headquarters of the eponymously-named district. It lies 345km south of Raipur, the state capital. More than 60 per cent of the population of the district is adivasi. While there are some accommodation options in the city, Jagdalpur, 84km away, has more hotels. The most convenient way to reach Dantewada is by taking a train or bus from Raipur. Buses are also available from Durg and Bilaspur.
The Festival
The festival of Madai begins in Bastar in the month of December, when the Gond tribes worship their local deity, Cheri-Chher-Kin. The neighbouring villages of Kanker, Narayanpur, Antragrah, Bhanupra-tappur, Keshkal, Bhopalpattnam and Kondagaon worship their respective deities in the following months.
The 10-day festival begins in Dantewada on the day of Shivaratri. It is called Phagun Madai as it falls in the Hindu calendar month of Phagun (February–March). Grand processions from Bastar, Narayanpur and other villages gather at the Danteshwari Temple on the day of Shivaratri. Tribal men and women dressed up in dhotis and saris respectively carry prayer flags and dance on the streets to the beats of dhols and nagadas. They observe a day-long fast and break it after the evening prayers.
Over the next nine days, the tribals worship goddess Danteshwari in nine different forms – Brahma-charini, Chandraghanta, Kumanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalratri, Bhadragauri and Siddhidatri. On the ninth day, the ritual of holika dahan is observed. This is, however, different from the one celebrated during the Hindu festival of Holi. Folklore has it that a local princess had immolated herself to escape from rapists. The bonfire is held to honour her. After this, devotees smear abeer (coloured powder) on each other and end the festivities with an ela-borate feast.
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