Bastar Goncha festival 2024

Goncha Festival is Celebrated from over 600 years. The chariot procession of Bastar was started by the rulers of Chalukya dynast and Maharaja Purushottam Dev of Bastar visited Jagannathpuri at Odisha. Raja Purushottam Dev Maharaja offered emeralds to Jagannathpuri and got the title of Rathapati. After being coronated in 1408 and coming back from Puri, Raja Purushottam Dev ordered construction of a chariot of 16 wheels, then gave 4 wheels for the construction of Lord Jagannath’s chariot and constructed a chariot from the wheels left. The second chariot is constructed with 4 wheels. Once 7 chariots were used to move during Dussehra, among which one chariot was of Lord Jagannath. Now 3 chariots take the procession. These rituals add uniqueness to Bastar Dussehra. In Bastar, Asadh shukl dutiya with Lord Jagannath, Balbhadra and Subhadradevi the rathyatra started and ended in the Asadh shukl dashmi . It is a 9 days festival. The festival was started by the Rajparivar and rulers of the Chalukya Dynasty. There is a different tradition of mock tupki in ‘Goncha Festival’ in Jagdalpur. The tradition of mock tupki is not prevalent anywhere expect bastar. The fruit of Goncha is used as a bullet while a gun is made out of bamboo. Everything used is fake and harmless, created just for the sake of fun. The gun made for mockery is called Tupki. Tupki is also made from taad’s leaves, bamboo, chind’s leaves etc is used for making bullet also.