Hareli Festival and Pat Jatra

The Hareli festival of Chhattisgarh is celebrated with great pomp and gaiety. The word 'Hareli' comes from 'Haryali' in hindi which means greenery. It is mainly a festival celebrated by the various communities of farmer in the month of Shravan, corresponding to the months of July and August in the Gregorian calender. To be precise, the Hareli festival in Chhattisgarh occurs on the new moon day of the month or the Sravana Amavasya. This is, actually a festival of harvest focusing on the monsoon of a year. The Goddess 'Kutki Dai' is the presiding deity worshiped during this festival for good crops.Chhattisgarh Hareli festival is of special importance among the Gond tribes. The farmers of Chhattisgarh worship their equipment used for farming and cows in the Hareli festival. The theme is manly nature - centric and the basic prayer by the simple, innocent people of Chhatisgarh in Hareli festival is for a good harvest. The manifestations in rituals are simple, though the prayers are ardent.During the Hareli festival the people of Chhattisgarh place branches of Bhelwa tree on their respective fields. They also place branches of Neem tree on the entrance of their houses as Neem has medicinal properties and wards of diseases as well as insects. The Baigas or the traditional medical practicioners of Chhattisgarh teach and appraise their students. The Hareli festival of Chhattisgarh is also marked by the interesting 'Gedi'. Mounted on sticks, the children of Chhattisgarh walk round the fields and also take part in the Gedi race.Pat Jatra occurs every year on the occasion Hareli amavasya. It marks the beginning of Bastar Dusshera Festival. The famous 75 days long festival celebrated by the ethnic groups of Bastar region to honor goddess Danteswari. Pat Jatra is the ritual that embraces worshipping of Sal tree wood. This wood is known as ‘Thurlu Kotla’ or ‘Tika pata’ in local dialect. Traditionally, one of the ethnic groups is given the responsibility of selecting and bringing the sal wood from the forest.Various offerings are made while the ritual is performed. The whole traditions and rituals in pat Jatra is a way to honor the significance of wood and forests in lives of tribal people. After the ritual of worshipping the sal wood is performed, it submitted for making the tools like hammers etcetera. These tools are later used in constructing chariot that is pulled by the locals during the 9 days of navratri. The wood is brought from the Machkot or Bilori forest which are known to be abundant with sal tree in Bastar region. The wood is bought to Jagdalpur and ritual takes places in front of Danteswari temple in Jagdalpur town .