Mahakoshal & Gondwana · Central Highlands & Forest Belt
Festivals
| Festival | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Karma | Bhadrapada Ekadashi, August–September | The karma branch is cut, planted in the courtyard, worshipped and danced around through the night, then immersed at dawn. Observed by Gond, Baiga and Oraon households and by many caste-Hindu ones alongside them. |
| Nagoba Jatara | Pushya Amavasya, January | The Mesram clan's great gathering at Keslapur, preceded by a long walk to fetch water from the Godavari for the rite. New brides are presented and admitted to the clan in the Bheting ceremony; until then they may not take part in clan worship. |
| Kachargarh Jatra | Magh Purnima, February | Several days at the Kachargarh cave in the Dhanegaon hills, tied to the Lingo narrative. It is the one occasion on which the region's four-state spread is visible in one place. |
| Nagdwari mela, Pachmarhi | Sawan, July–August | A monsoon pilgrimage on foot through the Satpura gorges to a series of cave shrines, open only for about ten days a year. Several lakh people walk it in heavy rain, which is the point of it. |
| Hareli and Pola | Sawan Amavasya and Bhadrapada Amavasya | The two agricultural amavasyas — implements washed and worshipped at Hareli, working bullocks rested, painted and paraded at Pola. Strongest on the eastern and southern margins. |
| Dandari and Gussadi | Diwali, October–November | Several days of village-to-village performance by Raj Gond troupes in the southern uplands, with the Gussadi dancers in peacock crowns treated as carrying the deity for the duration. |
| Narmada Jayanti | Magh Shukla Saptami, January–February | The river's birthday, marked with lamps floated at Amarkantak, Mandla and the Jabalpur ghats, and with the start of many parikrama walks. |
| Madai circuit | Dashera to Magh, October–February | Village fairs held in rotation, with the deities of neighbouring villages carried in to visit. Traders, a wheel, and a wrestling ring arrive with them; the sequence matters more than any single fair. |
| Balidan Diwas | 24 June | The anniversary of Rani Durgavati's death in battle in 1564, observed at Jabalpur and Mandla with processions and readings. |
The festival calendar of Mahakoshal & Gondwana — what is celebrated, when it falls and what happens. (9)