Vidarbha · Deccan Inland Plateau
Festivals
| Festival | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Din | Ashoka Vijaya Dashami, October | The anniversary of the 1956 conversion, observed at Deekshabhoomi with several lakh people arriving over three days, ordinations conducted on the ground, and an enormous book fair alongside. It is the largest single gathering in Vidarbha and one of the largest Buddhist gatherings anywhere. |
| Marbat and Badgya | The day after Pola, Bhadrapada (August–September) | Nagpur's own festival and unlike anything else in Maharashtra. Giant effigies — the black Kali Marbat and the yellow Pivli Marbat, with the badgya figures alongside — are carried in procession through the old city to shouts calling the year's disease and misfortune to leave with them, and are then burned. The Kali Marbat procession is said to have been running since the 1880s. |
| Pola and Tanha Pola | Bhadrapada Amavasya (August–September) | Bullocks washed, painted and paraded and not worked for the day; Tanha Pola the following day is for children, who parade wooden bullocks. In a region whose economy still turns on draught animals this is the most seriously kept agricultural festival of the year. |
| Gajanan Maharaj Prakat Din at Shegaon | Magh (January–February) | The anniversary of the saint's first appearance at Shegaon, drawing very large numbers to Buldhana district and running with the trust's characteristic organisation of queues, food and lodging. |
| The Zadipatti season | After the paddy harvest, roughly Diwali to May | Not a festival but a season, and the eastern districts organise their winter around it. Ticketed all-night plays on village stages, professional troupes touring a fixed circuit, and a repertoire in Zadi Boli. |
| Sevalal Jayanti at Pohradevi | February | The Banjara gathering at Pohradevi in Washim, with tandas arriving from four states, Lengi performance and a fair that takes over the village for several days. |
| Diwali and the Dandar nights | Kartik (October–November) | In the Gond villages of the east the Diwali fortnight is when the Dandar troupes move between settlements, dancing and performing over several consecutive nights. |
| Mahashivratri at Markanda | Phalgun (February–March) | A river-bank fair at the Markanda temples on the Wainganga, drawing from Gadchiroli and across into Chhattisgarh. |
| Navratri at Ambadevi | Ashwin (September–October) | Nine nights at Amravati's goddess temple, with the fair filling the lanes of the old town. |
| Kalidas observance at Ramtek | Ashadh (June–July) | A literary and music festival held at Ramtek on the Meghaduta association, marking the month in which the poem opens. It has run intermittently rather than every year. |
The festival calendar of Vidarbha — what is celebrated, when it falls and what happens. (10)