Скачать или смотреть 🔥 Nagpur’s MARBAT Festival: 143 Years of Burning Away Evil 🔥

Every year, around August-September, the streets of Nagpur come alive with a unique and ancient tradition—the Marbat Festival, which has been celebrated for over 143 years!

The festival takes place on Tanha Pola, the day after the Pola festival where farmers in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh thank their bulls for their contribution to farming. But in Nagpur, this day is marked by the burning of giant Marbats—15-20 feet tall effigies made of bamboo, clay, and paper.

There are primarily two iconic Marbats:
1. Kali (Black) Marbat 🖤: It represents general misfortune and evil. Some believe it symbolizes Queen Baka Bai of Nagpur, who surrendered to the British, while others link it to the demoness Putana from Hindu mythology.

2. Pili (Yellow) Marbat 💛: This effigy was introduced in 1885 and represents British oppression and colonial rule. The Tarhane Teli community of Nagpur used the festival to secretly unite people against British tyranny during colonial times.

In recent years, more effigies like the Laal (Red) Marbat and Bhuri (Brown) Marbat have been introduced, each representing different societal issues. Smaller effigies called Badgyas are also created to tackle specific problems like diseases (this year, Dengue and Chikungunya) and civic issues like potholes. 🚧

🛤️ A Long Procession Through Nagpur: The Marbats and Badgyas travel about 6.5 km through Nagpur’s old city, accompanied by loud music, dancing, and chanting. The atmosphere is electric as locals shout, “Ida pida gheun jaa ge Marbat!” (Take away all the evil, Marbat) and “Rog rai gheun jaa ge Marbat!” (Take away all diseases, Marbat). The grand finale is the burning of the effigies, which happens at various locations, symbolizing the eradication of evil and misfortune.