Adivasi Mati Festival: बस्तर में होती है ‘माटी पूजा, एक-दूसरे पर लगाते हैं मिट्टी का लेप

Tribal society is present in large numbers in Chhattisgarh. This society is not only making an important contribution to society but also deeply cherishes its traditions. One such tradition is the Maati Puja festival. This festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm and pomp in the Bastar district of the state.

Tribal society is present in large numbers in Chhattisgarh. This society is not only making an important contribution to society but also deeply cherishes its traditions. One such tradition is the Maati Puja festival (आदिवासियों का मायोको त्योहार). This festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm and pomp in the Bastar district of the state.

Different Names For Mati Puja

In Bastar, Mati Puja is called by different names. For example- Mati TR in Central Bastar and Bija Pandum in South Bastar. Mostly this festival is celebrated only in April-May. According to popular beliefs, people worship Mother Earth on the occasion of getting an adequate yield of crops for the coming season. The festival has special significance in this region as people earn their living by farming and completely depend on their crop yield every year.

If seen, except in a few villages of the Kanker region of Bastar division, Mati Puja or Mati Tihar is celebrated in almost all the villages. Mati Tihar means worshipping the soil and thanking it for a good harvest. This festival is a one-day festival celebrated in the month of Chaitra. But in different villages, it is celebrated on different days as per their wish, which is decided jointly by the village singer, priest and all the people of the community.

All the favourite people join

Despite being basically a festival of purity, all the local castes are associated with this custom. On the day of this festival, no work related to soil is done in the village. Like digging soil, ploughing in the microwave. Not only this, if someone acts in this way then that person is also downloaded by the community. There is no pressure of any kind to cooperate in the puja, some people bring donations only to the places of worship. Apart from money, some people give rice, pulses, vegetables, fruits, vegetables, animals and birds.

Another topic is clay coating

At the beginning of the puja, the Gaita priest worships the soil by offering flowers and coconut betel nuts to Budhadev in his Mati Devkot so that there is peace and happiness in the entire village throughout the year. After this people apply mud on each other. Everyone remains happy after eating food in the evening and singing dhol and mandar rela. Farming work starts in Anchal with the worship of Mati Dev.