Exhibit of the week- 123 (03rd to 09th October 2022) Bastar Dussehra Rath The Dussera is celebrated in various parts of India to mark the victory of the god “Rama” or the goddess “Shakti” over the evil powers. But in Bastar, Chhattisgarh it is an occasion to propitiate the supreme goddess “Danteshwari Mai” of the local pantheon. It is believed that “Bhagawan Jagannath” had gifted a chariot having twelve wheels to “Mai Subhadra” to rule the Bastar which she gifted to Purushottam Dev- the King of Bastar. And then the king offered it to “Danteshwari Mai” the supreme goddess of Bastar. Since then, during Dussera the Rath Parikrama is celebrated in Jagdalpur, the district headquarters of Bastar by placing a palanquin of Goddess Danteshwari on it. As it was difficult to construct such a huge single chariot, the King allowed to construct two smaller chariots i.e. “Raini Rath” (Vijay Rath)-the eight wheel chariot used during Dussera festival and the “Phool Rath”- the smaller four wheel chariot used in Goncha festival. The size of “Raini Rath” is about 32 feet long, 18 feet wide and 18 feet high. The size of “Phool Rath” is about 32 feet long, 17 feet wide and 17 feet high. The construction of “Rath” is a systematic process with division of labour and distribution of work among the specified villages and specified communities. People of Billari village organise “Pata Jatra” for collection of wood from Jungle to construct the wheels. The overall responsibility of the construction is traditionally vested in the “Savara Naiks” of villages “Jharumargaon” and “Beda Umargaon”. Villagers from these villages take up the construction of the chariot. Before starting the construction certain rituals and sacrifices are made to the goddess. After completing the construction the palanquin is kept on the chariot and taken for the Parikrama during Dussera festival. Acc. No.: 2000.93 Local Name: Bastar Dussera Rath Community: folk and Tribal communities of Bastar Locality: Bastar, Chhattisgarh #dusserarath #chariot #dusserachariot #folk #tribal #tribesofbastar #bastar #chhattisgarh #igrms #museumfromhome #objectoftheweek #ethnograhicobject #museumobject #museumofman #cfor36garh (at Chhattisgarh) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjP77F4LjWL/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=