Bastar: Bastar is evolving into a vibrant hub, merging rich traditions with new infrastructure and tourism opportunities.
Every year, the otherwise laid-back life of Bastar comes alive in all its colours when the Dussehra festival sets in, which is in the month of Ashwin, the seventh month in the Hindu lunar calendar. The more than 600-year-old Bastar Dussehra is the only Dussehra where the happiness is not about the victory of Ram over Ravana or good over evil, but the worship of the local goddess Danteshwari, that can only be done by all the different tribes uniting together for one cause.
In this festival, which lasts for 75 days, hundreds of other local ‘deities’ come to Bastar and Dantewada, riding on beautifully crafted small wooden chariots that the local tribal community members carry on their shoulders as they congregate near the Bastar royal palace after emerging from their villages, some of which are as far as 150 km, to pay obeisance to Goddess Danteshwari and meet their ‘king.’
Despite the presence of multiple tribes in the region, including Gond, Muria, Bhatra, Halba, Kondar, Kanwar, Dhurwa, and Koya, each having their own gods and customs, everyone comes together at one place and participates in a series of rituals and dances, an event that has managed to keep alive a tradition that has been going on for over six hundred years.
Kamal Chandra Bhanj Deo, the 24th and present titular ruler of Bastar, which is located in the southern part of the state, said that the state was established in the early 1300s by the first king, Raja Annam Dev. Dussehra celebrations were initiated by the fourth king, Purshottam Dev, who ruled the state from 1408 to 1439.
“The love that our family has received from the people of Bastar over a period of 600 years has never diminished. Whatever we are it is because of their affection for us,” he said even as an elderly lady made her way to her king to offer a small basket of flowers that she had brought to keep at his feet.
The last ruler in Bastar was Maharaja Praveer Chandra Bhanj Deo (1936-1948), who was killed in a police action in March 1966 for allegedly leading an alleged separatist movement in the region. He was, by all accounts, one of the most popular kings, and even now the tribal community members remember him; his pictures, with deep eyes and flowing hair, are sold in the local market along with those of gods and goddesses and purchased by these tribals for offering prayers.
Days before being killed, Praveer, who was also regarded for his knowledge and practice of the occult, wrote and published an autobiography titled “I Pravir, the Adivasi God.” The police action, in which he was killed, along with scores of tribal followers at his palace, was recalled by old-timers as happening because the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Dwarka Prasad Mishra, believed that Bhanj Deo, given his popularity, was going to form a separate nation.
While Bastar has preserved its rich cultural heritage and traditions, it has also embraced significant positive changes that reflect its evolving identity.
Until the state was a part of Madhya Pradesh, the Bastar Dussehra was an event that saw very limited participation of outsiders. However, once the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out in 2000 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government, Bastar received the attention it deserved.
The first chief minister of the state, Ajit Jogi, who continues to evoke fond memories among the tribals, recognised the importance of improving the communication and travel network to Bastar. This was crucial amidst the pushback from Naxals, who would kidnap and beat contractors and workers, as well as burn construction equipment intended for making Bastar accessible by all-year motorable roads. He reached out to Vajpayee, and the Border Road Organisation of the Defence Ministry was enlisted to build roads connecting the interiors of Bastar to the state and the country.
His successor, Dr Raman Singh, also ensured that the focus of Raipur was not lost in connecting Bastar to outside. His tenure was known for his frequent visits to Bastar, a place which for long has been considered a punishment posting for the honest and a place where the corrupt would commit their sins without fear of being exposed, given the remoteness and inaccessibility of the region.
The next Congress chief minister, Bhupesh Baghel, also visited Bastar frequently, though his interactions with the royal family decreased due to the close ties they established with BJP. Kamal, 40, following in the political footsteps of his ancestor Praveer—an independent MLA before his untimely death—joined BJP in August 2013 after being courted by both Congress and BJP, given the royal family’s popularity among the indigenous people. In 2003, just before the Assembly elections, Jogi had reached out to the royal family, encouraging them to consider joining Congress through a senior journalist who was respected by the Rajmata (mother of Kamal). However, Rajmata politely declined. The journalist too, given the trust that the Rajmata had on him, had suggested her not to join politics at that stage given the growing age of her three children.
The present chief minister, Vishnu Deo Sai, who is the first tribal leader to hold this position in the state’s history, hails from the Kanwar tribe, which is prominent in the northern regions of the state. He made it a point to attend this year’s Dussehra event and inaugurated projects worth Rs 3 crore in development work that was named “Bastar Dussehra Pasra” (place for Dussehra ceremonies). The Sai government, in order to facilitate the easy movement of tribals who bring their approximately 1,500 deities to Bastar, decided to convert the block office for Dussehra-related events. In one of the events, known as “Muria Darbar,” during which the tribal representatives share their problems with their king, a demand was raised by tribal chieftain Manjhi Balram to Sai for better infrastructure in government schools, to which Sai said the demand would be fulfilled. Officials said that within hours of him flying back to Raipur, Sai had issued instructions to work on improving the infrastructure in the schools.
Official sources said that now, Bastar is no longer considered a punishment posting given the development work that has taken place, even as some pockets in the border areas are still seen as ‘dangerous.’
Pankaj Jha, media advisor to Sai, said that the chief minister focuses extensively on taking continuous feedback from the ground so that he can get unfiltered information about the problems that people are facing and act on those grievances swiftly.
Officials reported that in just 10 months of Sai’s rule—more than three of which were impacted by the code of conduct for the general elections—the government has taken significant action against Naxals and their network: over 190 Naxals have been killed, more than 700 have surrendered, multiple funding networks have been discovered and dismantled, and a total of 34 security camps have been established in the region, with an additional 30 proposed to enhance security measures. Bus services for locals have been established in areas like Bechapal, Bijapur, Bedre,Silgair,Galgam, Gangalur, Jagarmunda which were earlier considered to be unsafe for public travel. The present BJP government has also initiated construction of new roads in Sukma-Bhejji-Chintaguffa and Basagura-Jagargunda with the intention to make inroads into remote areas.
Apart from focus on enhancing security, Sai has launched beneficiary programs like the “Niyad Nella Nari Yojana” that ensures that the benefits of central and state government schemes reach 96 identified villages near the security camps. He has also ensured that 29 schools in Naxal-affected areas that had been closed have been reopened to provide education and improve local conditions and has given strict instructions to officials to improve local infrastructure and amenities, such as the multi-village water supply project, which he believes will help address the root causes of Naxalism.
Bastar has seen massive changes in the last twenty years. Those who had gone to the area in the early 2000s recall how there would be an unofficial curfew in the region once the sun would set because of the naxal threat. Such was the lack of fear of law among the naxals that they had once attacked a police station in Gidam and kept firing at it until they ran out of bullets. Now the same Gidam has scores of jewellery shops. People now travel from Dantewada to the picturesque Chitrakote waterfalls even at night, without fear of being stopped by “Daddi” (elder person), as the Naxals would be referred to.
King Kamal has brought in professional videographers and subject experts who are engaged in shooting a documentary that will cover the past and present of Bastar as they move from one remote area to another. They are also going to bring out the first official book that will trace the lineage of the royal family.
The economy of the region has improved significantly, and with direct air connectivity established this year between the capital, Raipur, and Jagdalpur, Bastar is now less than one hour away. Next year, locals anticipate a much larger influx of tourists to a land that was once considered one of the most dangerous to venture into.
The rooms at the government resort at Chitrakote Falls, known as the Niagara of India, are fully booked until January next year. With the current government focused on making Bastar as prosperous as other cities in the state by continuously improving infrastructure—such as addressing the long-standing issues with the road connecting Keshkal Valley to Bastar—Sai and his team of officials are leaving no stone unturned to transform Bastar into the crown jewel of Chhattisgarh.