The seven-day festival of Bhagoria has started on Friday, March 11 in Madhya Pradesh. The festival is being celebrated in five districts of the state, namely Alirajpur, Khargone, Dhar, Barwani, and Jhabua. Thousands of people have started attending the numerous fairs of the festival at 176 locations across these five districts. Large scale security arrangements have been made by the administration and the police for the same.
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Bhagoria festival is generally celebrated by the Bhil tribe, The first fair of the Bhagoria Festival was set up at Walpur tehsil in the Alirajpur district. Drums were played while local politicians danced with commoners on Friday in the district. Markets in all of these districts have been turned into ‘Tyohari Haats’ that are a great place for Holi shopping.
These haats are held in almost all villages of the districts and are vibrant and colourful. Apart from having all the trappings of a colourful village fair, the festival also serves as a matrimonial platform, for couples who have been seeing each other, secretly or otherwise.
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Historians suggest that the festival was started around seven centuries ago by the ruler, Bhangu Nayak. The events of the festival were first organised to attract locals migrating due to a famine. According to legends, just when the festival started the place received rainfall and people were convinced to stay. The crops flourished and the people made offerings in local Shiva temples as a sign of gratefulness. Ever since the festival became an annual affair for the masses.
The festival is being celebrated on a large scale since the COVID-19 restrictions are no longer in place. Between March 11 and 17, fairs will be organised at 24 locations in Alirajpur, 59 in Dhar, 45 in Barwani, 12 in Khargone and 36 in Jhabua.
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