WELCOME TO JHABUA

Bhagoria Festival

A festivity to experience and enjoy the life

This year, when I was planning and searching the internet for visiting a place where I could witness the Holi festival, I stumbled upon a unique festival called Bhagoria haat festival. This festival seemed very unique and not to be
missed, I decided to witness this festival and booked the ticket on the same day. Then came the day when I reached Ratlam by train and further reached Jhabua, supposedly the epicenter of this festival.
Bhagoria haat festival is celebrated by Bhils and Bhilalas tribes in West Nimar and Jhabua districts in Madhya Pradesh. It is celebrated in the month of March before the festival of Holi. The Bhagoria has supposedly derived its name from the word ‘bhag’ which means to run. A haat or local market is organized in as many as 100 venues like Alirajpur, Ranapur, Raipuria Jhabua etc. where all the tribal men and women come to buy certain essential items being sold there by the sellers from all over the place. Some of them also bring their tribal musical instruments like flute and play along. You can hear music everywhere especially the last day of the festival in Jhabua, where lakhs of people reach and dance the whole day.
This festival also has agricultural significance as it coincides with the end of  harvesting season. The eager buyers who have handful of money after selling their harvest are now in the mood of relaxing and enjoying. This is not a single day festival but the festivities continue on specific market days at various villages for one week. These weekly markets bear a lot of importance as villagers depend on these markets for all their buying and selling. This haat, in this time, also works as a meeting place where young men and women try to find their partners and sometimes elope to get married.
In Bhagoria haat festival, according to the tradition, the boy is supposed to apply gulal (red colour powder) on the face of the girl or offer a paan, (betel leaf) to the girl, whom he chooses to marry. If the girl is willing, in response she also applies gulal on the boy’s face or accepts the paan from the boy. The girl might not accept his offer immediately but in due course the boy can persuade her and succeed. After proposing and persuading the counterpart, agreed couple elopes to get married. Eventually the couple is recognized as husband and wife. During Bhagoria, the market place actually becomes a fair ground with various fun activities and food stalls serving local delicacies. Men and women dressed in their finest attires and tribal jewellery, attend these fairs. Another fascinating cultural facet of this community is the spectacular silver jewellery and its ensembles – one witnesses during the festival. The Bhagoria festival symbolizes the completion of harvesting and is celebrated just before the festivities of Holi there  by underscoring the significance of agriculture and community interpretations of colours -in their daily chores and lives. This festival signifies the wedding season and rituals pertaining to nuptial vows of the Bhil and Bhilala tribes.
Women and brides adorn themselves with various designs of silver jewellery fused with traditional characteristics. Some of the most popular accessories amongst the women folk are the basta kada (armlet), khilli wala kada (for the wrist), hansli (necklace) made of coins that weigh almost half a kilogram and paan wala haar. Other accessories woven out of beads, shells, colorful wool, glass beads and sequins are chomal, dulhan ka rumal and phool. Made of coins, ghungroo and various figurines of ethnic importance – these silver art works have come to establish the historical relevance of preserving these art works and carrying those forward from one generation to the another. Even men can be seen wearing heavy silver ornaments in the form of buttons on their shirts or kurtas and in the form of belts across their shoulders to chests.
Here you can also find the young men and sometimes young women too, sporting cheap glittery and shiny sunglasses. Everyone seems to be in a competition of looking better than the other. One also witnesses the tribal men and women sharing beer with each other openly. The Bhagoria haat festival is like a window into the lives of these ancient tribes. This region comes alive in every venue where the local market takes place. The tribal men and women from all over gather in these venues to witness and participate in this annual fiesta.
Ratlam is the nearest railway station to Jhabua from Delhi. Jhabua is a small town in Jhabua district in the Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Jhabua  district.
I also witnessed musical procession filled with tribal men and women mixed with the sound of big dhols and other tribal musical instruments like colourful flutes, manjeere and khartaals. Their dresses were very colourful and the women were walking and dancing in various groups comprising of 8-10 members in each. Their colourful dresses were like uniforms as each group was adorning similar colours but different from the other group. Elderly men were wearing white dhotis, white kurtas and simple pagdi on their heads, though some of them flaunting their silver jewellery. Young men were wearing cheap and shiny but modern western dresses. At the end of the procession they all assembled at the Haat, that was buzzing with festivities and activities.
I witnessed various activities on the last day of the Bhagoria haat, which happens to be a day prior to the festival of Holi. All the tribal men and women and visitors started reaching the main chowk (market square) in the center of Jabhua. Within 2-3 hours, lakhs of men and women reached the chowk dancing on the beats of dhols and manjeere. By dusk the festival finished, but the impression of that fiesta will be there, on the heart and mind, in the years to come.