India is a traditional country with various customs and traditions. The world is not aware of this Indian festival / In many episodes and stories of Ramayana are told and dramas are performed and this tradition is taught in the coming ones. We present you one such traditional activity in Maharashtra. This event is celebrated in different ways in different corners of Maharashtra. In this they do different types of activities like costumes, art, dance and drama. 

Pictured while playing the role of “Mata Devi”

 

Most of the Marathi people participate in this, since it is in Maharashtra, Marathi people have a hand in it. Some parts of Maharashtra have different beliefs according to different customs, some consider them as gods and others as goddesses, which is shown in this play. A different kind of feeling is attached to this among the Marathi people in which they merge into this devotion and perform the program in honor of these gods or goddesses. The scene you see in the photo is from Buldhana district in Vidarbha. The festival is known by different names in different parts, some call it “Utsav” and some call it “Song” in marathi. It does not mean as a song in English. Song is a name in Marathi which we can also call drama. “Song” means one who plays the roll of a goddess or god.

This festival is celebrated on or one day before or one day after the festival of Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti. In this festival, as a person, he is decorated, dressed up, decorated and adorned and all this is done early in the morning around 5 to 6 am. On this day, the actor who plays the role of the goddess observes a complete fast, he is not given anything to eat or drink and lemons are placed in his mouth on both sides. “Shendoor” is applied to the full face of the one playing the role of the goddess and the crown of the goddess is placed on the head and she is dressed in a saree like “Nauvari”. After all the decorations are done, the palanquin is taken out with bare feet in complete villages. One who wears jewels and costumes. He is taken in a procession through all the squares of the village accompanied by traditional musicians or taken to another temple and worshiped there. This festival is mostly seen in Vidarbha [Maharashtra, India]. Villagers throng to witness this and it is celebrated with a festival, some come for darshan and others to watch. 

There are two types of main characters in this festival, one is Gods and Goddesses and the other is demons. Some areas may have more. This traditional festival has many sentiments attached to it who celebrate this festival with great pomp every year.

You must have seen many festivals like Diwali, Dussehra, Gudhipadwa, New Year, Holi, but no one knows anything about it because this festival is celebrated only in Maharashtra and there is a lot of enthusiasm and devotion in this festival. During this festival various deities such as Mata Ambadevi, Durga Devi can be seen in this Utsav wearing the costumes of Suryanarayana and other deities. A procession of this goddess is carried out from village or town from house to house and every house worships the goddess and takes her blessings.