Narayanpur Mela in Bastar Chhattisgarh

Narayanpur is a major cultural hub of bastar.

One of the most famous festivals of Bastar after Dusserha of Jagdalpur is Narayanpur mela, or Madai Festival of Narayanpur.

Although the name Mela, literally means fair, the Narayanpur Mela is not a fair, but a festival.

It is celebrated during the last week of February. Tribal people come with their deities, establish them, worship them and enjoy with their famous dances in this mela. It gives local flavour of the region and merriment is an intrinsic of this fair.

They worship the tribal deities. After worshipping the deities, with lot of devotion, they engage themselves in unrestrained merry making. Several sessions of drinking are an integral part of this festival.

Famous KoKrang Dance is performed in the fair, They sing songs  to please the gods and to invite them to dance with them. The Speciality in this festival is that the young people dance, to the notes of fabulous drum music, with 15/10 kg ghungurs, in their back.

It is a magnificent sight to watch the tribal men and women taking part in the dance, the tapping their feet to the rhythmic music and cheerful free wheeling.

The festival provides Valuable insight into the ethnic way of living of these colourful people.

The Madai festival is of special importance and also quite popular among the good tribes. Thousands of devotees gather under the shade of a sacred tree to sacrifice goat to honour the Mother Goddess and the whole night is spent on dancing, eating and merry making in this festival.