News Edition 24 Desk: Hareli festival is very special for every resident of Chhattisgarh. Because Hareli is the first festival of Chhattisgarh. In rural areas, this festival is traditionally celebrated with enthusiasm. On this day farmers worship the agricultural implements used in farming, children and youth in the village enjoy Gedi ride. On the initiative of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, a public holiday has also been declared on this festival of public importance. Due to this, the importance of Chhattisgarh’s culture and folk festivals has also increased. Chhattisgarhi Olympics is also being started to involve more and more people in this folk culture festival.
Importance of Hareli festival.
In fact, Hareli is very special for Chhattisgarh and the immense hard work of our food providers is respected. The villagers celebrate this festival with great enthusiasm. Chhattisgarh cuisine is prepared and offered as bhog to please the God. At the same time, neem leaves are planted at the doors of the houses to avoid the bacteria-viruses and seasonal insects that spread in this season, which purifies the air. Pauni-Pasari like Raut and Baiga put neem branch at the door of every house in the village. Blacksmiths in the village put nails in the door frame to ward off the fear of evil. This tradition still exists in rural areas.
Farmer bathe and worship livestock etc.. on this day. Wheat flour is kneaded into round shape and wrapped in castor or khamhar tree leaves and fed to cattle. So that cattle can be saved from various diseases.
Worship of agriculture tools.
In the rainy season, the earth gets covered with a green sheet. The environment starts to look green all around. By the time Hareli festival comes, the work of farming of Kharif crops etc. is almost done. Mothers make cheela of jaggery. After washing agricultural implements and worshiping with incense and lamps, coconut and jaggery cheela is also applied. Thakur Dev of the village is worshiped and coconut is offered to him.
Children and youth enjoy riding Gedi..
Children and youth enjoy riding Gedi cart on Hareli Tihar. The cart is made of bamboo. Two bamboos are nailed at equal distance. Another bamboo piece is torn from the middle and divided into two parts. Then two grooves are made by tying the coconut with a rope. This groove serves as a foot donation, which is tied over a nail placed in two bamboos cut lengthwise. While walking on the cart, the sound of rach-rach emanates, which makes the atmosphere musical.
Puja and games from Chhattisgarhi cuisine.
The cart made of wood is also very useful in protecting the village from mud etc. during the rains. It is a pleasure of its own to visit the street by vehicle. Farmers offer Chhattisgarhi dishes Gulgul Bhajiya and Gudha Cheela by worshiping their agricultural tools like Nangar, Kopar, Datari, Tangia, Basula, Kudari, Sabbal, Gaiti etc. Apart from this, Gedi is also worshipped. For entertainment in the evening, the youth in the villages, children play various games like coconut throwing, kabaddi etc. in the village ground. Daughter-in-law enjoy playing Sawan Jhoola, Billas, Kho-Kho, Fugdi etc.