About Chattisgarh
Chhattisgarh, situated in the heart of India, is endowed with a rich cultural heritage and attractive natural diversity. The State is full of ancient monuments, rare wildlife, exquisitely carved temples, Buddhist sites, palaces, water falls, caves, rock paintings and hill plateaus. Most of these sites are untouched and unexplored and offer a unique and alternate experience to tourists compared to traditional destinations which have become overcrowded. Chhattisgarh offers the tourist a Destination with a Difference. For those who are tired of the crowds at major destinations, Bastar, with its unique cultural and ecological identity, will come as a breath of fresh air. The Green State of Chhattisgarh has 44% of its area under forests, and is one of the richest bio-diversity areas in the country.

The State has taken a conscious decision to do away with past legacies and to adopt a fresh approach to Tourism Development. The Tourism Policy is focussed on creating a unique image for the State and to position it as an attractive destination for both domestic as well as foreign tourists.

History of Chattisgarh

The history of Chhattisgarh goes back to tens of thousands of years. The anthropologists have found evidences of some of the earliest human habitations in the rocks and caves of this ancient land. Though the mythological history of Chhattisgarh region stretches back to the period of Ramayana and Mahabharata, the earliest clue from the historical era is an Ashokan stone Inscription of 257 BC at Rupnath north of Jabalpur. According to legends the deep Sal forest regions are Dandakaranya itself, where Lord Rama spent much of his fourteen-year exile from Ayodhya. But regardless to all this, the unbroken history of Chhattisgarh or South Kosala can be traced back only from the 4th century AD. Between the 6th and 12th centuries AD the Sarabhpurias, Panduvanshi, Somvanshi, Kalchuri, and Nagvanshi rulers dominated this region.

In the medieval period, the region came to be known as Gondwana and became the part of the kingdom of the Kalchuris who ruled the region till the end of the 18th century AD. The Muslim chroniclers of the 14th century AD have described well about the dynasties that ruled over the region. The region also came under the suzerainty of the Mughal Empire around the 16th century and later to the Marathas in 1745. By the year 1758, the whole region of Chhattisgarh was annexed by the Marathas who plundered its natural resources mercilessly. Also the word 'Chhattisgarh' was popularized during the Maratha period and was first used in an official document in 1795. With the British entry in the early 19th century, much of the territory was subsumed into the Central Provinces. From 1854 onwards the British administered the region as a deputy commissionership with its headquarters at Raipur. Chhattisgarh also took part in the 1857 Revolution when Vir Narayan Singh, a landlord of Sonakhan, grew up to challenge the injustices of British rule in the region. After a prolonged battle with the British forces, Vir Narain Singh was finally arrested and later hanged on the 10th December 1857. In the year 1904 British reorganized the region and transferred Sambalpur to Orissa and added the estates of Surguja to Chhattisgarh.

The demand for a separate Chhattisgarh state was raised by the Raipur Congress unit at the meeting of the Raipur district Congress in 1924, for the first time. There emerged a general consensus on the view that the region of Chhattisgarh was culturally and historically distinct from the rest of Madhya Pradesh and should get recognition of its own but somehow it didn't materialized. After the independence of India, the demand for a separate state again resurfaced and in 1955 it was raised in the Nagpur assembly of the then state of Madhya Bharat. And finally the dream of a separate state of Chhattisgarh became reality when it was declared the 26th state of India on 1st November 2000.

Festivals of Chattisgarh

• Hareli Festival: Held in the month of monsoon (sawan), Hareli Festival is celebrated in Chhattisgarh to pray for a good harvest. In this festival, the local farmers worship the farm equipments and cows and hang strings of neem leaves on their doors to ward off diseases and be blessed with healthy crops.


• Madai Festival in Chhattisgarh: The festival of Gonds, an old tribal community in Chhattisgarh, Madai Festival is a means to meet relatives settled in different villages and purchase yearlong supplies of daily needs such as salt and cooking oil. Devotees sacrifice a goat beneath the sacred village tree to honor the tribal goddess; the night is marked with non-stop drinking and dancing. The best place to visit to attend the festival is Narayanpur in Bastar.

• Bhagoriya Festival in Chhattisgarh: Held a week ago Holi, a Hindu festival, the Festival that originated in the Bhils dominated Jhabua district allows you to officially elope with your lover. The devotees worship the god of dance Bahgoradav on this occasion.
  Dusshera and Ganga Dusshera Festival in Chhattisgarh
  The Ganga Dusshera Festival is celebrated on Bhim Sen Ekadashi to mark the sowing of Kharif crops. Tribal dances, colorful processions and endless rounds of drinking mark the Ganga Dusshera festival, which are similar to Dusshera celebrations in Chhattisgarh.

• Bhagoriya Festival in Chhattisgarh: Held a week ago Holi, a Hindu festival, the Festival that originated in the Bhils dominated Jhabua district allows you to officially elope with your lover. The devotees worship the god of dance Bahgoradav on this occasion.
• Dusshera and Ganga Dusshera
  The Ganga Dusshera Festival is celebrated on Bhim Sen Ekadashi to mark the sowing of Kharif crops. Tribal dances, colorful processions and endless rounds of drinking mark the Ganga Dusshera festival, which are similar to Dusshera celebrations in Chhattisgarh.

• Charta Festival: A harvest festival that is celebrated by all tribal communities in Chhattisgarh, Charta Festival has kids going around the village collecting rice from each household. The married girls then cook the collected rice on the banks of the nearby water body as men and women sing and dance, eagerly awaiting the community feast to be served.
  Navakhana Festival, Festivals in Chhattisgarh

• Surhul Festival: A festival that has nothing to do with harvest, Surhul Festival is dedicated to the worship of Mother Earth and is held on the day when the Sal Trees flower. The fields are left untouched through the whole day and the farmers offer prayers at the village Sarna (a small forest within the village).
  Navakhana Festival, Festivals in Chhattisgarh.

When to Visit: October to March