Bhojali or javara festival : Song, Goddess, Friend

A Chhattisgarhi Women’s Oral Tradition                

Bhojali git is a women’s oral tradition performed in the Chhattisgarh

region of eastern Madhya Pradesh, India. An initial overview of the

song tradition as it is performed in two contiguous areas of Chhattisgarh

reveals certain stable structures which help to give definition to the genre

of bhojali git (literally, “ bhojali song ”). A closer examination of the

performance contexts, however, reveals that as the tradition has moved

from one area to the other, there are changes in at least three components

or the performance context: ( 1 ) the marital status of the participants,

(2) the structuring of the relationships between participants, and (3)

the related or folklore ore genres available in each area.

The context for the performance of any folklore genre is multidimensional.

The dimension most often associated with the word

“ context ” is the immediate performance “ event，，，such as a particular

festival or ritual which provides a setting in which performance of the

genre is appropriate. A second dimension is the identity of the participants.

*1 his dimension considers the question: to whom is a particular

folKiore genre available as a means of communication ? A third dimension,

often ignored in studies of performance context, is that of the

repertoire of folklore genres available to the particular folklore community

under consideration and the interaction between these genres.1

The same folKiore genre may occur in two different folKiore communities’

between which there may be variation within one or more of these contextual

dimensions. A shift in any one of these will affect the text

being performed. In this paper, I explore the nature of such shifts

in performance contexts of a Chhattisgarhi oral tradition performed

in two different folklore communities, and the affect of such shifts on

Asian Folklore Studies. 

the verbal tradition.

My study of bhojali git centers on two areas of Chhattisgarh—

the Raipur area and Phuljhar (see Map 1 ) . By “ Raipur area，” I refer

to the rural area around the city of Raipur and not the city itself, since

the bhojalt festival seems to be an exclusively rural phenomenon. The

city of Raipur is situated in the heartland of the Cnhattisgarhi rice growing

plain. Phuljhar is an area approximately eighty miles east

from Raipur on Highway 6 connecting Bombay and Calcutta.2 Phuljhar

was formerly the name of a zamlndari (a landed estate) and before that

of a petty kingdom; the ruins of the old fort still stand in the village

of Garh Phuljhar. But today, many residents of the area define Phuljhar

as that area where both Chhattisgarhi (locally known as lariyd) and Oriya

are spoken. Although Oriya is the dominant language, most members

of the Chhattisgarhi-speaking castes speak or at least understand Oriya,

and many Oriya native speakers speak some form of Chhattisgarhi.

Thus, Phuljhar presents a point of contact between Oriya and Chhattisgarhi

dialects and their corresponding oral traditions.

The Genre Defined

The word bhojalt has several connotations: a women’s festival, the

accompanying verbal tradition, a goddess, and a friendship. The image

of women carrying baskets of wheat or barley seedlings on their heads

as part of a festival procession is a common one in many parts of India.

Bhojalt is one such festival, centering around the planting of wheat

seedlings (also called bhojalt) in small shallow baskets, which are then

placed in a home or temple.3 The festival is celebrated in the Hindu

month of bhadon (August-September). The actual dates of planting

and immersing the bhojali may vary between villages or even within

the same village. However, the dates usually coincide with another

auspicious or festival day in bhadon^

The bhojali seedlings are allowed to grow in a dark place for nine

days after planting. During this time, they are worshiped by the

women as a manifest form of the goddess, bhojali dal (bhojali mother).

Every evening the women gather to sing bhojali git and do puja (ritual

homage; worship) to the goddess. This worship is referred to as sevd

(service) to the goddess. On the last of the nine days, the seedling's

are carried in procession by the unmarried participants to the village

pond and immersed. After the soil is washed off from their roots,

the bhojali seedlings are distributed as prasad (sanctified offerings distributed

to worshipers). Often these seedlings are then exchanged

between two participants to formalize a ritual friendship. Thereafter,

the two friends will call each other “ bhojali” rather than by their

given names or Active kinship terms.

This much of the performance “ event ” (or “ reference ” in

Jakobsonian terms) is stable between these two areas of Chhattisgarh.

The festival context is the major determining factor in defining the genre

of Chhattisgarhi oral tradition called bhojali. There are also formal

and thematic features which identify the genre. These formal features

are “ framing devices” (see UofFman 1974); that is, they signal the

introduction of this particular genre of Chhattisgarhi song and elicit

certain patterns of expectations from the participants and audience of

the performance. A bhojali performance may employ only one of these

framing devices or all of them.

The most stable of these formal framing devices is the melody

line (rag) of the bhojali git and the refrain after every verse. In Indian

folk song traditions, the number of rag is relatively limited; and often

the rag are associated with a particular performance event or context.

Many ‘‘ different ’’ songs may thus be sung to the same rag. The

bhojali rag is one such melodic structure. The “ songs ” are loosely

connected verses which may logically follow one another or may stand

alone. There is no logical ending to the series of verses; verses are

simply added to one another until the women want to stop. However,

although bhojali git may be sung to other rag (for example, that of the

viha gity or wedding song), only bhojali git are sung to this rag. If

the rag does change from the bhojali rag, the refrain is left out, for the

two are inextricably intertwined. When the bhojali rag is used, each

verse ends with the phrase, “ Ham ho, Devi Ganga ” (“ Oh, Goddess

Ganga ”)，followed by the refrain:

1 . Devi (jranga, Devi Ganga

A wave as your horse

With your waves

Soak the eight limbs of the bhojali^

A second framing device is an introductory verse pattern with which

many bhojali git performances begin. The formula for the verse remains

stable between the Raipur and Phuljhar areas of Chhattisgarh;

however, the specific details inserted into the formula vary. The

verses identify the principal “ props ” of the festival celebration: the

basket, the mixture of cow dung and soil which fills it, and the bhojali

seedlings planted in the soil .

A Phuljhar example is:

2. From where is the cow dung and soil

From where is the basket

From where is Pill Bal1

Oh, we’ve installed the bhojali.

The cowdung and soil are from Raigarh.

The basket is from Chandarpur

Pill Bal is from Phuljhar

Oh, we’ve installed the bhojalu

From the Raipur area, the following example:

3. From where is the cowdung and soil

From where is the basket

From where is the new bhojali

Whose water drops are pearls.

The cow dung and soil are from the ootter’s house.

The basket from the weaver’s house.

The new bhojalt is from the house of the king.

Whose water drops are pearls.

This Phuljhar example, like many others, lays out an abbreviated

geographic map, centering the festival in a specific geographic context.

It first names towns inside Chhattisgarh, but outside Phuljhar, those

BHOJALI: SONG, GODDESS, FRIENDS

of Raigarh and Chandarpur, from where the cow dung and basket have

come  . But, it is from Phuljhar that the most essential

“ prop ” comes, the goddess herself, Pill Bal. Hence, the verse sequence

emphasizes both the connection Phuljhar has with the rest of Chhattisgarh

as well as a separate Phuljhar identity.

The Raipur area is located in the heartland of Chhattisgarh and is

not part of any smaller cultural or geographical unit. Therefore, there

is not the same concern for geographic centering, to set the Raipur

area off from any other surrounding area. Here the mapping is a

social centering, from the potter’s and weaver’s houses to that of the

king. This time it is from the king’s houses that the essential prop,

the bhojali^ comes. It is significant that in the Raipur area, it is the

husbands (often called “ kings ” in Chhattisgarhi oral traditions), and

never the women themselves, who plant the bhojali seeds into the cow dung

and soil. The primary reproductive power is seen to lie within the male.

The verse itself suggests this reproductive power when it suggests the

transformation of the water drops (semen) on the bhojali into valuable

pearls (children).

Some thematic concerns shared between the bhojal igit of Raipur

and Phuljhar give further consistency to the genre. Many verses

describe the physical setting where the bhojali seedlings are placed,

the preparation of the site where the baskets will sit, the planting and

immersion of the seedlings, and the actual worship of the bhojali ddi

with the lighting of incense, offering of water, and the performance

of artl (flame offering).

Regional Variation in the Genre of Bhojali Git

The festival/performance context, framing devices, and thematic

similarities help us to identify bhojali git as performed in the Raipur

and Phuljhar areas as a single genre. However, these similarities mask

essential differences between the bhojali tradition as it is found in the

two areas. While the same framing devices may be used, the expectations

they raise differ in the two performance contexts. The expectations

are influenced by the other oral genres available in the respective

folKiore communities and by the difference in the marital status of the

primary participants.

Raipur. In the Raipur area, bhojali is identified primarily as a

goddess festival and is associated with other goddess festivals celebrated

in the area. In conversations with villagers, bhojali is most often mentioned

in connection with the festival of javara. Javara is celebrated

in the Raipur area during both navratri, the ritual periods of nine nights

which fall in the months of caitra (March—April)，and kunvdr (September-

October). During javard, wheat seedlings are also planted and worshiped

as the goddess. The goddess possesses some of her devotees,

as she does during bhojali. In this festival, however, her primary

sevd is provided by men singmgjavard glt\ women participate as audience

at the song fests and by carrying the baskets of javara to the tank for

immersion. The structural similarities between javara and bhojali are

obvious: the nine days/nights, planting of seedlings, possession, and

served to the goddess through song.8 It is significant that javara is not

celebrated in Phuljhar, nor is any other goddess festival associated with

the planting of seedlings. Hence, in Phuljhar, the festival is not commonly

identified as a goddess festival, but rather as a festival associated

with ritual friendships. In Raipur, although bhojali friendships may

be formed at the end of the festival, this aspect of the tradition is overshadowed

by the goddess sevd.

In the Raipur area, both married women and unmarried girls

participate in the bhojalt tradition. Unmarried girls bring the soil

from the field to place in the baskets, and again carry the baskets with

the seedlings growing in them to the tank to be immersed after the nine

days. When ritual friendships are formed, they are formed only between

these unmarried participants. Married women, however, are

the principal participants in the singing of the bhojali git，although

unmarried girls may sing along. It is also married women who become

possessed when goddess possession occurs.

The primary relationship in the ritual context of the Raipur area

bhojali festival is between the goddess and the individual participant.

The goddess depends for her very life breath upon the service given

by the women during the festival through puja and the bhojalt git (the

plants quite literally depend on the water offered by the women during

worship for their survival). The women sing:

 A fish without water

Grain without a breeze

Bhojali without service

Longs for breath.

The service given by the women is reciprocated by the goddess

granting her favor through possession of some of the participants.

Informants say that when a woman hears these bhojali git, which are

filled with devotion towards the goddess, that woman may become

so full of the bhdvd (emotion) of the goddess that she can no longer

bear it (sahana). The devotee will then become possessed by the

goddess (devi us par ati hai). The presence of the possession reinforces

The primacy of the relationship between the individual participant and

the goddess. It is interesting that though bhojali git are what incite

the possession, in none of the bhojali git I heard was there any mention

made of this possession. In fact, when I witnessed bhojali possession,

the non-possessed women began to sing songs sung at another festival

associated with possession, gaura，11 in which both the words and rag

are different. This may suggest that possession is not inherent to

the bhojali tradition per se, but occurs in the Raipur area due to the

influence of the other goddess traditions involving possession, such as

javara and gaura.

The goddess also grants her favor by granting fertility, both to

the land (in the form of abundant crops) and to the participating women.

The growth of the seedlings is associated with the fertility of the rice

fields, the plants of which are in the growth process during this season.

The verbal tradition accompanying the festival makes explicit the association

of the goddess and crops, the growth of the bhojali and the

growth of the crops in the fields:

 The corn is full of starch

The sugarcane is ready to serve

Hurry, hurry and grow, oh bhojali

That you, too, may become mature.

On one level, the verse associates the growth of the corn, sugarcane,

and bhojali as various kinds of crops. However, bhojali is not only

the name of the wheat seedlings, but also of friends who have formalized

a friendship. The verse can be metaphorically understood as a call

for the festival participants to be fruitful.

In the following verse, there is metaphorical reference again to

both the fertility of the crops and the fertility of the women participants.

The bhojali daVs sari and crown are likened to the ripening, golden

rice crops, after the flood of Monsoon rains.

. The flood has come; the waste has been swept away

The sari border of our bhojali ddi is golden.

The flood has come; the small boats have floated away

The crown of our bhojali ddi is golden.

On a second level, the bhojali (woman) has reached her maturity. The

flood is an image for menstruation, ridding the body of potential products

of conception now wasted, the egg and uterine lining. Menstruation

is an indication that the woman is again “ ripe ” for conception.

 finally, the women ask directly for the blessing of fertility; more

specifically, for the blessing of a son: We asked for milk; we asked for a son

And we asked for a blessing

Queen Kau^alya is standing there

She gives a blessing.

In the Ramayana story, Queen Kausalya was herself infertile for many

years. Finally, her husband, Dasaratha, performed a sacrifice, the

prasad of which his three queens partook and became pregnant. Thus,

her blessing is especially appropriate. It is still the custom in Chhattisgarh

today for married women with children to confer the blessing,

“ May you have sons，” on married women without children.

It is perhaps the strong association with maternal fertility in the

bhojali festival and verbal tradition in the Raipur area which results

in the association of the singing of bhojali git with primarily married

women. Unmarried girls often sing along, but are included in the

“ married ” category by virtue of their potential married status. Widows

are excluded from direct participation. They are no longer eligible

for fertility, and their presence is considered inauspicious for those

ritual occasions which emphasize women’s fertility, such as the singing

of bhojali git and certain wedding rituals. Where fertility is a dominant

theme in the songs and where, through possession, the goddess-participant

relationship is primary, the ritual friendship associated with bhojali

is down-played. Not even all of the unmarried participants form such

friendships 

Phuljhar• The bhojalt tradition in Phuljhar has taken an interesting

turn from the “ mainstream ” tradition of the Raipur area. In Phuljhar,

bhojali is always referred to in the context of ritual friendships, and

rarely as a goadess festival. Most Oriya castes of the area have little

awareness of the festival and its verbal tradition unless it is celebrated

in their own village.However, they do know about the friendship.

They associate it with their own ritual friendship tradition called mahaprasad^

and say it is only a matter of different terminology for the

same thing. But the Chhattisgarhi castes of Phuljhar, who form

both bhojali and mahaprasad friendships, note that bhojali is only for

unmarried girls; after marriage, women form mahaprasad.

The emphasis on ritual friendships in the Phuljhar bhojali tradition

results partially from a shift in the nature the social group to whom

this “ means ” of folklore communication is available. In Phuljhar,

only unmarried girls participate fully in the festival and the singing of

the bhojali git. The girls whom I observed planting bhojali in Phuljhar

were between the ages of eleven and fifteen or sixteen. Participation

is further limited to those girls who will formalize a friendship by planting

their bhojali together in one basket (here it is not men who actually

plant the seeds, but the girls themselves). The subsequent growth of

the seedlings is associated with the strength and life of the friendship.

Formalization of the friendship becomes the primary focus and purpose

of the festival. The seedlings are still worshiped as the goddess, but

this aspect of the festival and the relationship with the goddess become

secondary. This is confirmed by the absence of goddess possession.

The Phuljhar participants were unaware of such possession during the

bhojali festival as it is celebrated in the Raipur area.

The change in marital status of the participants and the emphasis

on the relationship between the girls through friendship is reflected in

the thematic content of the bhojali git. In comparison with the songs

of the Raipur area, there is a noticeable lack of direct reference to the

fertility of either the land or the participants. It is natural for the

songs to reflect the immediate concerns of unmarried girls, particularly

when they are being sung among female peers，between whom close

friendships have been formed. At this point in a woman’s life, she is

not yet supposed to be actively fertile. In Chhattisgarh, it is inappropriate

for a girl to speak directly even about her forthcoming marriage,

much less her childbearing potential, especially in front of her

elders. However, at this age, marriage is of immediate concern; and

that concern is given expression in some of the song traditions of the

unmarried girls, including bhojali git.

One verse sequence identifies first the bhojali and then the singer

herself as the bride, homologizing the goddess, participant and bride.

The third verse expresses some of the reluctance and apprehension of

a young bride to go to her in-laws’ home, where the wedding palanquin

will carry her:

 Someone mounts an elephant

Someone mounts a horse

Someone mounts a palanquin

Someone mounts a wedding palanquin.

The king mounts the elephant

The chief minister mounts the horse

The queen mounts the palanquin

The bhojali mounts the wedding palanquin.

In which village is the young girl

In which village the betrothal

Only when the instruments begin to play

Will I mount the wedding palanquin.

Other verses describe the actual wedding ceremony:

 The tulsi platform(A crown in the courtyard)

Round and round the Brahman circumambulation

The wedding hour is auspicious.

We have mentioned as an element of context the other folklore

genres available to a folklore community, or more specifically, to particular

folk groups within that community. In this case, the folk group

under consideration consists of unmarried Chhattisgarhi-speaking girls

in Phuljhar. There are several Oriya traditions in Phuljhar whose

performance is restricted to this same folk group among the Oriya speaking

castes. These Oriya traditions have influenced the bhojali

git performed by the unmarried girls of the Chhattisgarhi castes.

The girls of the Chhattisgarhi castes do not participate in all of

these Oriya traditions; but one in which they do (singing in Oriya) is

the popular dance-game called homo. The genre is a kind of repartee

between two groups of girls who try to “ outsmart，” or otherwise appropriately

respond to, the verse just sung by the opposite g ro u p . "1 he

themes of these songs are secular and often concern the relationship

between teenage boys and girls, their flirtations and arrangements to

meet each other.

The following bhojali verses are illustrative of the homo influence:

Ghir, ghiry the car came

It was locked from the inside

The police took away

The boys from Jarra village.

From where is the dal and rice

From where the brass bowl

From where the unmarried boy

Who wanders about in the afternoon.

Narsingpur’s ddi and rice

Jagdishpur’s brass bowl

Jarra*s unmarried boy

Who wanders about in the afternoon.

Another bhojali verse suggests a potential sexual relationship between

the singer and a male visitor:

 Jhatiy jhan plays the mridangu

The cymbals also play

There is no master in our house

Come, take some prasad.

The girl here is offering prasad to her visitor, since there is no authority

figure present to prevent the taking. Prasad may be any offering to a

deity which is then distributed as a sanctified substance to the worshipers

; but it is usually associated with food offerings. 

The metaphoric connection between food and sex is a strong one in oral and

written Indian literary Traditions.

The theme and imagery of fertility are not altogether absent in the

Phuljhar bhojali tradition. After all, the central symbol of fertility—

the planting and growth of the wheat seedlings—has been retained,

although on a conscious level the girls may have given it different significance.

The refrain previously mentioned as a framing device

(Song 1 ) is also retained in Phuljhar:

Devi Ganga, Devi Ganga

A wave as your horse

With your waves

Soak the eight limbs of the bhojali.

The central image in this refrain has several dimensions. The soaking

of the bhojali on one level refers to the soaking of the seeds before planting

them, to insure quick sprouting. With such soaking, the seeds

become soft and swollen, readying to split and “ give birth ” to the

new sprout. The image extends to one of a woman about to give birth.

Further, in many Indian traditions, the horse has strong associations

with masculine virility. The horse and waves are suggestive of the rains,

essential for the productivity of the earth, the bhojalt, and to all feminine

fertility and productivity.

In addition to the refrain, some of the verses sung by the unmarried

girls in Phuljhar retain hints of the fertility theme; however, explicit

references to the crops and fertility of the land are few. One verse

sequence mentions the newly harvested rice and the fragrance it emits:

 In a bamboo storage bin

They have filled rice

The strong wind of the bhojali dal

Brings sweet fragrance.

In a bamboo storage bin

A colored braid for the bhojali ddi

Her forehead decorated

We will sow the bhojali ddi.

The lines of the first verse are identical to a verse recorded in the Raipur

area, except for dialect differences. However, the second verse diffuses

the focus on productive fertility of the land (the harvested rice) by

referring to the bhojali ddVs colorful braid and decorated forehead.

The bhojali ddi here is being depicted as a bride, not a mother.

Another Phuljhar verse is similar to the one sung by the Raipur

women in which Kausalya gives the blessing of a son. But here in

Phuljhar, it is Kausalya who is asking for a son, and not the participants

themselves, thus distancing the fertility reference one step from the

unmarried girls singing the song:

In the brass plate, a little rice

In the brass jug, some milk

Kausalya is standing

Asking for a son.

I have been told that childless women in Phuljhar may plant bhojali

in hopes of receiving the boon of fertility. Their service to the goddess,

however, consists only of puja (worship); they do not participate in the

singing of bhojali git with the unmarried girls.

 The folklore community of Phuljhar considers the bhojali verbal tradition and the festival

of which it is a part as “ belonging ’，to the unmarried girls.

Conclusion

A community’s aesthetic organization often reflects in some way its

social organization (Abrahams 1976:194). In the Raipur area, the aesthetic

organization suggested by participation and non-participation in the

bhojali tradition divides the female community into married women

and widows. The married women lead in the singing of bhojalt git;

and they receive the boon of fertility from the goddess. The category

of unmarried girls is distinguished for purposes of carrying the bhojali

in procession; but if they participate in the singing of bhojali git, they

are included in the “ married ” category by virtue of their potential

married status. In Phuljhar, participants are unmarried girls only,

and non-participants are all women who have been married, including

widows. This difference in aesthetic organization may suggest differences

in social organization between the two areas. Ihe fact that

unmarried girls in Phuljhar have several oral traditions exclusively

available to them as a means of communication, while unmarried girls

in the Raipur area have few oral traditions uniquely their own, suggests

that this stage of the life cycle is given more prominence in Phuljhar

than in the Raipur area.

An ethnographic analysis of the bhojali verbal and festival tradition

in the Raipur and Phuljhar areas of Chhattisgarh has shown us that this

genre of folklore is not available as a means of communication to all

members of the folklore communities in which it is performed, nor even

to the same folk group within these communities. We have seen how

the shift in the identity of the participants is correlated with a shift

in the thematic focus of the songs sung by the participants and the

structuring of relationships between participants. These differences

in the bhojali tradition as found in the two folklore communities are

schematically summarized in Table 1.

Table 1 : Chhattisgarhi Bhojalt Git

1)Location 

Raipur-Durg-Balod and other rural areas   

2)Participants

Married women

3)Primary relationship in bhojali context

With goddess:possession

4)Thematic emphasis of songs

Fertility of land

and women

5)Life-cycle emphasis

Woman as mother

 Table 2: Phuljhar

1)Location

 Raipur

2)Participants

Unmarried girls

3)Primary relationship in bhojali context

With female peers:ritual friendship

4)Thematic emphasis of songs

Emerging sexuality  and forthcoming marriage of girls

5)Life-cycle emphasis

Woman as bride

The bhojali verbal tradition and the structuring of the relationships

within the festival context reflect the concerns of the women at

their particular stage of the female life cycle. During puberty and

before marriage, girls are most concerned with their relationships with

their peers. The importance of the relationships with other girls is

reflected in the primacy of ritual friendships in the bhojali celebration

in Phuljhar. The verbal tradition which the girls share provides an

indication of their interest in relationships with their male peers. The

girls are concerned with their emerging sexuality and forthcoming

marriages and express these concerns in the bhojalt gitbut they are

not yet focusing on their own fertility and childbearing potential.

In Chhattisgarh, a woman’s central concern after her marriage becomes

her fertility and the birth of a son. Providing service to the goddess

bhojali dai, and thus strengthening their relationship with her, is one

way for married women to try to insure this fertility.

N O T E S

The fieldwork upon which this paper is based was conducted in 1980-81 in Madhya

Pradesh, India, under a doctoral dissertation grant from the Full bright-Hayes Foundation.

An earlier version of this paper was read at the fourth annual South Asian

Languages Roundtable, 1982, held in Syracuse, New York. I wish to express my

gratitude to V. Narayana Rao, Susan S. Wadley, and A. K. Ramanujan for their suggestions

and critical readings of earlier drafts.

1 . I have been influenced in my formulation of these dimensions of context

by Dell Hymes，work on the ethnography of speaking. His methodology for the

analysis of speech can be adapted to the study of folklore if one considers folklore

40 JOYCE B. FLUECKIGER

communication as “ speech，” and the various genres as speech varieties. See Hymes

1962: 14-53 and Hymes 1974. There are other dimensions to “ context.” I have

identified these three since they correlate with the three primary changes in performance

context between the Raipur and Phuljhar areas.

2. Phuljhar literally means '* falling flowers” ； residents say this name comes

from the fact that there are flowering trees in Phuljhar during every season.

3. Other types of seeds may also be planted, such as barley, rice and various

kinds of pulses; however, wheat seeds are the most common.

4. In the Raipur area, it is most common to plant the bhojalt on raksd bandhany

a festival celebrated on the luil-moon day of the month of sravan (July-August). It

is customary on this day for sisters to tie amulets or tinsel-decorated threads on the

wrists of their brothers, thereby binding the brother to protect her. If the bhojali

are planted on this day, they are immersed nine days later on the festival day celebrating

the birth of the god Krishana, janamstami (the eighth day of the dark half of bhadon).

In Phuljhar the planting or immersion of the bhojalt is often associated with the

festival of ganesh caturthi (the fourth day of the light half of bhadon). This is an important

festival in Maharastra province, honoring Ganesh. It is still relatively new

in Chhattisgarhi villages; however, in those villages where it is celebrated, it has quickly

been absorbed into the village festival cycle. In the Phuljhar village in which I witnessed

the bhojali festival, the girls had placed their bhojali baskets underneath the

platform on which the vianesh image had been seated, on the veranda of the village

headman.

5. See Edward Jay (1973) for a fuller discussion of ritual friendsmps in Chhattisgarh.

6. Appendix I contains transliterations of the Chhattisgarhi original for each

verse translated into English in the body of this paper. All translations are my own.

7. “ Pill Bal” literally means “ yellow woman.” The reference is to the bhojali

seedlings, which are a yellow-green color from having been sprouted in a dark place.

The reference may also be to a bride, who has been bathed in tumeric and oil prior

to her wedding day, leaving a golden hue on her skin.

8. There are also signihcant differences between the festivals, including the

presence of animal (goat) sacrifice at javara. For a detailed discussion of javara as

it is celebrated in the Raipur area, see Babb 1975:132-140.

9. Certain women are more susceptible than others to this possession. Usually,

when a woman has once become possessed, she will become possessed whenever she

hears a devi git (goddess song) associated with one of the goddess festivals in which

possession takes place. Perhaps this is why the women say they are hesitant to sing

these songs outside of the festival context.

Bhojali ddi is not necessarily the goddess who possesses. When I asked who

the possessing deity was, I was given a variety of names of local goddesses. The

distinction of which goddess it was did not seem to be as important as the fact that

she was devi’ the unmarried goddess. See Babb 1975:133 for a similar discussion of

the variety of names under which the goddess is worshiped during javara.

10. The fact that the festival is associated with possession limits participation

to low-middle or low castes, since high-caste women would avoid participation in

any event in which there is possession by a deity.

11. Gaura is a Chhattisgarhi festival celebrated in kartik (October-November),

commemorating the marriage of Siva and Parvati.

12. This follows the common pattern of formalizing friendships in Chhattisgarh.

That is, the prasad of various rituals or festivals may be exchanged to formalize a friendship, without the friendship being the focus of the ritual or even being mentioned in the ritual.

13. This is not true of other Chhattisgarhi traditions found in Phuljhar. In

fact, the Oriya castes often participate in some manner in several of these traditions,

as immediate audience if not as participants.

14. Mahaprasad means “ the great prasad and generally refers to the prasad

brought from the Jagannath temple at Puri, Orissa. However, for purposes of forming

mahaprasad friendships in Phuljhar, the prasad from any festival may be exchanged.

15. The nature of these friendships is, however, different in the minds of the

Chhattisgarhi castes of the area. They do not see the bhojali friendship to be as serious

and lasting as mahaprasad, perhaps because of the age and sex of the participants.

Bhojali does not carry with it as many responsibilities, nor does it involve the families,

in the way mahaprasad does.

16. See the discussion in Wadley 1980: 153-169, for the differences between

north and south Indian cultural attitudes toward puberty, puberty rites, and the pubescent

girl’s fertility.

17. Tulsi: a basil plant grown in the courtyards of most high and middle caste

homes. The plant is a goddess, and is worshiped daily by the women of the household.

18. The “ crown，，refers to the headdress worn by both bride and groom, a

tinsel-decorated diadem.

19. In one Phuljhar context in which I heard young girls singing bhojali git,

they seemed to be having difficulty in getting started and in remembering entire verses.

An elderly woman sitting nearby finally intervened. She sang out a line at a time,

and the girls repeated after her. It is interesting that all of her verses concerned

marriage; there were no examples of themes of pre-marital flirtatious relationships

as illustrated below.

 Ghtr, ghir•• onomotopoetic sound for the coming car.

 Jarra: the village in which the song was being performed.

 Dal: a type of lentil.

 Narsingpur and Jagdishpur: two villages within two miles of Jarra village.

 A drum-like instrument. Jhan，jhan: the onomatopoetic sound of the drum.

 Many of these storage bins for grain are made from twisted bamboo strips,

resulting in a braid-like design.

26. There is another Oriya festival in Phuljhar called dalkhaif which is also primarily

a festival for unmarried girls. Barren women may also participate on a limited

scale in this festival, in hopes of thereby becoming fertile, in much the same way they

participate in the bhojali festival.

27. The nature of bhojali friendships differs somewhat from the ritual friendships

of married women. Unmarried girls chose other girls who are already good friends

of theirs. The reason for married women’s friendships often begins with the fact

that they have the same number of children and children of the same sex.

APPENDIX:

Chhattisgarhi Transcription of Songs

Song 1

devi ganga, devi ganga

lahar turanga ho

tumhar lahar bhojali

bhije atho anga

Song 2

kaham ke to khatu mat!

kaharh ke to canghoriya

kaham ke to pill bal

bhojali jamoiya

rayagarh ke to khatu mati

candarpur canghoriya

phuljhar ke to pill bai

bhojali jamoiya

Song 3

kaharh ke khatu mati

kaham ke ^ukni

kaham ke java bhojali

cuhaya mot! pani

kumhar ghar ke khatu mati

karra ghar ke ^ukni

raja ghar ke java bhojali

cuhaya motl pan!

Song 4

jal bina machall

pavan bina dhan

seva bina bhojali

ke tarasthay paran

Song 5

mam<}i bhar jondharl

poris kusiyare

jaldi, jaldl barlja

bhojali husiyare

Song 6

ai gals

hamro

ai gals

hamro

pura bohai gals kacra

bhojali dai ke sone sone aflcara

pura bohai gais malgi

bhojali dal ke sone sone kalgi

Song 7

dudh marfigen put marfigen

au marhgen asls

tharhe hai kosilya

devathya asis

Song 8

kaunav ceghe hathlya

kaunav ceghe ghorva

kaunav ceghe paluki

kaunav ceghe

raja ceghe hathiya

devana ceghe ghoj*va

rani ceghe paluki

bhojali ceghe 4

kaun gam ke karl turl

kaun gam ke sagava ho

jabhe anbe nadhik nadhl

tabhe ceghav dolva

Song 9

tulsi ke camura

mukut bhaige angana

phire phire bamhan devta

bhari hai lagana

Song 10

ghir ghir motar aye

bhitar lage tala

jarra gatii ke turaman la

lege pulis wala

kaham ke to dar caur

kahath ke to banganiya

kaharh ke to diyva chokra

bulthe manjhlniya

narsimgpur ke dar caur

jagdishpur ke banganiya

jarra ke dij-va chokra

bulthe manjhiniya

Song 11

jhan, jhan murdung baja

baje baje kartale

hamar ghar ke malik naithe

lebo parsade

Song 12

barfiseke thoj*a me

bhar! daren caur

kahar mahar karthe

bhojali dal ke rahu

barhseke tjiofa me

ranga co^l dai ke

mathe he rangoiya

bhojali bona dai ke

Song 13

tharl na aka caur

garhula me dudh

thare hai kausalya bal

mangthe putr