- Hareli Tihar is associated with the agricultural culture, tradition and faith of Chhattisgarh.
- Chhagan Lal Lonhare
- Joint Director, Public Relations
The state government is making every effort to strengthen the economic condition of farmers. Villages, the poor, and farmers are the government’s top priority. Agriculture contributes significantly to the country’s GDP. Agriculture is also the foundation of Chhattisgarh’s economy, and Chhattisgarh is known as the rice bowl. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Dev Sai, policy decisions taken in the last two and a half years in the interest of farmers have provided a new impetus to agriculture. In the last Kharif marketing year, 141.05 lakh metric tons of paddy were purchased from farmers at the support price. Hareli festival holds special significance in Chhattisgarh. Hareli is the first festival of Chhattisgarh. This festival is traditionally celebrated with enthusiasm in rural areas. On this day, farmers worship agricultural equipment used in farming and soil is worshipped in homes. Children and youth in the villages enjoy playing the Gidi. This festival has also enhanced the importance of Chhattisgarh’s culture and folk festivals. In rural areas, Hareli festival is incomplete without the Gidi.
Under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Dev Sai, the state government has not only enhanced the prestige of farmers by purchasing paddy from registered farmers at the support price of 21 quintals per acre at the rate of Rs 3100 per quintal, but has also done remarkable work in taking them towards progress. Besides, by transferring Rs 3716.38 crore, the pending paddy bonus of the last two years of the Raman government, into the farmers’ accounts, the economic condition of the farmers has been strengthened. The Chief Minister believes that India lives in villages. When farmers are prosperous, the trade and industry of the state will grow.
According to tradition, for years, in the villages of Chhattisgarh, before Hareli Tihar, there used to be an order for a Gidi at the carpenter’s house and on the insistence of the children, the parents used to make the Gidi somehow. On the day of Hareli Tihar, from early morning, the farmer families, elders and children, bathe their cows, bulls and calves in the pond’s ghat and clean the farming tools, plough (ploughshare), spade, shovel, pickaxe and decorate them for worship by spreading gravel in the courtyard of the house. Mothers make jaggery cheela. After worshipping the agricultural tools with incense and lamps, coconut and jaggery cheela are offered as Prasad. In their respective homes, they worship their deities along with their deities. Thakurdev is worshipped in the village Gudi.
On the day of Hareli festival, medicated flour balls are fed to protect the health of livestock. In the village, members of the Yadav community go to the forest to collect roots and tubers and provide them with herbal medicines for the animals. At the village’s Sahadadev or Thakurdev, members of the Yadav community boil the herbs brought from the forest and give them to the farmers. In return, farmers have a tradition of gifting rice, pulses, etc. to the Yadavs.
Hareli festival is celebrated on the new moon day of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) of the month of Sawan. Hareli means greenery. During the rainy season, the earth is covered in green. The environment appears lush and green everywhere. By the time Hareli festival arrives, the cultivation of Kharif crops is almost complete. Mothers prepare jaggery cheela. After washing the agricultural tools and worshipping them with incense and lamps, coconut and jaggery cheela are offered as prasad. The village Thakur Dev is worshipped and coconut is offered to him.
The tradition of offering the “Gidi” (a sacred thread) is inextricably linked with Hareli Tihar. In rural areas, almost every family constructs a “Gidi” (a sacred thread). Children and young people thoroughly enjoy it. The “Gidi” is made from bamboo. Two bamboos are nailed at equal distances. Another bamboo is split in half and divided into two halves. These are tied with a coconut rope to form two “Paua” (a sacred thread). These “Paua” (a sacred thread) are actually foot-supports that are tied to the nails driven into the two previously split bamboos. Walking on the “Gidi” produces a “rachna-rachna” sound, adding to the joyful atmosphere. Therefore, farmers bathe and worship their livestock on this day. They knead wheat flour into balls, wrap them in castor or khamar tree leaves, and feed the cattle with the medicine to protect them from diseases. In the villages, Pauni-Prasaris like Raut, Lohar, and Baiga plant neem branches at the doorsteps of every house. Village blacksmiths hammer nails into door frames to ward off the possibility of evil. This tradition still exists in rural areas.
In the past decade, villages would become muddy during the rainy season, and navigating the streets on the gaadi (a wooden cart) was a delight. With the concretization of streets in every village, the mud problem has now been largely eliminated. On Hareli, housewives prepare a variety of Chhattisgarhi dishes in their kitchens. Farmers worship their farming tools, including ploughshare, spade, sickle, axe, sickle, etc., and offer Chhattisgarhi delicacies like gulgul bhajiya and guddha cheela. The gaadi is also worshipped. In the evening, young people and children play various games, including coconut throwing in the village streets and kabaddi in the village playground. Daughters-in-law and daughters, wearing new clothes, enjoy games like Sawan Jhula, Billas, Kho-Kho, and Phugdi.
Hareli Tihar symbolizes social harmony. It’s not just a religious or agricultural festival; it’s a means of uniting all sections of society. The villagers come together to organize pujas and events. On this day, along with wishing for happiness and prosperity in the family, gratitude is expressed to nature and livestock.
