Jagdalpur · 75 days · 2026
Bastar Dussehra
बस्तर दशहरा
A 75-day worship of Maa Danteshwari, centred on Jagdalpur. It is not the Ramayana Dussehra. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai invited President Droupadi Murmu to the Muria Darbar on 23 October 2026. Rajesh Agrawal was in the group that conveyed the invitation.
- Began
- 12 August 2026
- Opening
- Paat Jatra
- Length
- 75 days
- Goddess
- Maa Danteshwari
- Muria Darbar
- 23 October
- Invitation
- The Chief Minister’s
28 September 2026 · New Delhi
The invitation to the President
Vistaar News carried his post from that day: he had met President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi and invited her to Bastar Dussehra, which he called a festival of the state’s tribal culture and of traditions centuries old. He wrote that she accepted gladly and said she would try to attend.
Chhattisgarh Top News, Navbharat Times, UNI and The Times of India reported the same meeting as the handing over of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai’s letter. Those reports say she accepted the invitation to the Muria Darbar in Jagdalpur on 23 October 2026. Present with Rajesh Agrawal were Union Minister Tokhan Sahu, Bastar MP Mahesh Kashyap and Culture and Tourism Secretary Dr S. Bharathidasan.
Her presence at the Muria Darbar would be a moment of pride for Bastar’s tribal culture.
As published on 12 October 2026
The 75 days
Patrika and Dakshin Kosal reported the start on Wednesday 12 August 2026, Hareli Amavasya, with the Paat Jatra in the courtyard of the Danteshwari temple. The festival committee’s dates, as those reports and Roots Alert give them, run through the Muria Darbar. Paat Jatra, Deri Gadai and Kachhangadi are already past. The darbar has not been held.
12 Aug
Paat Jatra
Hareli Amavasya. The 75 days began.
24 Sep
Deri Gadai
Listed by the Dussehra committee.
10 Oct
Kachhangadi
Already held when this page was written.
11 Oct
Kalash sthapana
The day before Jogi Bithai.
12 Oct
Jogi Bithai
The rite dated to the day this page was written.
13–18 Oct
Navratri and the rath
Daily worship and a chariot procession.
18 Oct
Bel Puja
Named by the committee to the Chief Minister.
23 Oct
Muria Darbar
Still ahead. The President has been invited.
Official notes and the committee describe the festival as worship of Maa Danteshwari, not as a staging of Rama’s victory. There is no burning of a Ravana effigy. The goddess’s temple stands at Dantewada. On 8 October a committee delegation led by Mahesh Kashyap told the Chief Minister, as Roots Alert reported, that the tradition is linked to the Chalukya ruler Purushottam Dev. That is the committee’s account.
21 photographs
The festival, in photographs
The first frames are Bastar Dussehra itself, from earlier years. The rest are the temple of Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, the goddess the Jagdalpur rites worship. None of them is a photograph of the 2026 festival.
A chariot at Bastar Dussehra. Sushil.skk, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Not a photograph of the 2026 festival. 
Bastar Dussehra in Jagdalpur, as the photographer described a celebration by local people. Mohit Kumar Montu, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Not dated here to 2026. 
A Dussehra procession, 17 October 2021. The file title names Kamal Chandra Bhanj Deo of the Kakatiya line. Adbh266, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. 
The photographer titles this the Danteshwari temple at Jagdalpur. Rajeshjena453, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Not a 2026 festival frame. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur. 
Maa Danteshwari at Dantewada, where the Shankhini and Dankini meet. Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. The goddess’s temple, not a photograph of the 2026 rites in Jagdalpur.
Sources
Reports
PatrikaAug 2026Bastar Dussehra 2026 begins with the Paat Jatra12 August 2026, Hareli Amavasya, as the start of the 75 days.
Dakshin Kosal2026The 75-day scheduleThe committee dates from Paat Jatra through the chariot days.
Chhattisgarh Top News28 Sep 2026President to attend the Muria Darbar on 23 OctoberThe accepted invitation, who was present, and the minister’s remarks.
Navbharat Times28 Sep 2026President accepts the Bastar Dussehra invitationThe same acceptance, in Hindi.
Roots Alert8 Oct 2026Dussehra committee invites the Chief MinisterThe committee’s account of the festival’s history, and the October dates.
Vistaar News28 Sep 2026The minister’s own account of the invitationHis social-media post from New Delhi, and the President’s reply that she would try to come.
The Times of IndiaSep 2026President to attend the Muriya Darbar on 23 OctoberThe state government’s account of the acceptance, and what the darbar is.- UNI29 Sep 2026President Murmu to attend Bastar Dussehra in JagdalpurWho was present when the invitation was conveyed.
Dainik BhaskarSep 2026The delegation invites the PresidentBhaskar’s report that she said she would try to attend.
Curly TalesYouTubeKamiya learns the traditions of Bastar DussehraA film of the festival’s own rites. Not the minister, and not the 2026 darbar.