Does Chhattisgarh’s festival ” Kamarchhat ” , deserve us?
A female , from being unmarried to a married wife , goes through many cultural traditions. Sometimes
for her husband,
Sometimes
for their children and sometimes for their family’s happiness to maintain their social and economic prosperity. She keeps fast without food , with food at a time or sometimes even without a water. But the most important thing behind all these is a “girl with a big heart” , a girl who sacrifices her happiness for the happiness of her family , a girl who don’t care for her own health takes full care of her husband and children’s health.
Chhattisgarh is a state of festival , traditions and the state which is colored with different culture from every corner of Indian states.
Kamarchhat , commonly known as Halshasthi , celebrated in the month of Bhadra on the sixth day of Krishna Paksh , is one such festival of Chhattisgarh.
On this day a mother fasts for the long life of her children ( basically son ) . She makes a projection on the earth i.e “kund” and do some rituals. After performing the rituals , she listens to a tale related to it from a priest. Then she puts some diluted solution which they call “chappa” in Chhattisgarhi on the back of all the children present over there.
After all the process,she ends her fast by eating Red rice (pasehar rice ) , curd , green leafy vegetable, laai and mahua .
The most important thing behind these traditional methods is ” mother’s emotions.”
From the pre-historic era to its independence , what we have collected from the pages of history is that , it’s always been a place with rich cultural heritage. From the family to husband to child , from the animal to bird , from the feast to rice ,from the sindoor to cowdung , from the milk to soil , from the iron to bamboo , from the automobiles to agriculture among others ; everything has its own importance .
Whenever you take the next step you will see the different colors and different festivals.
Many festivals over here such as Rout dance among others , though has got the global and national fame , but there are still many on the queue to reach there. Kamarchhat is one such.
In this era , where everyday comes fashion and technology , the generation gap is exceeding the limit it shouldn’t. I agree the youth are holding the hands of innovation and entrepreneurship , getting into the best colleges of country , making themselves self centred and its the good sign for the development of the state to reach the developed state then to the developed nation. But with the improvement on one side , majority are marring their morals and indirectly the traditional understanding on the other side. They are focussing on their career but leaving their parents behind . They forget to call their parents , forget to ask about them , forget their birthday and sometimes forget to respect their emotions.
Is a mother keeping “Kamarchhat” for the long life , so that her child will do like this ?
No, it’s not!
Yes she wants to see us happy , she wants to see us successful , she wants to take all our sufferings over her , but she never wants to see us separate from her.
It doesn’t matter , whether you are just 2 or 22 years , when you go to her and keep your head on her lap, she will still tap your head the same . She will never change for you , whether its her love ,her concern or her anger.It will never change.
Then why us?
It’s not our right. We are compelled to love her for the sacrifices she has given through all these years. And we should.
This festival can be called as the ,” festival of mothers”. If she can keep a fast for us , then why can’t we give in return her with a love and respect throughout the year !
She won’t ask anything from you , but what she feels inside is to have your company when she needs you, which she never ask for.
Chhattisgarh has always been on the growing path so why can’t we contribute some to it’s slogan
“Chhattisgadhiya sable badhiya “
Bhawna Jaiswal