The Gazetteer Department comes out with two kinds of gazettes - district and state gazettes – that cover issues like history, botany, medicinal plants and literature.
A Nagpur festival when Putana, the demoness killed by baby Krishna is worshipped
Buldhana's 'Mahaprasad' offering, where two lakh people are served at one go
Mahashivratri yatra to the revered the 13th Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva in Gadchiroli
These religious fairs are among the little-known gems of Maharashtra's tradition where religion, history, culture, and folk art converge. These vignettes will be soon recorded for posterity with the Maharashtra State Gazetteers' directorate's first comprehensive documentation of the yatras held across the state.
The department will publish a division-wise compilation of yatras and utsavs held at temples, shrines, dargahs and places of worship across Maharashtra. The first volume is titled 'Maharashtra: Yatra va Utsav (Vidarbha Vibhag)', and will be released in around two months.
"The documentation will serve as a repository of the various yatras and fairs in Maharashtra. Their importance and legends of how they began will be part of the documentation," Dilip Balsekar, Executive Editor and Secretary, Gazetteers Department, said.
The Gazetteer Department comes out with two kinds of gazettes - district and state gazettes – that cover issues like history, botany, medicinal plants and literature. Containing a detailed study of social, political, economic and cultural lives of people along with the description of physical and natural features, these gazettes serve as an encyclopedia for historians and researchers.
Festival file
Piwali Marbat: Celebrated in Nagpur and the surrounding areas during August- September, the festival dates back to 1885 and beyond. According to one version, it's the outcome of a boon given to the demoness Putana who was killed by Krishna. A boon that said she will be be worshipped in Kaliyug.
Vivekanand Jayanti at Vivekanand Ashram in Mehekar, Buldhana: Two lakh devotees are fed 'Mahaprasad' of 250 quintals each of wheat puris and brinjal subji at one go in around 20 minutes using 100 tractors and 2,000 volunteers on a 40 acre ground. This was started in 1965 to bridge caste divisions.
Mahashivratri, Markandeshwar temple, at Markanda in Gadchiroli: Large congregation of devotees from Maharashtra, Telengana and Chhattisgarh worship Lord Shiva and sage Markandeya. It is supposed to contain the 12 Jyotirlingas and is revered as the 13th such shrine to the Lord of Kailasa.
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