Tradition · Bhil pre-Holi fair · India
Bhagoria Haat
A week of markets across the Bhil and Bhilala country of western Madhya Pradesh in the days before Holi, at once the harvest's selling season and the year's courtship. A man offers paan or gulal to a woman; if she accepts and applies it back, the pair may leave together, and the marriage is recognised by the community afterwards. The name is from bhagna, to elope. It is a market with a social function the market does not explain.
- Function
- Arts & performance
- Confidence
- Not assessed
- Location
- 22.200, 74.780 (approximate)
Worth knowing
The custom is often described as elopement, which is the opposite of what it is: the leaving is public, expected, and ratified by both families afterwards — the fair exists so that the choice can be made openly.
Popular accounts compress a range of local practices across Jhabua, Alirajpur and Dhar into one ceremony; the details vary by community and village.
Connections (1)
- In the same set asChitra Vichitra Fair
Bhil courtship fairs on either side of the Gujarat–Madhya Pradesh line, both attached to Holi and both markets first. Bhagoria runs through the week before Holi across Jhabua and Alirajpur, selling the harvest and allowing a couple who exchange paan and gulal to leave together, with the community ratifying it after. Chitra Vichitra comes the fortnight after Holi on the Sabarmati's headwaters. The same people, the same season, and a border between them.
On these journeys
Sources
Wikipedia, “Bhagoria”. Madhya Pradesh tribal welfare department records; Tribal Research and Development Institute, Bhopal.
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