Meghnad Festival is celebrated by the Gonds of
Madhya Pradesh, usually in the month called Phalguna (February-March). This festival is dedicated to Lord Meghnad, a major deity of this tribe.
After the Holi festival, a platform is built on four poles to represent the Lord Khandera dev, an incarnation of Lord Meghnad. A fifth pole, which protrudes from the platform, supports a horizontal beam that can be rotated freely. The whole structure is coated with a paste prepared from red earth and oil.
Lord Khandera Dev is believed to cure illnesses and bless the people with a bumper crop. Offerings of coconuts, eggs, chickens and goats are made, and traditional songs are recited to the beats of drums and cymbals. Sometimes, those who seek the deity’s blessings tie themselves by the waist to one end of the horizontal beam of the platform. They are then rotated a few times. Numerous devotees attend this festival every year.
