Actor Jackie Shroff attended Nagpur’s centuries-old Marbat festival with filmmaker Subhash Ghai. He praised the unique cultural event, which features giant effigies representing evil, and said the tradition deserves to be seen by audiences worldwide.
Actor Jackie Shroff attended Nagpur’s centuries-old Marbat festival and praised the distinctive cultural celebration, saying the tradition deserves to be seen by audiences around the world. “This is a very good program; the entire world should know about this program. Everyone in the whole world should watch such a program, not just here- everyone should see it,” Shroff said.
About the Marbat Festival
Jackie Shroff was accompanied by filmmaker Subhash Ghai at the festival. The Marbat festival is celebrated annually in the month of Bhadrapada and draws thousands of citizens onto the streets for vibrant processions featuring giant effigies representing evil forces, social evils, and issues troubling society. The festival combines cultural tradition, public participation and social messaging.
The Symbolism of Marbats and Badgyas
The giant effigies, known as Marbats, are made using bamboo, paper and cloth and symbolise various forms of evil and negative influences affecting society. The tradition provides a platform to highlight social evils and unpopular issues while bringing communities together.
Smaller effigies called Badgyas are also carried during the processions. Representing demons and negative tendencies, they form an important part of the festival’s traditional symbolism.
Procession and Culmination
The processions move through different parts of Nagpur amid slogans, music and traditional chants. Thousands of people gather along the routes to watch the colourful and energetic spectacle, which remains the central attraction of the celebrations.
The festival concludes with the effigies being set ablaze, symbolising the destruction of evil and the triumph of good. The ritual reflects the traditional belief that negative forces and social evils must ultimately be overcome.
The Marbat festival remains a distinctive cultural feature of Nagpur, bringing communities together through processions, rituals and traditional chants while reinforcing its enduring message of the victory of good over evil.
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