Pola celebrations end with marbat procession

NAGPUR: Bringing curtains on Pola celebrations in city, the Pili and Kali marbat procession whipped up frenzy as it meandered through narrow lanes of Itwari and other areas in east Nagpur.
Starting from Jagnath Budhwari, the event is about Pili marbat, a figure of a woman dressed in yellow with long black hair and tonnes of jewellery, which is taken out in a 10km long procession."It was a custom in Teli samaj to have small statutes of women which were worshipped and taken out of the house as a symbol of driving away disease and evil. But during British rule this custom was used as a way to protest against their atrocities," says Prakash Gaurkar who heads Tahane Teli Samaj Marbat Nagoba Devasthan.
Explaining the significance of Pili marbat, Anant Thakre, an idol maker in Chitar Oli said, "Just as we use blue colour to show dark complexion, in olden times, yellow was used to show fair complexion. Thus, Pili marbat was a symbol of Britishers or 'gore' as we called them."
In its 130th year, the procession has now become part of city's identity and has been taken up by MTDC to promote tourism. "The Kali marbat was added later. The meeting of the two at Nehru Chowk, which is the high point of the procession, started much later," said Atmaram Tatkare, who sat watching the procession for the seventieth time this year.
But little of this history remains. The celebrations have been hijacked by Indi pop culture. 6,000 watts speakers and a DJ mouthing traditional lines of ?Rograi gheun jaage marbat,' mixed with smart quips involving organizing committee members, regaled the crowd of youngsters, who were delirious, dancing to Bollywood hits.
According to Laxman Yurvarkar, a small shop owner here, "The procession symbolizes end of all bad things. So there is lot of anger being vented, aggressive posturing and bagdyas."
A giant size figure or badgya styled to look like Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a poster suggesting that it was end for Pakistan if it didn't leave Kashmir alone. ?Abki baar Sher ki sarkar', read another poster pasted at the back of a badgya.
"All the pent up feelings and whatever is politically incorrect is expressed through these grotesque figures," explained Diwakar Nikade, taking much pride in the event.
The moment arrived when both the marbats meet. Youths standing on high rise buildings on both sides pulled strings to which five to six plastic bags filled with rose petals were hanging. The bags opened to shower petals as the two figures came close. "Don't look for meanings to these acts. They are just for fun," suggested Vinod Waman, a paanwala who did brisk business today.
The procession ended at Naik Talao where the badgyas and the two marbats were burned down.