Dandari Festival

Each month throughout the year there are atleast one or two festivals for us Gonds. From amongst all the festivals, Divadi is the biggest festival. In order to worship the “Padmalpuri” female diety and “Ravudk” male dieties, they use the “Kodal” mask, peacock feathered headdresses, mortars, animal skins, and a variety of different kinds of drums (para, veṭṭe, tuḍum, ani ḍapk) and dancing sticks.

From the day of bogi until the day of kolaboḍi the Gusadi dancers (gusaḍk), and the dikḍiyalir (young men dressed as ladies), continue to worship those deities. During these days our people take the ḍandari to another village, where they are welcomed and reciprocate the treatment they themselves received [the previous year]