Nagpur's Marbat festival showcases 145-year-old tradition, CM Fadnavis attends

Nagpur city's 145-year-old Marbat-Badgya procession tradition took on a new form this year. It is one of Nagpur's oldest, historic and cultural traditions. To give the tradition national and international recognition, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation took the initiative and organised the Marbat Festival for the first time this year. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attended the festival held on the 11th and added to the enthusiasm of the large crowd present.

Along with the Chief Minister, well-known actor Jackie Shroff, veteran director Subhash Ghai, actor Ankush Chaudhari and cricketer Umesh Yadav also took part in the festival. Notably, consuls-general of some countries also visited the festival and closely observed and learnt about this special Nagpur tradition.

A large stage was set up at Gandhi Putla Chowk on Central Avenue so that dignitaries could properly view the procession of the Marbat and the Badgyas based on various themes. Present on this stage were Nagpur district guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Minister of State for Finance and Planning Adv. Ashish Jaiswal, and MLAs Krishna Khopde, Mohan Mate, Praveen Datke and Dr Rajiv Potdar. Also notably present were Mayor Nita Thakre, Deputy Mayor Leela Hathibed, French Consul-General Patrick Leverino, Norwegian Consul-General Monica Nyglaard and Finnish Consul-General Petra Theman. Chief Minister Fadnavis and other dignitaries showered flower petals on the procession.

The foreign guests who attended the festival also learnt about the history and background of the tradition. Standing Committee chairperson Shivani Dani-Vakhare, ruling party leader Narendra Borkar, Municipal Commissioner Dr Vipin Itankar, former mayor Dayashankar Tiwari and former mayor Archana Dehankar also attended the festival. Also present at the event were Sam TV editor Nilesh Khare, ABP Majha editor Sarita Kaushik, well-known chef Vishnu Manohar and graphic designer Vivek Ranade.

Praising the festival organised by the Municipal Corporation, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the effort to give this Nagpur tradition a global character was certainly commendable. He specially congratulated the Municipal Corporation's officials for the successful organisation of the festival. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister also expressed the wish that all difficulties in the lives of ordinary people in Maharashtra should be resolved.