# Karma Festival in Surguja Celebrates Nature and Harvest as Young Women Observe Waterless Fast

> Communities across Surguja marked the Bhado Ekadashi festival of Karma Puja to pray for bountiful crops and prosperity, with unmarried girls observing a daylong fast.

**Type:** article · **Category:** Chhattisgarh · **Published:** 2026-09-23 · **Source:** TrendKia
**Canonical:** https://trendkia.com/en/chhattisgarh/surguja-men-bhado-ekadashi-para-karma-parva-ki-dhuma-yuvatiyon-ne-rakha-nirjala-upavasa-36902 · **Language:** English
**Tags:** Surguja, Karma Puja, Bhado Ekadashi, Chhattisgarh Culture, Tribal Traditions, Karma Dev

In the Surguja region of Chhattisgarh, indigenous communities and rural residents have once again brought their ancestral heritage to life through the sacred celebrations of Karma Puja. Observed annually on the eleventh day, or Ekadashi, of the month of Bhado, this festival serves as an invocation for a rich harvest, enduring peace, and familial prosperity. A central aspect of this observance is the rigorous waterless fast observed by young, unmarried women who devote their day to prayer and spiritual discipline.

## Community Unity and Reverence for the Agricultural Cycle
According to local observer Sikandar Prajapati, the rituals of Karma Puja represent a long-standing tradition handed down across countless generations. Falling precisely on the Ekadashi tithi of Bhado every year, the festival brings together diverse communities. People belonging to the Manjhi, Majhwar, Kanwar, Kumhar, and Gond communities, along with other sections of Hindu society, unite in large numbers to conduct the ceremonies. The festival remains deeply rooted in agrarian life and nature worship. Local beliefs hold that worshipping the deity Karma Dev secures a thriving paddy crop, promotes community harmony, and safeguards the village against adversity. It is viewed as an enduring cultural legacy anchored in collective faith. Once the evening rituals draw to a close, fasting participants conclude their vows and distribute holy offerings among worshippers across the village.

## Strict Fasting Disciplines Observed from Dawn
Unmarried girls bear the primary devotional responsibilities of the festival by observing a strict fast without food or water from early morning onward. They refrain completely from touching food or liquids throughout the daylight hours. As dusk falls, participants perform ritual ablutions and bathing ceremonies, setting the stage for the formal worship proceedings that unfold through the evening.

## Preserving Sanctity While Gathering the Sacred Branch
Between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM in the evening, groups head into nearby forest areas to retrieve a branch of the sacred Karma tree. Specific customs govern this retrieval: the branch must never be chopped down using metallic or sharp implements, but rather broken off reverently by hand. Throughout the journey back to the settlement, the branch must never touch the ground. Bearing it respectfully upon their shoulders, the participants carry it directly into household courtyards for the upcoming prayer ceremonies.

## Ablution with Milk and Placement on Courtyard Thatches
Upon arriving in the courtyard, the branch representing Karma Dev is placed carefully inside a metal platter and given a ritual bath using milk. Once the traditional worship, offerings, and incantations are completed in the presence of family and neighbours, the consecrated branch is installed onto the household roof thatch, concluding the ceremonial installation with communal reverence.

## What this means for you
This traditional festival reinforces community cohesion, agricultural hope, and environmental reverence across rural settlements.

- **Across India:** The festival highlights the preservation of indigenous wisdom and ancient nature-centric practices that have sustained regional ecosystems for centuries. It showcases the cultural diversity and deep ecological ethics embedded in Indian folklore.
- **In Surguja:** Local villages experience renewed community bonding as diverse social groups participate collectively in the rituals. Families gather on Bhado Ekadashi to share offerings and reaffirm generational neighborly ties.
- **For Farming Households:** Cultivators draw renewed optimism for a bountiful autumn paddy crop amidst crucial phases of the monsoon agricultural calendar. These prayers generate shared morale across farming hamlets.
- **For Devotees and Youth:** Young unmarried women observing the waterless fast sustain traditional spiritual disciplines within their households. Elders actively transmit community customs, rules, and folklore to younger generations.

## Why this happened
Karma Puja is rooted in ancient rural convictions connecting agricultural prosperity, nature reverence, and communal welfare.

- **Reverence for Agriculture and Nature:** Rural folks believe that honouring Karma Dev ensures a bountiful paddy harvest and shields the settlement from hardship. The custom emphasizes nature conservation and deep gratitude toward forest resources.
- **Observance of the Bhado Ekadashi Timeline:** Ancestral customs specifically designate the eleventh day of the waxing moon in the month of Bhado for these rituals. This timing synchronizes with critical phases of the regional crop cycle.
- **Inter-community Heritage:** Multiple groups including the Manjhi, Majhwar, Kanwar, Kumhar, and Gond communities share identical ceremonial responsibilities. This shared participation has kept the ancient practices unbroken across generations.

## Questions & Answers

### 1. On which date is Karma Puja observed?
Karma Puja is celebrated every year on the eleventh tithi, known as Ekadashi, of the Hindu month of Bhado.

### 2. Which communities participate in Karma Puja?
Various communities take part, including the Manjhi, Majhwar, Kanwar, Kumhar, and Gond groups alongside wider Hindu society.

### 3. What kind of fast do young women observe during the festival?
Unmarried girls observe a strict waterless fast from morning until evening without consuming any food or liquids.

### 4. How is the sacred Karma branch gathered from the forest?
Between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM, the branch is hand-broken without cutting tools and carried on shoulders without touching the soil.

### 5. How is the branch consecrated once brought home?
It is placed in a metal platter, bathed with milk, worshipped, and subsequently placed onto the household roof thatch.

---
_TrendKia — Har trend, sabse pehle.. Machine-readable view; canonical HTML at the URL above._