Pranab Basak
Apart from having all the trappings of a colourful and kitschy village fair, the Bhagoriya festival of the Bhils, serves as a matrimonial platform, for couples who have been seeing each other, secretly or otherwise. One partner proposes and if the other consents, they Elope! Young men and women are dressed at the best to woo the other. Girls from one village usually wear identical saris or ghagra cholis in order to be easily identifiable amongst all the groups in the busy fair.
The Bhil tribe
Tribe Bhil
Geography Central India
State Madhya Pradesh
Bhil is one of the largest tribes in South Asia and constitutes 40% of the total population of Rajasthan. This tribal community can be located in the Aravalli Ranges of Sirohi in Udaipur and the Dungarpur and Banswara districts of Rajasthan. The word Bhil is derived from the Vil or Bil, which means bow. In the history of India, the Bhil tribe were highly valuable as fighters against the Mughals, Britishers, and the Marathas.
