President Droupadi Murmu will visit Chhattisgarh on October 22 and 23, with engagements scheduled in Raipur and Jagdalpur that will combine national commemorations, a harvest-linked public programme and participation in Bastar Dussehra’s traditional Muria Darbar.
The President’s first engagement in Raipur on October 22 is scheduled at Lok Bhawan, where she will release a Rs 200 commemorative coin and a special postal stamp marking the 200th birth anniversary of Mata Sahib Hasi Devi, described as the fifth spiritual head of Shadani Darbar. The coin and stamp are being issued by the Government of India as part of a national commemoration of her spiritual and social legacy.
Murmu will later attend the ‘Seva Samman Parv’ and ‘Yuva Probodhan’ programme at the Indoor Stadium. The event is linked to Nuakhai, the agrarian festival associated with the celebration of the new harvest. The Raipur engagements will therefore bring together a national commemorative programme and a public event connected to a regional agricultural tradition.
On October 23, the President is scheduled to travel to Jagdalpur for Bastar Dussehra, one of the country’s longest-running festival traditions. According to the tentative programme, she is expected to arrive at Jagdalpur airport at 10:30 am before visiting the Danteshwari temple and proceeding to Sirhasar Bhavan.
Her schedule includes participation in the Muria Darbar from approximately 11 am to 11:30 am, followed by a visit to Lalbagh Maidan. She is scheduled to depart Jagdalpur for Delhi at around 3 pm. The programme remains tentative, and the timings or sequence may be subject to official changes.
The Muria Darbar is not only a ceremonial component of Bastar Dussehra. Traditionally, it has served as a forum where Manjhis, Chalkis and other community representatives from across Bastar place local concerns before the ruling or administrative establishment. Its origins are associated with Bastar’s erstwhile royal system, when community representatives used the Dussehra gathering to interact directly with the ruler.
The institution continued after the end of princely rule and evolved into a forum connecting traditional tribal leadership with the modern administration. Murmu’s scheduled participation therefore places a longstanding local institution within the formal programme of a constitutional head of state.
The visit also highlights the distinct administrative and cultural settings of Chhattisgarh’s capital and Bastar’s regional centre. Raipur’s events are centred on Lok Bhawan and the Indoor Stadium, while the Jagdalpur programme is tied to the Danteshwari temple, Sirhasar Bhavan, Muria Darbar and Lalbagh Maidan.
The President’s two-day itinerary is scheduled to conclude with her departure from Jagdalpur for Delhi at about 3 pm on October 23. Further changes to the tentative programme would depend on official updates.
