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All you need to know about 141-year-old Marbat festival celebrated only in Nagpur

Thousands of people throng the streets to celebrate the 141-year-old Marbat festival, which is celebrated only in Nagpur.
Marbat procession (Nation Next file photo)

All you need to know about 141-year-old Marbat festival celebrated only in Nagpur, which is celebrated on the second day of Pola. .. 

Thousands of people throng the streets to celebrate the 141-year-old Marbat festival, which is celebrated only in Nagpur. As per tradition, devotees take out a procession carrying effigies that represent evil forces. The clay effigies or ‘Marbats’ of Kali (black) and Pivli (yellow) are the main attraction of the procession, which are burnt by the locals.

While the procession of Kali Marbat started in 1881, Pili Marbat celebrations date back to 1885. It was started by Tanhane Teli Samaj to oppose the bizarre rules and regulations of the British, which were considered to be social evils by them in those days.

Prakash Gaurkar, President, Marbat Nagoba Devasthan, Tanhane Teli Samaj, had earlier told Nation Next, “We are carrying forward the legacy of our ancestors by symbolically protesting against various evils prominent in the society today. As a part of the celebrations, a Pili marbat (yellow statue) and a Kali marbat (black statue) are made at the Pili Marbat temple at Jagnath Budhwari.”

He added, “Then these two statues are taken through the streets of the entire Itwari market before they are put on fire at Naik Talao in the evening. It’s believed that these statues absorb the negativity and social evils when they are taken through the streets. And then the negativity and social evils are burnt along with the statues.”

Also read: Rare photos of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar during his Nagpur visit in 1956

After the procession, which goes on for several kilometres, the yellow and black statues meet at Nehru Putla Square before they are put on fire. People also celebrate this meeting of statues as they dance and shower flower petals on the statues.

The statues at the celebrations are made by Shende family, which has been making them for three generations now. Ganpatrao Shende, after whom his son Bhimaji Shende took over, prepared the statues in 1885.

During the celebration, people gather to address various social problems. Few locals, speaking about the occasion, once told ANI, Kali and Pivli are believed to be sisters who are made to meet each other on this day. While some believe that the festival has some historical value others consider Kali and Pivli as deities.

Locals raise a famous slogan during this festival Rograi gheun ja ge marbat, which means rid us of diseases. A lot of people believe that the Kali and Pilvi marbat will make their wishes come true during this festival. It also related to history during the British Raj.

Nagpur News

NIA raids Nagpur man’s residence at 4 am for suspected terror links with Zakir Naik

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Radhika Dhawad | Nagpur
National Investigation Agency – NIA – conducted searches at three locations in Nagpur in its ongoing probe into a case having terror links.

Area in Satranjipura where raids were being conducted

National Investigation Agency – NIA – conducted searches at three locations in Nagpur in its ongoing probe into a case having suspected terror links with Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. The investigation that began at 4 am and concluded at 8 am during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, was carried out at Satranjipura and Hansapuri areas of the city. 

Acting on a tip off, the officials raided the residences of the accused for allegedly establishing a contact in Pakistan through their mobile phones. 

The NIA interrogated two people – Akhtar Raza Vald Moh and Ahmad Raza Vald Moh – living near Badi Masjid in Satranjeepura for allegedly chatting with a Pakistani person through WhatsApp. 

The NIA team released Abdul after issuing him a notice and confiscating his phone. The NIA team confiscated Abdul’s mobile phone.. Reportedly, a few days back, both the accused had an argument at an Iftar party that was organised at Badi Masjid so the Lakdganj Police had called them for questioning. 

Zakir Naik is an Islamic preacher, founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) who faces multiple charges of money laundering and hate speech in India. Naik, who has been residing in Malaysia since 2017, is accused of instigating Muslim youth and terrorists in India and abroad to commit terrorist acts.

Also read: Dance enthusiasts, friends pay tribute in loving memory of Tiki Peters in Nagpur

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Nagpur News

Dance enthusiasts, friends pay tribute in loving memory of Tiki Peters in Nagpur

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Radhika Dhawad | Nagpur

Dance enthusiasts, friends and students came together and paid a heartfelt tribute in the loving memory of renowned western dance teacher late Benedict Peters fondly called as Tiki Peters. Moreover, the get-together also gave a chance to enthusiasts who wished to express their love for dance. The get together was held at Money Plant Terrace in Laxmi Nagar on March 13.

Hosts – businessman Dhananjay Sakharkar and Deputy Executive Editor at ABP Majha Sarita Kaushik – along with other guests, reminisced some memorable anecdotes of Tiki that lifted spirits of all as they went down the memory lane. 

Fondly remembering Peters, Sarita Kaushik told Nation Next, “Tiki was a dear friend for whom Dhananjay and I arranged this small get-together. He was a gifted teacher who danced like no one else. His moves were fabulous; no body could teach better than him. He had a commendable sense of aesthetics when it came to dance. I’m glad his elder sister and brother are equally talented and will continue Tiki’s legacy of excellence.”

Dhananjay, who had known Peters for nearly four decades, said, “My association with Tiki dates back to over 40 years. He taught  us many dance forms including Jive, Salsa, Disco, Ballroom, Waltz, Cha Cha Cha. More than anything else, Tiki was an exceptional human being – with amazing sense of humour! When Tiki passed away, Sarita and I arranged a small party where we served everything that he loved  – veg puff, macarons, cakes, soft drinks and of course music to dance! This was our small gesture for our dear friend who, I’m certain, was smiling from the heavens that evening!”

Tiki Peters, who was brought up in an Anglo-Indian culture – something that was predominant in city’s Mohan Nagar area, passed away in November last year. 

Also read: Inside the famous ₹1.3 crore worth gift bag given to Oscar nominees this year…

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Nagpur News

BREAKING: Gadkari again receives death threat calls from same caller

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Radhika Dhawad | Nagpur
The Public Relations Officer of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari again received two death threat calls  today morning (March 21).

Nitin Gadkari

In a rather shocking incident amid the high security C20 conference in Nagpur, the Public Relations Office of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari again received two death threat calls  today morning (March 21). According to the information received, once again there have been threatening calls received in the name of a criminal named Jayesh Pujari alias Jayesh Kantha.

Employees of the senior BJP leader’s office alerted Nagpur Police and security has been beefed up outside the office in Khamla and the leader’s residence on Wardha Road. However, cops are yet to ascertain whether the call was actually made by the same person who had issued death threats to Gadkari in January. 

On January 14 this year, an unidentified extortionist, claiming to speak on behalf of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, threatened to kill Gadkari in an explosion if he didn’t pay him ₹100 crore.

The caller threatened Gadkari though a phone call on the landline number of his Public Relations Office (PRO) at Khamla in Nagpur (around one kilometre away from his residence) at 11:25 am, 11:32 am, and 12:30 pm.

The employees of the office alerted the police after the threat call, where in the caller also threatened to blow up Gadkari’s office. Nagpur Police immediately beefed up the security outside Gadkari’s office and residence. 

It was later revealed that a notorious gangster named Jayesh Pujari had threatened to kill Gadkari by allegedly making the three threat calls illegally using a cellphone while he was lodged in Belgaum Jail at Karnataka. 

In 2016, Pujari had even escaped after breaking the jail. The gangster, in the past too, had threatened several senior officers and other people in a similar manner. 

Also read: NMC spends ₹20 crore on lighting trees for C20 in Nagpur

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