Pola (Marathi: पोळा), also known as Bailpola (Marathi: बैलपोळा), is a thanksgiving festival celebrated by farmers in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, to acknowledge the importance of bulls and oxen, who are a crucial part of agriculture and fa…
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Pola (Marathi: पोळा), also known as Bailpola (Marathi: बैलपोळा), is a thanksgiving festival celebrated by farmers in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, to acknowledge the importance of bulls and oxen, who are a crucial part of agriculture and…
01 · What it is
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02 · Where & name
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03 · How it is doing
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04 · Proof & reuse
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Chapter Takeaways
CelebrationsIn preparation for the festival, bulls are washed and massaged with oils.
Common Questions Answered on Record
What is Pola in plain words?
Pola (Marathi: पोळा), also known as Bailpola (Marathi: बैलपोळा), is a thanksgiving festival celebrated by farmers in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, to acknowledge the importance of bulls and oxen, who are a crucial part of agriculture and…
Where is Pola practised or documented?
No verified geographic place has been linked on record yet — editors can add a cited place from the edit page.
What is the current condition of Pola today?
□□□□ (Not yet assessed): Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
How do I cite or share this Pola entry?
Cite as: "Pola." folkroom, https://folkroom.org/art-forms/pola, text CC BY-SA, with attribution.
Pola (Marathi: पोळा), also known as Bailpola (Marathi: बैलपोळा), is a thanksgiving festival celebrated by farmers in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, to acknowledge the importance of bulls and oxen, who are a crucial part of agriculture and farming activities. It falls on the day of the Pithori Amavasya (the new moon day) in the month of Shraavana (usually in August). During Pola, farmers don't work their bulls in the farmland and the day is a school holiday in the rural parts of Maharashtra.
The festival is found among Marathas in central and eastern Maharashtra. A similar festival is observed by Farmers in other parts of India, and is called Mattu Pongal in south and Godhan in north and west India.
In Telangana, a similar festival is celebrated on full moon day and is called Eruvaka Purnima 1
Celebrations
In preparation for the festival, bulls are washed and massaged with oils. They are decorated with shawls, bells, and flowers, their horns are coloured, and they get new reins and ropes. The decorated bulls and oxen are walked in procession to the village field accompanied by music and dancing. The first bullock to go out is an old bullock with a wooden frame (called makhar) tied on its horns. This bullock is made to break a toran, a rope of mango leaves stretched between two posts, and is followed by all the other cattle in the village.
Homes in the village are decorated with rangolis and toran on top of doors. Puja thalis with kumkum, water, and sweets are prepared, and when the cattle is returned from the procession they are formally greeted by family members, with an earthen lamp with ghee for puja and aarti.
On the following day, children decorate wooden bulls with beads and flowers. 1
On this day in Chhattisgarh, Lodhi Rajputs bring home-made sweets and dishes like thethri, khurmi, chakli to the homes of their sisters and daughters. 1
The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Pola (festival)”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. 1
Pola is agricultural festival of Maharashtra, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 2
The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. 2