Jagdalpur is a city and a municipality in Bastar district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Jadgalpura is the administrative headquarters of Bastar District and Bastar Division, and was the capital of the erstwhile princely state of Bastar. Jagdalpur is well known for its greenery, filled with lush green mountains, deep valleys, dense forests, streams, waterfalls, caves, natural parks, magnificent monuments, rich natural resources, magic herbs, exuberant festivity and blissful solitude, Bastar, the very name spells magic, conjures up images of the royal past and the tribes.
History : The history of Jagdalpur (Bastar) takes us as deep into the past as Valmiki's Ramayana. It was the famous Dandakaranya through which Lord Rama is supposed to have passed. Scholars have also identified Valmiki's ashram here.
The Bastar rulers trace their ancestry not just to the moon, but also to Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Hindu king to rule from Delhi in the 12th century. Bastar has seen the rule of number of kingdoms like the Nals, Chalukyas and the Kakatiyas. The great Kakatiya king Pratap Rudra's brother, Annama Deva, left Warangal, Andhra Pradesh and established his kingdom at Bastar, around AD 1424.
Bastar has seen several hundred years of royal rule, wars of succession, conquering of kingdoms, battles, conspiracies etc. After Annam Deo it witnessed the rule of Hamir Deo, Pratap Raj Deo, Rajpal Deo, Dalpat Deo and others. It was during the reign of Dalpat Deo that the capital of their kingdom was shifted to Jagdalpur.
After the death of Dalpat Deo, his son Daryao Deo over threw his elder brother Ajmer Singh from the throne, and became the ruler. Ajmer Singh was successful in securing the throne back, but after two years Daryao Deo once again succeeded in overthrowing Ajmer Singh and became the ruler.
Bastar Dussehra History : 15th century A.D led to an event which is responsible for the origin of Bastar Dussehra. The Kaktiya ruler (descendants of great Chalukya Dynasty ) King Purushottam Deo went to Jagannath Puri temple for worship and came back as ‘Rath-pati’ with a divine permission to mount on Chariot. From there, this trend continued up till yet. Now, it is a 500 year old festival of Bastar. Earlier it was a Hindu festival, but later incorporated and assimilated many customs of local tribes.
For 10 days, the king (as the high-priest of Devi Danteshwari) would temporarily abdicate office to worship Danteshwari full-time. He would seek, in confidence and through a siraha (a medium "possessed" by the devi ), a report on the state.
