Drums, colour, and devotion filled the Chief Minister's residence in Raipur as Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai hosted a Garba Mahotsav on Saturday, 17 October 2026, to mark Shardiya Navratri 2026 — the nine-night festival honouring the goddess Durga that sweeps across India every autumn.

The Chief Minister's Office of Chhattisgarh shared the event on X, quoting the occasion as 'Shakti ka vandan, Nari Shakti ka abhinandan' — 'Saluting power, honouring the power of women.' CM Sai extended warm Navratri greetings to all residents of the state, framing the celebration around both religious reverence and the dignity of women under the hashtag #MahtariKaSamman — 'Respect for the mother.'

Garba at the official residence — a tradition and a signal

Organising Garba at the seat of government is not incidental. BJP-ruled states have made it a deliberate practice to host Navratri cultural programmes at Raj Bhavans and Chief Ministers' residences, blending official functions with religious and cultural observance in a visible display of civilisational identity. Chhattisgarh, a central Indian state with deep tribal roots and a rich tradition of folk dance, carries its own distinctive Garba character into these evenings.

Vishnu Dev Sai, who became Chief Minister in December 2023 after the BJP's decisive win in Chhattisgarh, has consistently linked state governance to themes of Mahtari — the Chhattisgarhi word for 'mother' — as a cultural touchstone. The Navratri event sits squarely within that register: feminine divinity as both spiritual celebration and political symbolism.

Nari Shakti framing and the Mahtari motif

The hashtags chosen — #NariShakti, #MahtariKaSamman, #MahtariKeMaan — are not accidental. They echo the language of the Mahtari Vandan Yojana, the state's women-focused welfare scheme that has become a flagship of the Sai government. Navratri, with its explicit veneration of feminine divinity across nine forms of the goddess, provides the cultural moment to reinforce that messaging at scale.

With the festival running through the rest of the week, additional state-level cultural programmes and possibly further women-welfare announcements could follow — Navratri has increasingly become a season when state governments amplify women-centric policy communication alongside the ritual celebrations.

From Durga puja pandals in the east to Garba nights in the centre and west, India is mid-festival right now. In Raipur, the Chief Minister danced that tradition into the official calendar — and made sure the whole state was invited, if only on screen.