A festival rooted in centuries of Adivasi tradition is receiving its most powerful constitutional endorsement yet. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Friday, October 23, 2026, welcomed the arrival of President Droupadi Murmu at the Muriya Darbar — the storied tribal council assembly that sits at the heart of the Bastar Dussehra festival — calling her presence a moment of rare and special significance for the living tradition.

Posting on X, CM Sai wrote: 'बस्तर दशहरा के ऐतिहासिक जनसंसद मुरिया दरबार में माननीय राष्ट्रपति श्रीमती द्रौपदी मुर्मु जी का आगमन इस गौरवशाली परंपरा के लिए विशेष अवसर है।' — 'The arrival of honourable President Smt. Droupadi Murmu at the historic public assembly Muriya Darbar of Bastar Dussehra is a special occasion for this glorious tradition.' He added that the participation of the country's highest constitutional office-holder — who is also India's first tribal woman President — would lend the gathering a new dignity.

What Makes Muriya Darbar Unique in India's Tribal Calendar

Bastar Dussehra is no ordinary festival. Celebrated in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh across roughly 75 days, it is considered one of the longest-running tribal festivals in India, tracing its roots back several centuries. Unlike its mainland counterpart that commemorates Ram's victory over Ravana, Bastar Dussehra centres on the goddess Danteshwari and is governed by elaborate community rituals unique to the region's indigenous communities.

The Muriya Darbar — literally a 'court of the Muria tribe' — functions as a traditional open assembly where tribal representatives gather to voice concerns, preserve oral customs, and affirm collective identity. Think of it as a living parliament that predates the modern Indian state. Its continuation as a genuine community institution, not a staged spectacle, is what makes it culturally significant on a national scale.

Why Murmu's Presence Carries Particular Weight

Droupadi Murmu was elected the 15th President of India in July 2022, becoming the first person from a tribal background — and the first woman from that community — to hold the nation's highest constitutional office. She hails from the Santali community of Odisha, a state that, like Chhattisgarh, carries a deep Adivasi cultural heritage.

Her attendance at Muriya Darbar is therefore more than a ceremonial visit. It is a symbolic closing of a historic loop: the institution that has long represented the political voice of tribal India now hosting the most powerful tribal voice in the country's constitutional framework. Chhattisgarh itself was carved out as a separate state in 2000 partly to give its large Adivasi population a stronger administrative identity — context that makes this convergence all the more resonant.

A Pattern of Constitutional Outreach to Adivasi Culture

This visit fits a broader, deliberate pattern. Since statehood, successive central governments have encouraged participation of constitutional office-holders in state-level tribal cultural events to signal inclusive representation. Such engagements serve a dual purpose: they affirm the cultural legitimacy of indigenous traditions on a national stage, and they carry political weight in states — like Chhattisgarh — where tribal voters are a decisive electoral force.

Chief Minister Sai, who took office in December 2023 and is himself from a tribal background, has consistently foregrounded Adivasi identity as a pillar of his government's cultural messaging. Welcoming President Murmu to Bastar's most iconic tribal gathering sharpens that narrative considerably.

When the nation's first tribal President steps into a tribal council that has met for centuries, history does not just acknowledge itself — it accelerates.