Chhattisgarh a state in central India, formed when the sixteen Chhattisgarhi-speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained statehood on November 1, 2000. Raipur serves as its capital. It is the 10th largest state of India by area. Chhattisgarh takes its name from 36 princely states in this region from very old times. It borders Madhya Pradesh on the northwest, Maharashtra on the west, Andhra Pradesh on the south, Orissa on the east, Jharkhand on the northeast and Uttar Pradesh on the north.

The Chhattisgarhi language, part of the East-Central group of Indo-Aryan languages, is the predominant language in the region. It is often regarded by linguists to be a dialect of Hindi, which is the official language of the state. People in southern Chhattisgarh, Bastar, speak dialects of Dravidian languages. Other languages spoken in Chhattishgarh are Hindi, Oriya, Marathi and tribal languages.

Transportation

The rail network in Chattisgarh is centered on Bilaspur, which is zonal headquarters of South East Central Railway of Indian Railways. Other main railway junctions include Raipur, Durg and Champa. These junctions are well connected to all the major cities of India.

The roadways infrastructure is also slowly picking up in the state. The National Highway 6 (Bombay to Kolkata) passes through the state. The state also hosts National Highway 43 which starts from Raipur and goes up to Vishakhapatnam. National Highway 16 from Hyderabad ends at Bhopalpatnam in Dantewada district. The state has 11 National Highways (2,225 kilometres).

The air infrastructure as of now in the state is minor. Raipur, the capital city, is the sole commercially operating airport of the state. However, of late, Raipur has shown huge upsurge in passenger traffic . Raipur has links to top four cities of the country i.e. Delhi (4 Flights a day), Bombay (3 Flights a day), Kolkata (2 Flights a day), and Chennai (1 Flight a day) .It is also connected to Jaipur , Indore (3 Flights a day), Nagpur (2 Flights a day) , Bhubaneshwar , Ahmedabad (2 Flights a day), Vizag , Pune , Bhopal and Hyderabad (2 Flights a day) . The state, however, has airport in Bilaspur and air strips in Bhilai, Jagdalpur, Sarguja, Korba. Its rural connectivity is also improving.

Culture

The state hosts many religious sects like Satnami Panth, Kabirpanth, Ramnami Samaj, and others. Champaran (Chhattisgarh) is a small town that has religious significance as the birth place of the Saint Vallabhacharya. Champaran is coming up as a big holy place for Gujarati community. People from all of Gujarat, Mumbai etc. come to visit this place.

The Oriya culture is prominent in the eastern parts of Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh has a very rich Cultural heritage. Chattisgarh has its unique style of dance, cuisine, and music. This has made Chhattisgarh a favorite of anthropologists and sociologists due to its relevant profile.

Crafts

One can see here decorative pieces carved on wood, Bamboo furniture, Clay pieces, idols carved on wood etc.

Dance

Panthi, Raut Nacha "Karma" and Soowa dance styles are very popular in the region.

Raut Nacha, the folk dance of cowherds, is a traditional folk dance of yadavs/yaduvanshis as symbol of worship to Krishna at the time of 'dev udhni ekadashi' (awakening of Gods after brief rest) according to the Hindu calendar. The dance closely resembles Krishna's dance of lord with his village's girls with gopis.

Panthi, the folk dance of the Satnami community has religious overtones. Performed on Maghi Purnima - the anniversary of the birth of Guru Ghasidas. The dancers dance around a jaitkhamb set up for the occasion, to songs eulogising their spiritual head. The songs also reflect the Nirvana philosophy, conveying the spirit of renunciation of their Guru and the teachings of saint poets like Kabir, Ramdas and Dadu. Dancers with bent torsos and swinging arms continue to dance till carried away by their devotion. As the rhythm quickens, they indulge in acrobatics and form human pyramids.

Music

Main article: Music of Chhattisgarh
Pandavani a musical narration of the epic Mahabharata, Teejan Bai, the Pandavani artist was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2003, for her contribution to Pandavani. Ritu Verma is also a well known name.

Chhattisgarh has rich traditional folk songs among which sohar, bihav & Pathoni songs are very famous.

Sohar songs are related to child birth. Bihav songs are related to marriage celebration. The main parts of Bihav songs are Chulmati, Telmati, Maymouri, Nahdouri, Parghani, Bhadoni and other songs related to Bhanver, Vidai songs.

Pathoni songs are related to Gouna that is departure of bride to bridegroom home.

Religion

Several saints have their origin in Chattisgarh, such as Parsurama Ramnami and Vallabha Acharya. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a noted Hindu leader and founder of the Transcendental Meditation was from Raipur.