Raipur, Sept. 13 -- The devotees who arrived at Chhattisgarh's Bhangaram Devi temple in Bastar region on Saturday were carrying their gods with them, but this was not just a day of worship; some arrived their with grievances.

Mangal Chand Markam of Keshkal block worshipped a deity for years, yet illness continued to affect members of his family. "I brought the deity before Bhangaram Devi's court," he said. His complaint was that the deity failed in its duty of protecting his family, so he sought punishment.

The Bhado Jatra is where tribal communities of Keshkal villages and in surrounding areas bring symbolic representations of the deities they worship to the temple. This is when the religious gathering takes on the character of a tradi...