Bhopal, Feb 24 - 'Bhagoria', the famous tribal festival of mass spouse selection will be held in Jhabua and Alirajpur districts of Madhya Pradesh March 1 to 7, officials said.

It is held before the festival of Holi in haat-bazaars at various places in the two districts.

In the traditional tribal festival, young boys and girls choose their life partners and then elope symbolically. Later, they are accepted as husband and wife as per prescribed traditional social rituals.

As per traditions, a boy smears 'Gulal' (coloured powder) on the face of the girl he likes at the haat-bazaar. If the girl also agrees to marry the boy, she also smears Gulal on his face.

It is not necessary that the girl should apply Gulal to the boy's face immediately even if she is ready to marry him. Sometimes, the boy pursues her and succeeds eventually.

In fact, Bhagoria is not a one-day event, but a series of festivals. These festivals are held at various village haat-bazaars for days. The festival comes after the harvesting of crops and this adds an agrarian colour to it. If the crop yield is good, then the enthusiasm at the festival increases manifold.