Traditional Village of Uttarakhand: An in-depth study (Part- II)

Author: Kiran Yadav and Dr. Neelam Bhardwaj

GBPUAT, Pantnagar

Note: The description given here is based on the actual study conducted in one of the remote villages of district Nainital. Only a part of the whole study is given here. The second author is the Professor, in Department of Agricultural Communication at GBPUAT, and the study was conducted in her guidance.

 

Culture   

The traditional beliefs and norms play an important role in various activities in the village. Hindu festivals like Holi, Deepawali, Shivratri, Janmashtmi are celebrated alike the other parts of northern India. Besides these Ghugutiya (Makar Sankranti), Harela, Tulsi Ekadashi, Khatudua, and Ghew-tyaar are some of the local festivals of Kumaun which are celebrated with great enthusiasm. During Ghugutiya ladies of each household prepare Ghugutee (sweet dish prepared with wheat flour, jaggary and ghee) in the evening. The next morning children call the crow by saying "kale kauaa aa ja ghugutee le ja" (O! black crow come and take this sweet). Interestingly, hundreds of crows gather to eat Ghugutee. The belief behind this activity is that through Ghugutee you serve your forefathers.

 

          Harela is celebrated in July-August. During Harela, five seeds including jowar, barley, wheat, rice and maize are sown in a basket filled with soil. Then on Harela day these seedlings are uprooted and then all the elder members of the family offer these seedlings to God before offering it to their family members and relatives. They give their blessings to them by saying "Jeeray, Jagray, Bachray" (live long and stay protected from all the evils). This is celebrated to welcome the new crops. During Navratra and one week before Chaladi (Bari Holi/Dhulandi) the women gather at one place and they sing and dance for one to two hours. In this way they celebrate the nine days of Navratras and Chaladi. The male folks celebrate Holi by organizing Baithak (collective gathering where they eat and drink local wine and dance late in the night). A day before Chaladi 'Chir' is also celebrated. In this, youths of the village carry an umbrella like structure made up of bamboo. This structure is taken around the whole village. The women of each household worship and tie a strip of cloth around the wooden structure. Finally, it goes to the field where holika dahan takes place in the night. The next day villagers gather at a fixed time and at a common place and put gulal on each others face. The young people put gulal on elder's face and touch their feet and seek their blessings. It was also noted that some boys and girls wrapped the cloth strip around their forehead and wrist after untying it from the wooden structure. Their belief was that this would protect them from evil power. From this belief one can assume that the villagers are superstitious. The villagers also believe in occultism, ghost, tantra-mantra, and jhar-phoonk. Many times Jaagar (a type of pooja) is also organized to thank, please and sometime to wake up the Gods. In this, the family or individual having some problem organizes Jaagar. People gather around a fireplace close to the house of the affected person. The Harijan play the dhol (a musical instrument). The music starts at a lower note and picks up slowly. Few selected people, not necessarily of the distressed family, sit around the fire. After some time, God comes in one of the person. This person act as God and blesses the gathering and tells the problem and its remedy to the distressed person. On the occasions of religious and cultural importance women decorate their houses by Aipan (cultural design).