|
Diwali
Diwali
is celebrated with great enthusiasm. The mud walls of the houses are
cleaned and painted over with white clay and cow-dung. In the courtyards a red
or black square is painted with coloured clay. This is decorated with pictures
of animals and birds. The walls are hung over with flower garlands. People
believe that Lakshmi who is the goddess of wealth visit all the houses this day
and settles down in the house which is clean and pretty.
After sunset, clay lamps are lit on a plank in the memory of the departed
ancestors. Afterwards they are placed within the houses. Sweets are distributed
and the young one seek the blessings of the elderly. Goats are sacrificed on
this day. Women paint little vessels (Auloo) with clay and decorate it with
drawings in red paint. They pray to these and exchange these with their best
friends.
Dyali
In some areas the Dyali festival is celebrated two months after Diwali. At
the evening the women light pine twigs and offer Puja to it. They also throw
walnuts to little boys who rush around from courtyard to courtyard collecting
them. Sweets are also cooked and distributed.
Khogal
Khogal festival is celebrated in Lahaul in the month of January. The Khogal
night is lit up with clay lamps. Normally this festival falls on a full moon
day. All the male members of the village collect at someone's house and get
drunk on a local brew known as 'Chakti'. Then they visit house after house,
drinking all the while. This goes on till midnight. At midnight the 'Chan' (the
drummers) sit on someone's rooftop and begin to play their drums and flutes.
This is a signal to begin the Khogal celebrations. As soon as the sound comes,
people run with lighted torches towards their houses with screams. It is
believed that the noise chases the evil spirit away. In the end all the torches
are placed together and as the flames leap up people dance around the bonfire.
After they return home, the people offer Puja to their family deities including
the local deity Baraja.
Sajo
This is a festival in which the people bid farewell to the village deities. In
the villages the palanquins of the gods are laid open and the doors of temples
are closed. It is believed that this is the period when the gods depart for the
heavens for a short spell of rest. Floors of the temples are cleaned and
polished in the hope that the gods will throw good things from the heaven upon
them. This festival comes in the spring month of Magh or Falgun. On this day the
many delicacies are cooked and eaten. This day the spirit of the god may descend on his devotees. This is known as
'Deachar'
or 'Deokhel'. In some villages the village deity goes from house to house to
sniff incense. The priests who represents the deity is welcomed into each house
and presented with food grains and money.
Gotsi or Gochi
This is the most popular festival in the valley which is celebrated in the month
of February in the houses of those who have been blessed with a son in the past
year. People gather in those houses and drink 'chhang' wine. On a large
platter, some cakes made of mixed flour are placed and carried to the deity by
four men. This place is marked by a tree or a shrub or a little mound. A young
unmarried girl dressed up in ceremonial robes accompanies the platter and she
carries a vessel of chhang wine in her hands. She is followed by two men one
carrying a lighted torch and the other a bunch of pine branches bundled in
sheepskin. The woman who has borne her first son leads the procession of
devotees which consists of other mothers of sons. The sheepskin is suspended from
the branches of a tree and
shot at with arrows. People drink chhang and beat drums and dance. On their way
home men and women throw snowballs at each other.
|
