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Chhapar
Fair
This fair is held on Anand
Chaudas, the 14th day of the bright half of
Bhadon in honour of Gugga Pir. A big shrine known as 'Gugge di Marhi' has
been built in his memory. The Pir was very popular in his time, and his
disciples can be found all over the Punjab. He was a Chauhan Rajput and
according to legend, he gently descended into the bosom of Mother Earth along
with his steed, and never returned. He was believed to possess special
power over all kinds of snakes. On the day this fair is held, villages scoop the earth seven times because
they believe that in this way they invoke Gugga Pir to protect them against
snakes. This shrine has a reputation for curing people of snake-bite. It is
strongly believed that if a person is bitten by a snake, all that has to
be done is to take him to the shrine and lay him beside it, he is then sure to
be cured. This shrine was built in 1890. This fair provides occasion for folk
songs and folk dances. Young people form themselves into groups and go about
dancing and singing for hours. Some dancers don women's dress and perform Giddha
for the sake of fun. The fair lasts for three days.
Jarag
Fair
This fair is held in
Jarag, a village in tehsil pail. It is held in
Chet
(March-April) in honor of the goddess Seetla. It is also known as the Baheria
fair. Sweet gurgulas ( jaggery cakes fried in oil) are prepared one day earlier
and then given in offering to the goddess and thereafter to the donkey who is
her favourite. After propitiating the goddess, the family members eat the
remaining Savoury gurgulas with great relish. This festival is observed in Malwa
and Powad, but the fair is held only in Jarag. There is a pond where the
devotees of Seetla gather. They scoop the earth and raise a small hillock which
is accorded the status of the goddess's shrine. Potters specially bring their
donkeys decked in colored blankets. Some even put bells or conch shells and
beads round their necks. In many folksongs of the Punjab, there is a reference to
the fair of Jarag.
Roshni Fair
The Roshni
(lights) Fair is held in Jagranvan from the 14th to the 16th of Phalgun in
honour of the Muslim Pir, Abdul Kader Jalani. It is held in the
vicinity of his tomb. Although it is a Muslim fair in origin, the Hindus of the
area also flock to the site of this shrine. It is called the 'fair of lights'
because innumerable devotees who come to visit the place light earthen lamps at
the shrine of the Pir. The lights are visible from long distances. It is
believed
that whatever wish one sincerely makes, at the shrine of this Pir is granted.
Young people sing Bolian and perform dances, thus adding to the gaiety and
glamour of the fair. It is sheer delight to villagers performing dances and
singing songs to the sweet strains of the flute and the one-stringed instrument
called Toomba.
Some fairs are held at places associated with the lives of some Sikh
Gurus,
such as the Masya fair in Taran Taran, and the Muktsar fair in Ferozepur. Small
fairs are periodically held here and there all over the Punjab. In Phalgun a fair
in memory of Guru Nanak is held on the full-moon night at Dera Baba Nanak. At
Jindwal (Navanshehar), a fair is held near a pond on Baisakhi day, at a spot
where once Shri Guru Hargobind is believed to have sat. At Nanaksar in Hakeempur
(Navanshehar), a fair is held at the place where the seventh Guru, Guru Harirai,
stayed for some time.
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