Celebrating the mountains
SHAILAJA TRIPATHI TANEJA
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Cultural performances, healing practices, food, art and architecture, the ongoing Garhwal festival in New Delhi attempts to showcase Garhwal in its entirety.
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Old is gold People of Garhwal have held on to their traditions
The Garhwalis in the city have a reason to smile. Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is celebrating Garhwal’s culture and people through its six-day festival “Kauthik”. It gives an opportunity to the city inhabitants to witness the intricacies of real Garhwali culture and Garhwalis settled here. “It doesn’t have an easy approach. Of course, the State is blessed with splendid views of snow-capped peaks of Himalayas, scenic valleys, rivers and forests but very few are able to go right into the interiors to experience the unknown,” says Arvind Moudgil, who has captured myriad hues of the entire region covering Tehri, Pauri, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Dehradun and Jaunsar Babar in the exhibition “Shades of Garhwal”.
To show the strength and undying spirit, Arvind has documented a day in the life of an 80-year-old woman. The elderly lady starts the day by going into the forest for chopping the wood, carrying it back home, fetching water from a distance of 2 kms, taking the cows for grazing, milking them followed by cooking, washing and cleaning.
The vanishing traditions of Bhutia community have also been covered. Settled in Niti, the last village on the Garhwal border, in the winters, they migrate to the hills down. “Initially, they were traders who brought commodities from China and Tibet on sheep and horses. As a result, they developed their own trade language. The language is neither Chinese, Tibetan nor Garhwali. The trading stopped with the closing down of the borders. Over the years, the community has become progressive and educated and many have joined IAS and IPS but they remain simple as ever,” says Arvind, pointing to a modest house of an IPS officer in Niti village.
The fervour with which August 15 is celebrated in the village is also to be seen. Besides a few images, Arvind has also documented the celebrations on a DVD. “People from neighbouring and far-off villages gather at a particular place. They dance, sing and organise competitions through the day,” says Arvind.
The old traditional utensils, daily items of utility are gradually getting lost but Arvind painstakingly gathered and photographed them. There are two brass bowls — bigger bowl Kharyu for women and smaller bowl Kansi for men to eat. “Women do much more physical work than men. The people there struggle for survival on a daily basis. I found out that lots of women have sold their jewellery to foreigners as they needed money,” reveals Arvind. Apart from their traditional attire from Jaunsar Babur region, beautiful jewellery pieces are also on display. Photographs of religious places like Raj Rajeshwari temple in Devalgarh and Lakhamandal can also be viewed. Ramman is a religious festival from Saloor-Doongri performed in folk-theatre style. The traditional masks, made out of sacred bhoj patra used in the performance are also exhibited here.
Traditional healers
Allopathy may have become the way of life in cities but in the villages of this hilly terrain, traditional healing practices are still trusted. Around 35 healers of the three traditions – Naadi vaidya, Ekal vaidya, and Mantra vaidya are also participating in the festival. “In villages, there are hardly any medical facilities. To get treated in the hospitals, people have to go the cities. Every village with 100-2000 people has at least one vaidya. By touching, pressing and feeling the different combination of pulses, I can diagnose a disease,” says pulse reader Jawahar Lal Maindoli, a fifth generation member of his family in this trade. Every August and September, vaidyas go to the forests in search of medicinal herbs and plants. Some have even started growing it in their fields. The visitors can even view the herbs on display in one area of the exhibition.
Ekal vaidyas like Bhavani Dutt Naithani or Marmanand Jaakh specialise in treating one or two ailments whereas mantra vaidya is used to ward off the evil spirits. “When herbs and medicines don’t work then mantra vaidya is the last resort,” says one of the vaidyas.
(The Garhwal festival is on at IGNCA, Mati Ghar, till October 25. The healers are also holding general consultations for the public every day between 3 and 5 p.m.)
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