By Dr Ajeet Panwar
The festival of Diwali, which symbolises the struggle of the light of small lamps against the deep darkness of Amavasya, is an important festival of Indian culture and civilisation. Diwali, which gives the message of Vedavakya, is celebrated every year on Kartik Krishna Amavasya with great joy by worshiping Lakshmi not only in our country but also in foreign countries. On this day, Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after completing fourteen years of exile and killing Ravana and conquering Lanka. His coronation as the King of Ayodhya was done by Maharishi Vashishtha on the new moon day of Kartik. In this joy, the people of the state lit lamps in every house and prepared delicious dishes. Since then, this tradition is continuing till today.
The way of celebrating Diwali in the hill areas of Uttarakhand is quite different from other areas of the country. In India, Diwali is celebrated in the month of Kartik while, on the other hand, in Uttarakhand there is a tradition of celebrating not one but four Diwalis. These have been given different names in the local language. Apart from Kartik Diwali, Igas, Raj and Margashirsha Diwali are also celebrated with great pomp in different areas of the state. People also celebrate this like Kartik Diwali.
Raj Bagwal-
In Tehri district, there is a unique tradition of celebrating ‘Raj’ Diwali a day before Kartik Diwali. People of the Dobhal caste celebrate Raj Diwali with the royal family. In the past, the Dobhals used to be feudatories of the king and helped him in his happiness and sorrow. Therefore, the king gave them the right to celebrate Raj Bagwal. Since then, this tradition is still prevalent in the Dobhal caste.
Igas-
Exactly eleven days after Kartik Diwali, Akash Diwali is celebrated which is called ‘Igas’ in the local language. This Diwali is celebrated on Ekadasi on the eleventh day after Kartik Amavasya, hence it is also called Igas Bagwal and the Apabhras of Ekadasi is Igas. There is a belief behind this that, after an anonymous exile, four of the Pandava brothers returned home, but Bhima got trapped in a battle somewhere. After eleven days, he returned home and, thus, from then till today this Akash Diwali is celebrated. Another belief is that the Maharaja’s commander Madho Singh Bhandari once lost his way while driving away the Tibetans in a war. He could not return to his home during Diwali. Then, due to fear of an untoward incident having happened, Diwali was not celebrated in the entire state. Later, the commander returned victorious from the war. This news reached the state eleven days after Diwali, after which the festival of Igas began to be celebrated in the areas near Tehri.
Mangseer Bagwal-
Mangseer Diwali is celebrated exactly one month after Kartik Diwali. Mangasir is the ‘apabhrasa’ of the Hindu month Margashirsha. There is a belief that in the remote areas of Garhwal, the news of the victorious return of Commander Madho Singh Bhandari reached after about a month, due to which Diwali is celebrated there after a month. The historical story behind why this is so is that, in the beginning of 1800, the Gorkhas had attacked Garhwal. The people of Garhwal were greatly troubled by their atrocities. Seeing the plight of the people, Garhwal King Maharaj Pradyumna Shah fought the Gorkhas in 1803. It is said that Maharaj Kartik had gone to the battlefield on the day of Amavasya, i.e., Diwali. Therefore, the people of Tehri state (present day Tehri and Uttarkashi) could not celebrate Diwali. A month later, the Maharaj celebrated driving out the Gorkhas from the borders of Garhwal by lighting lamps on Margashirsha Amavasya. Since then, the tradition of celebrating Diwali on this day started. Even today, in Rawai, Jaunpur, Jaunsar and Bawar areas, there is a tradition of pounding Chuda along with dishes like Aarse, Puri-Pakoda, etc. Whereas, in Gair village of Banal Patti, the festival of Devlang is celebrated with great pomp on the day of Diwali in Mangseer. In Devlang, an entire tree along with beating of drums is uprooted and brought to the courtyard of the Raghunath Temple located in the village by ‘pasai tokas’. The priest applies Tilak to the tree and installs it there. On the night of Amavasya, thousands of people from 66 villages of the area reach the temple carrying cedar branches and offer worship by circumambulating the Devlong tree. After this, the villagers celebrate the whole night with Tandi, songs, Rasaun and Pandav dance. The tree is set on fire early in the morning. It is burnt as a symbol of good over evil.
There is also a social reason behind celebrating Diwali of Mangseer. Due to the population being settled from 1200 metres to 3000 metres above sea level, agricultural work is completed late in this area as compared to others. On this occasion of Mangseer, people try to compensate for the lack of joy by celebrating Bagwal.
Bhaila Khaila Bhaila- Bhaila Khaila is celebrated in Bagwal in every region of Garhwal. The inflammable wood of the Bhaila pine tree is cut, tied to a rope and then taken around to burn. The first Bhaila in the family is made in the name of the family Deity. After this, Bhaila is made for each member of the family and then it is burnt and played with. This entire festival is celebrated in a big field of the village.
Babul grass-
The word Bagwal has originated from Babul grass. Rope is made from this grass. These ropes are used in the Devlang festival of Diwali and a tug of war is held.
Worship of animals-
Animals are worshiped during Igas and Mangseer Bagwal of Garhwal. On this day, delicious food is prepared for the animals and they are also bathed and decorated.
Kumaoni Diwali-
Made in the traditional Aipan style of Kumaon, it is kept in a brass plate on Lakshmi Chowki. Also, sugarcanes are hung from the balcony of the house so that the gods can use them as stairs to enter the house. Different types of apans are also made in the pots made of Kulhad, Ukhal and Tulsi used for worshiping Mahalakshmi. Since Lord Vishnu wakes up on Budhi Diwali, on this day the feet of Vishnu along with Lakshmi are also made through Aipan.
There is a rich tradition of celebrating Diwali festival in Uttarakhand which continues even today. Even today this festival is celebrated with great pomp in the villages. Many villagers are migrating from villages to cities due to which the young generation is unaware of its traditional festivals. In such a situation, it becomes an important responsibility of our education system to include our traditional festivals in the curriculum.
(Dr Ajeet Panwar holds a PhD degree from the Department of Indian Theatre, Punjab University, Chandigarh. During his MA in Theatre Studies at the same department, he was honoured with the Prabhat Memorial Award, Palav Award, and Mohan Rakesh Gold Medal. He has been associated with the Centre for Folk Performing Arts and Culture at HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, for more than 10 years and is currently teaching in the Department of Theatre and Folk Performing Arts, Doon University, Dehradun.)
