garhwal's tradition

Lansdowne is a hill station in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand. It was founded as a military garrison under the British Raj, and the Garhwali Museum traces the history of the Garhwal Rifles regiment, which still trains in the town. Close to colonial-era St. Mary’s Church, Tip-n-Top viewpoint is perched up on a ridge overlooking forested hills. Hindu devotees worship Shiva at the centuries-old Kaleshwar Temple. Originally known as Kaludanda after Kalu (Black) and Danda (hills) in Garhwali, Lansdowne was founded and named after then Viceroy of India (1888-1894), Lord Lansdowne in 1887, and by 1901 it had a population of 3943. Lansdowne was developed by the British for catering for the Recruits Training center of the Garhwal Rifles. Lansdowne was a major place of the activities of freedom fighters from British Garhwal during British period. Nowadays, the famous Garhwal Rifles of the Indian Army has its regimental center here. This is one of the quietest hill stations of India and is...

 According to the Hindu religious texts, on the day of Uttarayani, the sun enters the Zodiacal sign of 'Makar' (Capricon) from the Zodiacal sign of the Kark (Cancer), i.e. from this day onwards the sun becomes 'Uttarayan' or it starts moving to the north. It is said that from this day, which signals a change of season, the migratory birds start returning to the hills. On Makar Sankranti people give Khichadi (a mixture of pulses and rice) in charity, take ceremonial dips in holy rivers, participate in the Uttarayani fairs and celebrate the festival of Ghughutia or Kale Kauva. During the festival of Kale Kauva (literal translation 'black crow') people make sweetmeats out of sweetened flour (flour and gur) deep fried in ghee, shape them like drums, pomegranates, knives, swords etc. They are strung togather and worn as necklace-in the middle of which an oragne in fixed. Early in the morning children wear these necklaces and sing "Kale Kauva.." to attract c...

 Ramman is a religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal region in India. It is a festival of the Garhwali People in the Saloor Dungra village of the Painkhanda Valley in the Chamoli district in Uttarakhand, India. The festival and the eponymous art form are conducted as an offering to the village deity, Bhumiyal Devta, in the courtyard of the village temple. The Ramman is unique to the village and is neither replicated nor performed anywhere else in the Himalayan region. The guardian deity of Saloor Dungra is Bhumichetrapal, also known as Bhumiyal Devta. The festival is held in her honour every year after Baisakhi, a harvest festival that also marks the beginning of the Hindu Solar New Year. On the day of Baisakhi, the village priest announces the date for the Ramman festival which falls on the ninth or the eleventh day after Baisakhi. The Bhumiyal Devta comes out in a procession to the temple on the day of Baisakhi. The second day, people offer hariyali (sprouted barley ...

We had a collective 5 days pooja in our village (Nail). Ever since I can remember, it was the first such event. This pooja started on 19 April 2022 and lasted on 23 April 2022. In our village, it was pran pratistha of lord shiva's temple.  We had this great opportunity to see many people of our village. Many married daughters and sisters came and participated actively in this pooja. Lunch and dinner were made by the cook (halwai). The pooja started in the morning around 08:00 am, and it lasted till noon. Around 01:00 pm, we had our lunch on a big lawn, where we all were served by our brothers and uncles. From 02:00 pm to 04:00 pm, it was the resting time for people, where they could go to graze their cattle. From 04:00 pm, musical kirtan started and it lasted till 06:00 pm. Meanwhile, others used to help the cook, and entertain their brother-in-laws.  It was a good time in our village, where magnificence is just like heaven. Around 08:15 pm , we had our dinner. Even without ga...