Over 3 lakh Hatti tribals commence 'Budhi Diwali' in Himachal Pradesh

Nahan (HP), Dec 1 (PTI): Nearly 3.5 lakh tribal Hatti residents of 440 villages (154 panchayats) of the Trans-Giri area of Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district started the Budhi Diwali celebrations in on Saturday midnight.

The week long (5-7 days) festival commenced in a traditional style at 12.01 am with the arrival of traditional Hulkiya (who plays traditional Hatti musical instrument 'Hulak') and singing of age old traditional folklore 'Khuli'.

The festival comes exactly a month after Diwali on 'Blue moon' (Amavasya). People offer roasted grams and "Pakwan" to local deity and cultural programmes, including plays and "swang"(satires) are held to mark the occasion.

During the celebrations bonfires and people dancing in the evening and singing folklore is a common sight.

Buddhi Diwali is celebrated in Anni and Nirmand areas of Kullu district, Shillai, Sangrah and Rajgarh of Sirmaur and Chopal in Shimla district besides few other pockets.

According to the legend the festival is celebrated late as the news of Lord Rama returning to Ayodhya reached after a month.

Groups of 'Khuli' singers are stopped at several places in the village by putting symbolic barriers on their way. They sing and dance at every stop and are offered traditional dishes prepared for this occasion by the villagers.

Early morning on Sunday, the villagers assembled at the temple of Kuldevta in their respective villages and burnt the fire in front of the temple as per tradition. Fire burning (called 'Baliraj' in the local dialect), is a ritual to please local deities (Gram Devtas).

The fire burning (called 'Holodey' in local dialect) started a week in advance in the courtyard of local deity which concluded on Sunday with a big fire burning called 'Badiraj' or 'Bali Raj Dahan', a symbolic burning of Raja Bali, says Omprakash, a social worker of Badhana village in Trans Giri area.

On this occasion villagers perform Havan by offering homemade Muda (roasted grains) in the Baliraj fire and singing traditional folklores. Baliraj celebrations take place in every village in the Trans-Giri area.

On this day villagers together dance in the courtyard of every household of the village, called 'Bhiuri' in the local dialect, says Kundan Singh Shastri, General Secretary Kendriya Hatti Samiti, a principal organisation of Hatti community.

During the celebrations different traditional folk celebrations like Rasa, Naati, Jhury, Jhanga, Swang, Hirani and Natak are organised in almost every village, in day and night hours as per age old tradition.

All the married women come to the villages of their parents to join the festival.

The Government of India has accorded tribal status to the Hatti community in the year of 2023 by amending the constitution, due to their unique culture, traditions, dialect, lifestyle, beliefs and other rituals. PTI COR BPL OZ OZ