Dharam Prakash Gupta

As the monsoon rain is in the fag end of this season, people in several parts of Mandi district are bidding adieu to rain by celebrating festival of jag.

To seek blessings of deities after usually harsh monsoon rain, people converge at many temples to celebrate night long jag by dancing, rejoicing and feasting to ward off evil spirits and cure ailments.

It is their way of saying good bye to rain when many sleepy hamlets suddenly become lively  with  people carrying mashals (torches made from wooden sticks) march to participate in jags conquering thick night darkness.

The main reason behind celebrating this festival is rejoicing after end of a rainy season. The monsoon rain brings miseries from natural calamities, many ailments and deaths from diseases and snake bites.

The jag festival is quite popular in several areas of Mandi district and people throng in large number to participate in this festival. Trokda and Devdhar jag in Tungal area, jag of old Mandi and Dhuma Devi are quite famous and are being celebrated these days marking an end of rainy season.

People start converging in temple premises before onset of night and sing and dance till morning. A bonfire is also lit to keep the area lighted and warm.

One of the main attractions of this festival is display of oracle and mystical power by priests or Gurs of the deities, who make prophesies for the coming time.  At the crack of dawn the Gurs, cross bonfires and at many places walk with naked feet on embers of the bonfires to prove their mystical power.

The most popular festival of jag was celebrated last Friday in Naun and Panaun village of Sanor valley of Mandi district, where people carrying thousands of mashals marched from their villages to Naun temple in rows.

Here, one group of people carrying thousands of mashals marched from Rangad village to Naun temple. Another group marched from another direction in similar fashion from Panaun. It is a rare delight to watch the entire valley sparkling with thousands of mashals and people marching in complete harmony in rows towards the hamlet of Naun village.

The female dancers dance in the temple to ward off evil spirits and cure ailments. When temple Gurs start dancing around the bonfire the hysteria reaches its crescendo. It continues till morning when people start paying obeisance in the temple and seek blessings from the Gurs.

Talking about significance and idea behind celebrating this festival noted writer and social scientist Dr Vjay Vishal says, “Monsoon rains are quite harsh in this region, in the past it used to bring several miseries, disease and snake bites causing several deaths. Loss of life, property, agricultural land and orchards also used to be severe. “

“Since people had limited access they linked all these miseries to curse of evil spirits and end of rainy season is celebrated from old times to ward off the evil spirits and seek blessing from the deities,” he adds.

( This story was published in Himachal Tribune , A Tribune supplement) 

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