Ashok Sharma
The historic Baisakhi Mela or ‘Basoa’ as it is called in local parlance, is an annual event organised on the occasion of first Baisakh, usually from 13 /14 April to 15 /16 April every year on the bank of holy Devika river in Udhampur. This year it is being organised from 14th April to 16th April. According to legends, Devika is considered as the elder sister of Ganga Mata and it is believed that Lord Shiva, on the request of great seer, Rishi Kashyap, sent Mata Parvati to the earth to flow as river Devika and thus, rid the people of Madardesh (Duggar) of all their sins and afflictions.
People believe that a single dip in the holy water of river Devika is enough to rid a person of his / her sins. This historic Mela is also organised to mark the harvest of crops as in the past majority of the Dogra people adopted the profession of farming and they felt elated on seeing the rich harvest of their Rabi crops and thanked God for this bounty. This historic and popular Mela attracts visitors, vendors, traders and devotees from within and outside the state in large number.There is an ambience of joy, exuberance, celebration, colourfulness and vibrancy all around with the traders selling their merchandise, children and elders attired in colourful and women and girls buying bangles and other things. Other attractions in the Mela used to be daredevil and spine chilling feats such as Mautkakuan (Death well), and also incredible feats displayed in the circus but this year these are not allowed to operate. There is hustle and bustle all around. Children are the happiest lot and they are in high spirits.
They keep on whistling and playing with balloons, savouring sweets, icecreams, fruit chat and enjoying themselves fully. Then, there are people who come from different parts of rural and far flung areas wearing ethnic dresses and carrying homecooked traditional food items such as Khamires (cakes made from fermented flour), poories, keurs, Babroos, chrolisetc. It is a wonderful and exuberant sight to see them share these items joyfully with their friends and relatives. In a corner, the folksingers are seen singing folksongs such as Bhakhans, Kaarkaans, Baarans etc in chorus and playing melodious tunes on their flutes providing sweet, sonorous and soulful music to the ears. The folkdancers are busy in exhibiting their dancing skills by presenting traditional dances such as geetru, fumnian, kud, etc .One feels as if one has come into an altogether different world far away from the world of jealousy, sorrow, misery and worldly worries.
Various Govt Departments such as Agriculture, Medical, Handicrafts etc put up their stalls to aware the people about various new schemes launched by the government for the welfare of public.NGOs,social and cultural organisations also set up their stalls to provide religious and cultural knowledge as also the need to eradicate social evils from the society.
The Information Department organises cultural programmes to highlight the rich Dogra cultural heritage and ethos. Besides participating in the mela, many people take a dip in the holy Devika river and visit various temples to pay obeisance to Gods and Goddesses on both sides of the river and pray for their own welfare and for the welfare and peace across the world. This Mela is organised under the overall charge of the Mela Officer and the District Administration makes elaborate arrangements to provide facilities such as clean drinking water, security, uninterrupted power supplyand constitutes teams to checkrates of sweets and other items. The NDRF/SDRF teams are there to deal with any emergency. Sweet sellers, bangle sellers and vendors selling toysetc have a brisk business .This Mela lasts for three days and on the next day, a grand Indian Style Wrestling Match or ‘Chinjj'(Dangal) is organised in which famous wresters from within and outside our UT participate. Thousands of people converge to witness the wrestling bouts of wrestlers and give them a big round of applause. The winners of these bouts are rewarded by giving them Maalis.
As the the land around Devika has been developed into a beautiful park to give it a breathtaking look and check pollution in holy Devika under National River Conservation Programme, this year the Mela is being held from 14 th Apr to 16th Apr, 2022 on the bank of holy Devika. According to Tehsildar, Udhampur, who is functioning as Mela Officer, shopkeepers and vendors will be allowed to sell their goods on the ‘Sairgah Road’ and no hindolas and merry go rounds will be allowed this year. The Stalls of the Govt departments will however be set up. All this is being done to preserve the beauty of Devika and its surroundings.
Baisakhi Melas are also organised at ‘Baisakhi Dabbar’ at Barmeen, at Beni Sang in Chenani, Nainsoo (Udhampur) and at Mansar, which attract a large number of people irrespective of caste, community, religion etc. Ramnagar tehsil is the hub of Dogra culture and grand Baisakhi Mela is organised at Dalsar, historic Chougan and Nauji respectively on the first, second and third Baisakh every year. But as the Melas conclude, the Mela sites and adjoining places are littered with wrappers, plastics and other biodegradable and non biodegradable materials. Many of these items finally find their way into the adjoining rivers and other water bodies leading to the environmental pollution.
So it is the duty of the Government, NGOs and people in general to ensure such materials are thrown into dustbins and the Mela sites are cleared of all garbage and plastics to avoid degradation of environment. Under Govt of India’ s ambitious plan for the cleanliness, purification and rejuvenation of Devika river under National River Conservation Programme, a lot of work has been done and the change is visible on the ground level. It will help a lot in preserving the purity and sanctity of Devika as also boost religious tourism to the widely revered Devika. But unless the people themselves change their mind set and stop throwing garbage into it, the efforts of the Government to preserve and purify this holy river can’t achieve the desired results.
(The author is serving as Sr Lecturer in English Govt HSS, Thial, Udhampur)
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