Excelsior Correspondent
KATRA, June 3: The historic 3-day Agar Jitto Mela which attracted more than 45,000 people concluded today.
The small village Agar, located about 5 km from Katra was beautifully decorated for the big event. Thousands of devotees from within and outside the State including Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pardesh thronged the place to pay obeisance to Baba Jitto Mal- a farmer, who had preferred to end his life instead of bearing the injustice at the hands of greedy landlords.
The Agar Jitto Mela is organized to pay tribute to the Baba Jitto Mal, also known as the Baba Jitto to commemorate his sacrifice.
The devotees took holy bath at springs known for healing power and paid obeisance at the temple constructed in the memory of the saint farmer. The devotees also sought blessings of Bua Kodi, the daughter of Jitto, who jumped on the pyre of the Baba.
Various Departments like Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Handicrafts, Handloom, Sericulture, Employment and Rural Development Departments as well as banks including J&K Bank, SBI and RBI had installed stalls which witnessed huge rush of farmers and youth from various areas. Ethnic food stalls were main attraction of the Mela.
District Development Commissioner, Reasi, Sushma Chauhan personally supervised all the activities scheduled for three days.
Briefing the media persons, Chauhan announced that a “Reasi Festival” is being planned as an annual affair for depicting rich cultural heritage of district and to achieve the target a cultural society is being constituted.