Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 4: Thousands of devotees drawn from different parts of the country thronged the shrines of legendary saint Baba Jitto and his daughter Bua Kaury at Jihri 15 kms from here as the nine-day annual Jhiri fair commenced today amid tight security arrangements.
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About 10 lakh devotees are expected to take part in the festival which is scheduled to end on November 12, officials said.
The devotees thronging the holy temple at Jhiri, to take part in the festival to remember the sacrifice of the legendary farmer saint and his daughter, who fought against exploitation centuries ago.
Followers from Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country, mostly Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, gathered to pay tributes to ‘Baba Jit Mal’, popularly known as Baba Jitto, at his ‘Samadhi’ every year.
On the first day of the mela today thousands of devotees drawn from neighboring states of Punjab, HP, Haryana and UP thronged the holy shrine to pay obeisance to Baba and his daughter and also the devotees took a holy dip in the ‘Babe-da-Talab’ (pond).
Taking the bath in the pond at the shrine is considered auspicious by the devotees.
Member Parliament Shamsher Singh Manhas inaugurated the Mela as thousands of devotees from neighboring states of Punjab, Himachal, Haryana and parts of UP reached Jhiri village to pay obeisance to peasant saint, Baba Jitto in whose memory the fair is held every year.
MLA Marh, Sukhnandan Kumar Choudhary, MLA Doda Shakti Parihar, MLA Chamb Dr. Krishan Bhagat, Deputy Commissioner Jammu Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, Mela Officer (SDM) Paramjeet Singh, Additional Mela Officer S. Ranjeet Singh, Mela Secretary Ram Ditta Sharma and other senior functionaries of police and district administration were also present on the occasion.
Exhibitions were organised during the festival that cater to diverse variety of articles ranging from pottery, vases, utensils, agriculture and horticulture products, toys to books on Baba Jitto.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Jammu-Samba-Kathua range, Rafiq Ul Hassan, visted the main temple where he was briefed about the security measures to ensure smooth and incident-free conduct of the festival, a police spokesman said.
“All the routes leading to the festival have been tightened by establishing extensive ‘nakas’ (checking points). Frisking of devotees at the main entry point of the temple is being conducted besides round-the-clock patrolling,” the spokesman said.
He said necessary arrangements have been made to ensure regulation of traffic, thorough checking of visitors by using strong access control system on the entry and exit points of the temple and checking of vehicles.
The Exhibition stalls established by the Department of Agriculture , Jammu were the main attraction of the farmers on the inaugural day of the annual Jhiri fair.
Manhas who inaugurated the agriculture exhibition later inspected it also along with MLA Marh, Ch Sukhnandan Kumar, MLA Chamb, Dr Krishan Lal Bhagat, MLA Doda Shakti Parihar and MLA Jammu East, Rajesh Gupta and other officers. Director Agriculture H K Razdan and Joint Director, Agriculture, K S Samyal were among officers present on the occasion.
The Agriculture Department bagged first prize among the stalls while Floriculture Department bagged second prize and third prize was bagged by Horticulture Department.
Paying rich tribute to Baba Jitto, Member Parliament Manhas described him as a revolutionary farmer who fought against the feudal system and against exploitation of marginalized farmers.
The Member Parliament also witnessed a dangal competition organised by Mela Management Committee which witnessed bouts of professional wrestlers from different parts of the country.
Manhas lauded the efforts of Jhiri Mela Management Committee and the district administration for making excellent arrangements for the visitors. He inspected awareness camps and exhibition stalls installed by various Government departments including Department of Agriculture, Horticulture, Sericulture, Floriculture, Handicrafts, Small Scale Industries Development Corporation Limited, Animal Husbandry, Sheep Husbandry and various other departments.
The stalls have been established to educate the people about various welfare schemes being implemented by the State and Centre Governments for their benefit.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages presented a cultural programme depicting the rich cultural heritage of the Dogras.
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