"India is a place filled with cultural history, it has traditional and religious practices so divine that it locks our hearts away from all worldly desires. Jagran is in my opinion the very epitome of these rituals."
A week before, I went to my village with my family. It’s a beautiful place situated in between mountains and hills, surrounded by nature's wonderful gifts. My Village (Varsi) is in a place called Ritha, something like 50 km ahead of Shaharfatak a popular tourist spot in the Himalayan hills.
We started our journey at 3 PM, the climate was rather moderate and I could see some black clouds in the distance, I really wished that the climate would remain subtle as travelling in the hills in rain would be uncomfortable. A city called Haldwani, my hometown connects most of the other areas of India to the hills. After crossing the bridge which marks the end of planar region and the start of hilly areas, I really begin to feel like I was surrounded by nature. the hordes of congested buildings were suddenly replaced by trees, bushes, and endless greenery. I personally don't have a concrete opinion on the travel experience in the hills, I have mixed thoughts on it. During the start you might feel a little dizzy because you are more elevated in the atmosphere than usual and the air pressure is also different. I really suggest you this that you should avoid using in-ear earphones during the travel instead I prefer a headphone because it lets you better hear the ambient sounds and also lets your ear adapt to the change in air pressure so as to avoid headache. Despite all the discomfort I don't really hate it, well the ambient sounds and the beautiful scenes soothes the heart and more than makeup for it. One of the best things about travelling in hills is the food served at the restaurants, the combinations of tea and "pakode" with the "Chutney" to dip it in. I have to tried to recreate their recipes time and time again but I didn't have much success, somehow or the other it lacks a certain essence, maybe it’s the surrounding that make the meal so special. The distance to our village is roughly 170 km and it us about 6 hours to reach there including a 30 min tea break. We reached our destination at 9 PM. As it was quite late in the night, we had supper, then I talked to my relatives that had also gathered there for Jagran and then went to sleep in the fairly cold night.
The next day the Jagran was supposed to happen. You could really feel it in the atmosphere, everyone woke up early some even early as 4 AM including me. When you go to areas like my village away from the modernization your internal clock really aligns itself with the natural cycles. Thus, I could easily sleep at 10 PM and wake up ate 4 AM, but I didn't climb out of my bed instead I kept laying there with my eyes open as it was still chilly outside. Around 6 AM the activity around the house increased and I decided that it was time to get up and freshen up. Then around 30 min later tea was served to all the house members, in my opinion morning tea is a very crucial part of Indian culture no matter where you live in the rural or the urban areas. After having breakfast, we almost immediately got involved in the preparation of Jagran. Coming to this phase I would like to clear a point that this ritual like every other ritual differs to a great degree according to the place you are considering. First, we collected firewood that would be burned during the ritual. Then we cleared the area where the ritual was supposed to take place so that no stones or twigs would remain there. This ritual also involves preparation of a feast, so we brought a whole lot of utensils from the village association because the feast had to be prepared for almost all 100- 150 people who would be attending. Then around late noon we started peeling vegetables and cooking them for the feast. A very good point that I like about villages is that no matter where the events are taking place, the whole village people become involved and help in any way they can. They helped us in many ways some making food, collecting firewood and in other stuff. I have always considered my whole village to be a very big family and I think it’s the same for others too.
Doing all the tasks it was already late evening, everyone was almost finish with their work. Then the evening tea would be served. Enjoying the tea after some hard work they would gather in places and discuss (in my opinion) random things like some religious talk and then the next moment they would shift to praising the climate of the hills and so on. The small children could be found playing around in the veranda, telling the smaller kids ghost stories and having fun. Before the ritual the food is served. This is also a unique feature of Jagran that feast takes place before the ritual unlike other rituals. After eating the food it’s now finally time for the actual ritual.
The fire burns in the middle while the people sit around the file in groups in kind of circular fashion with plenty of space between them and the fire. At one place some the elderly of my family sat with other elderly of the village, beside them one can see all the religious items like small statue or the photos of the gods, a Diya ( a religious lamp) , a holy trident, and a Chaur. And the other elderly, adults and kids sit together. Why some elderly sit in a different group? I'll explain. Well the way it works is that during the ritual gods bestow their presence or in some ways possess certain individuals. This is considered as way of indirectly communication with the worshipers. So, the people who have been previously blessed or bestowed upon sit in a different group. During jagran a musical instrument like dhol, nagadi, etc. is used which provides a rhythm or to be more specific a uniform beat that helps increase the concentration. I have never discussed the significance of musical instruments during the ritual but it is probably because in my head I already know it’s importance. So how do I tell you this? Consider this as something that you have to be there to experience. But I also understand that saying that also defeats the very point of you reading this post. The beats on the dhol and nagadi marks the start of the ritual. The beats of the drum are uniform and after hearing continuously for even a small time it will calm you down and I think it is true for other people also, and so it probably helps the people shed their desires, worries and connect with the almighty. Unlike the concept of meditation where you try to connect to the almighty as an individual, in Jagran you try to achieve the same but with all of the others. The sound of the instruments is also mixed with hints of people talking and slight giggles, this time the talks are mostly religious. It does not take much time and the real events start. A diety usually suddenly bestowes upon one of the elders. The events that happen after this are a little dramatical but I swear to you that's how it happens. When the diety suddenly bestowes upon someone they start shaking and then they start revolving around the flames. The motion of revolution is mostly in a fixed pattern kind of like a dance. Just bear in mind that they don't stop shaking while dancing. When I was small when the first one began dancing, I would get really scared but now as an adult I'm more curious than scared. Then some other elders will also follow. Some after having danced for a while would go sit down on their original place indicating that the diety no longer possesses them. Now some interesting things occur while they are possessed, some of them would pick up the ashes from the firewood and put tilaka on everybody's forehead, and some would yell in a really loud voice like asking someone that what were their problems or saying that you are now blessed by the god. This could go on for few hours. Then when everybody would settle down the most elderly of our house would wave the Chaura over our heads of each member of the family as a sign of blessing them. Elders also say that it also eliminates the possibility of ill spirit or ill will that may be directed on the family members. This marks the end of the ritual.
Even after the end of the ritual people usually just sit there talking discussing and waiting for the final cup of tea, that in my opinion really marks the end of Jagran.
This concludes my entire experience on this episode. My family holds a Jagran every year and I remember that I have attended it every year from the birth and will continue to attend it. But when I heard the elder people discussing the future of this ritual in this so called mordern world. When I was small I remember Jagran lasted for about 3-4 hours and now it usually lasts about 1-2 hours. "It's enough to just show our faith" said a village elder when he was questioned about if he was concerned with the future of this ritual.
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