Well well well, here ends the winter! And in Himachal we don’t just celebrate every occasion, we get together at heart. Faguli is a festival celebrated to mark the end of winters and the beginning of spring. Basically, the main theme is- Victory of good over evil.
Trust us, this 800-year-old festival is fated to hypnotize you (if you’ve not known or seen this festival before). So people, let’s take a tour to the mythology and mystery behind this beautiful festival celebrated in the Himalayas.
Where and When is it Celebrated?
In Himachal Pradesh, the custom of Faguli can be seen in different villages of Lahaul Spiti, Kullu, Manali, Kinnaur districts of Himachal Pradesh. There are various customs and colourful stories focusing on this festival. It seems that based on those beliefs this festival is celebrated differently in all the above-mentioned places.
Faguli in Kinnaur
In Kinnaur Faguli is connected to Basant Panchami. People shoot arrows at a portrait of Ravana drawn on paper. The Monsoon Gods are Welcomed and houses are cleaned. It is said that if an arrow hits home it is a sign of victory of gods over demons. In the morning certain families bring the wood called Suskar Horing. In the evening this is burnt inside a cave. Also, Barley is roasted with this wood. If grains of barley jump up and cling to the roof of the cave, it is taken as a sign of good luck. After all this, the villagers head back to their village led by man Huri followed by the Lankawalla who is followed by the Kittewalla carrying the ‘Doo’. As soon as they reach the village, they take three rounds of the temple, and people try to snatch the Doo which they feed to their animals.
Faguli in Kullu
The Faguli- the Festival of Masks, mainly is celebrated in remote villages of the Kullu district, Tirthan Valley and Jibhi. And this year the festival will be celebrated from 13th to 15th February in Tirthan valley.
Wait! Don’t get misunderstood by the face masks which the whole world is wearing every time they step outside their house. These are the Devil Masks. Originally this festival is held in the month of Falgun, thus it is called Faguli or Fagli festival. Falgun falls between mid-February to mid-March. It marks the arrival of Spring.
Outfit for the Day
This festival is mostly about men. For women it’s a leisurely fun time to enjoy the ceremony, only men get dressed. They wear a skirt made of brass, colourful headgear made up with yellow garland flowers and a wooden mask. There are many stories associated with the mask. Some say that people call names behind these masks to scare away the evil powers.
Rare Masks
The festival is incomplete without wearing these wooden masks. Men wear them while they dance to psychedelic tunes. When dancing with the masks, some simply hold them up to their faces while some hold them up in the air, at times bringing them down to their faces to dance. Usually, the performances are not organized in most places, but let’s say it’s more like a carnival where the men gather together wearing tribal attires with their masks to celebrate.
There are two types of masks, one is Haduman, which is the main mask and along with it, there are other big masks which are called the Tantrik and the Demons.
What Happens at the Festival?
The mask festival is a much-awaited festival for the locals to reconnect with their history, traditions and people. People gather in a huge number to attend the ceremony while the chosen people(men) get dressed in their traditional to entertain the crowd.
As the men get ready, the procession starts in full swing. People do ‘Nati’, one of the folk dances of Himachal, during the day and the one wearing those dresses dances and twirls constantly on the folk numbers holding the rare masks. The surroundings brims with immense joy and high energy. There’s nothing individualistic about the festival, it’s all about togetherness.
Amidst dancing and singing, a person suddenly changes his behaviour and starts moving erratically. According to a belief, the person is possessed and he becomes a Shaman (the one who can talk to the spirits as they enter a trance state during a ritual). He speaks on the behalf of the Deity where he relates with the certain energy and then predicts what calamities might come in the near future in that particular area. It is believed that even people holding or controlling him also enter the trance state.
After receiving a blessing from the chief of the ceremony the procession is taken to the temple where they encircle the Deity dancing and twirling to the drum beats. And then finally, the beeth (the chariot of Faguli Devta) is thrown and the one who catches it has to feast on the whole community and it’s a matter of pride for an individual. The Beeth is prepared early in the morning of the very same day by the local people.
In some parts of Kullu, people light up the fire in the wooden sticks at night and continue to dance and sing songs because they believe that fire removes all the negative energies and brings positive energies instead.
When new grain grows, it is offered to God. Well, this tradition is prevalent in different parts of India. Here, this is also one of the significances of this festival. On top of that, the coolness of Himachal Pradesh, the dance, the music, the food, and the natural beauty is enough to enthrall your mind.
As we know the attire, rituals and traditions of this festival are sanctuaries old and nothing can be more beautiful than following our ancestors by keeping alive the ideas of who we are. Although modern technologies are making us grow, it still might be a big question for many to think practically about where these theories of our ancestors stand. Surely, our ancestors were very thoughtful to bring these to light, does that mean beyond the boundaries of science and logic there are some inexplicable miracles?
Speaking of the mythology and mysteries in Himachal, many are still waiting to unfold. So, to see the true soul of this valley make sure you don’t miss out on this festival this year. Let yourself be indulged in the culture and traditions and most importantly respect the culture as it’s our culture that mirrors our behaviour.
