Dr. Banarsi Lal
Union Territory of J&K is famous for various fairs and festivals. Fairs and festivals are an essential part of the Dogra culture. In J&K Jhiri Mela, Bahu Mela, Moungri Mela, Sudhmahadev Mela, Dera Baba Baisakhi Mela, Sankari Mela, Hemis Gompa Mela etc. are organized which attract the devotees, traders and tourists across the nation. Fairs and festivals signify rich cultural heritage of J&K and add colour and vibrancy in the lives of people. The celebration of such fairs and festivals help to unite the people from all the sections of society. These types of events help to preserve and transmit our rich culture from generation to generation. One such Mela is Jhiri Mela which is celebrated at Jhiri village in Jammu province of Union Territory of J&K to commemorate the martyrdom of Baba Jitto. Every year Jhiri Mela is organised at Jhiri village on Kartik Poornima (late autumn full moon) during the last week of October or early November with great enthusiasm and fervour. The Jhiri Mela signifies the honesty, courage, compassion, innocence, humility, culture and truthfulness of a farmer. This Mela is an important annual congregation of farmers and other pilgrims who gather at Jhiri village to pay homage to Dogra folk hero Baba Jitto. The fair is held every year to honour the audacity and integrity of 16th century folk hero Baba Jitto, who laid down his life to defend the values of honesty and justice. This fair is a salute to a legendary farmer who fought for the cause of the marginalized farmers.
Jhiri village is located around 20 Km away from Jammu at Jammu Akhnoor Highway. This year this event will be commenced from 8th of November. This Mela is believed to be the second most attended fair preceded by the Pushkar fair in Rajasthan. Lakhs of devotees come here from every part of India to pay tribute to the 16th century Dogra hero, Baba Jitto who is also known as the legendry and revolutionary farmer. During the fair the whole Jhiri village is magnificently decorated by the local people. The weeklong event is associated with the supreme sacrifice of a hard working farmer and a great devotee of Vaishno Devi who fought against injustice and land lord system. He laid down his life after he was deceived by the Kardar of the area. This event is celebrated to salute the courage of Baba Jit Mal who is popularly known as Baba Jitto. He is known for his fearless character. During the event various exhibitions stalls are installed by the various departments which signify the articles such as pots, books, toys etc. mostly based on Baba Jitto life. During the fair the pilgrims take a holy dip in Babe-da-Talab which is known to have miraculous powers for curing the skin diseases.
Baba Jitto was a simple and honest farmer who used to live at Aghar Jitto village in Reasi district of J&K which is about 6 km from Katra. Like many other folk heroes who begin their life as an ordinary person but are transformed into someone extraordinary personality by performing significant life events in their lives. Baba Jitto, originally named as Jit Mal, was a sincere farmer of village Aghar Jitto. Baba Jitto was a Brahmin and great devotee of Mata Vaishno Devi. His aunt Jojan was having hostile behaviour towards him and finally he decided to leave the village along with his daughter Bua Kouri. He went to his friend, Iso Megh at Kahnachak and there he urged Mehta Bir Singh, a feudal lord of the Ambgrota, to provide a piece of land for farming.
Mehta Bir Singh gave Jit Mal a piece of barren and unfertile land after signing an agreement that he would give him the one-fourth of his produce. Jit Mal’s hard work transformed the unfertile and barren land into productive and fertile land which finally produced an excellent crop. When Bir Singh came to know about the exceptional crop yield, he arrived at the fields along with his men and instructed them to lift three fourth of the crop yield and leave only a quarter for Jit Mal. Baba Jitto requested Mehta Bir Singh to follow the already fixed terms and conditions of the agreement but Mehta forcibly took the major share of the crop. Injustice done by Mehta forced Jit Mal to stab himself after sitting on the heap of grains which got wet by his blood. He killed himself, as a protest against the atrocities of the local landlord. He uttered his last words “Sukki kanak nain khayaan mehetya, dinna ratt ralayi” (don’t eat raw wheat, Mehta; let me mix my blood in it).
His seven year old daughter Bua Kouri with the help of their pet dog Kalu, found the dead body of her father which was hidden in the Simbal tree trunk by the goons of Mehta. She then lit the pyre and burnt herself with her father. After that a fierce rain storm raged the area, the blood strained grains were washed away and all those people, even the birds, who had eaten those grains later suffered from various ailments, untimely deaths, misfortunes etc. In order to seek pardon from the wrath of the holy great spirit, they not only asked for his forgiveness by worshiping him as a ‘Kuldevta'(family deity) but also making it mandatory for their future generations to venerate Baba Jitto and pay annual homage to him. The Samadhi of Baba Jitto and his daughter were raised at Jhiri in Shama Chak village which is about 18 Kms. from Jammu and 5 Kms. from Misriwala on Jammu-Poonch Highway. A temple was built at the site of martyrdom of father and the daughter. Since then every year the Mela is organised at this place. Baba Jitto sacrificed his life to get his due share of agricultural crop from landlord Bir Singh who denied him to give the committed share. After that Baba Jitto became famous among the farmers’ community. He is considered as the legendary and revolutionary farmer of J&K.
There is also a pond which is commonly called as the Baba-da-Talab where the people take the holy dip and offer prayers of regret. During the Mela all types of people take a holy dip which is believed to cure skin diseases. It is said that if a childless lady takes bath in the pond, she is blessed with a child by the blessings of Baba Jitto and Bua Kouri. The pilgrims take the mud of the pond at their homes as they consider it as Shakker which is believed to cure various ailments. Even during the marriages and mundane ceremonies people pay homage to Baba Jitto. During the event the J&K Government organises various camps and put up various exhibition stalls to create awareness among the farmers on agriculture and allied sectors. Cultural programmes depicting the Dogra culture are also organised during the event. Some of the major sources of attraction in this fair are the Dogri play ‘Baba Jitto’. Wrestling, merry- go- rounds, sweet stalls, giant wheels etc. add charm to the Mela. There are also ancient temples of Sui and Buri which are 5Km. away from Jhiri village and are famous for the wall paintings and metal idols of Shri Ram and Sita.
Jhiri Mela is also called farmers fair as it is celebrated to worship the holy soul of a legendary farmer. Jhiri Mela witnesses great hustle and bustle during the seven-day festival as pilgrims’ families and various groups belonging to different communities and hailing from every nook and corner of the country assemble there to pay obeisance to Baba Jitto and seek his blessings and the blessings of his daughter Bua Kouri. Jhiri Mela like other such congregations is a spectacle to behold. Apart from large number of kiosks of eatables and merchants displaying their wares for sale, which include from trinkets to new popular electronics gadgets, the fair presents hosts of entertainments for every age group of people. Most of the stalls of eatables especially Jalebi and Pakoras, which is a specialty of the mela, are being run by local people. The fair also forms an important marketing outlet for the local sugarcane crop which is brought by many farmers in the fair. This Mela is a major socio-religious event that brings together many people at Jhiri village where devotees of Baba Jitto forget their caste, creed and language and share an experience of faith with full devotion. Sanitation, security, medical services, safe drinking water, un-interrupted power supply, adequate provision of essential commodities, fire services, ration and other commodities, transport arrangements, accommodation facilities etc. are provided to the devotees by the district administration. Keeping in view the large influx of the people, a control room to monitor the arrangements and civic amenities at the site has been established. Wide publicity of mela through print and electronic media is also done well in advance so that more and more pilgrims can attend in the event. This event signifies our rich culture and promotes unity, truthfulness, courage, innocence and honesty in the society. The young generation of modern era remains glued to mobile phones, laptops, TVs, social media etc. rather being a part of such religious events. Parents should encourage their children to attend such events to realize the significance of such events and learn to respect, preserve and transmit our culture. We all must be proud of our diverse and rich culture and we must spare our time from our hectic schedule to take part in such fairs and festivals.
(The writer is Sr. Scientist & Head of KVK, Reasi, SKUAST-J).
