Harela

Harela

Subject: Environment

Context: The chief minister of Uttarakhand Pushakar Singh Dhami planted saplings with the villagers and urged them to gift saplings to their visitors for maintaining greenery on earth. All the government departments, institutions, schools, non-profits, volunteers, social workers and locals participated in the plantation drive.

Concept:

• Villagers across Uttarakhand celebrated Harela, a festival of greenery, peace, prosperity and environmental conservation
• Harela means ‘day of green’ and is celebrated in the month of Shravan (the fifth month of the Hindu lunar calendar) to worship Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.
• People across Uttarakhand, especially the Kumaun region, associate greenery with prosperity.
• The seeds of five to seven types of crops —  maize, til (sesame), urad(black gram), mustard, oats —  are sown in donas (bowl made of leaves) or ringalare (hill bamboo baskets) nine days before the festival.
• They are harvested on the ninth day and distributed to neighbours, friends and relatives.
• The flourish of the crops symbolises prosperity in the year ahead.
• Kheer, puwa, puri, rayata, chhole and other dishes are prepared as the celebratory spread.
• People make clay statues of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, known as Dikare, and worship them a day before the festival.
• Locals of Garhwal said Harela is also linked to the Barahnaza system (12 types of crops), a crop diversification technique followed in the region.
• On the day of the festival the locals sing the in kumaoni language.