Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, Jan 11: Three day annual “Gujjar Festival” concluded here with organizing of a mega Cultural show and Gujjar- Dangal at main ground of Dadoor, 15 Km away from Kathua town on Jammu-Delhi National Highway.
Earlier, on 9th of January the festival started with celebrations of Urs of Peer Baba Jenab Sahib, a most revered saint among nomads held at Katheda near Dadoor.
Organized by local Banhara Gujjar nomadic community, the festival was attended by more than 20,000 tribal people hailing from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pardesh and Punjab who assembled here for this annual cultural extravaganza held after the gap of one year.
The Gujjar festival is held annually on 24, 25 and 26th of Poh, Bikrami at Katheda and Dadoor villages of Kathua and a big number of Gujjar artists, wrestlers and religious as well as social leaders participate in this event.
Dr Javaid Rahi, Secretary, Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation stated that keeping in view the cultural importance of this annual event our organization has started documentation of this event from this year onwards to preserve the rich Gujjar Culture in audio-visual form. The Foundation has asked K D Chopra- a local Gojri writer to document a full commentary on the event, he said.
“We put some glimpses of this historic event on You Tube -a Social Networking site for world viewers”, said Dr Rahi and added that this is first tribal event held without the interference of Government machinery.
Dr Javaid Rahi was invited by Haji Alam Din Lodha who heads the organizing Committee of Gujjars of Kathua which organizes the festival annually.
A big Gujjar Dangal was the main attraction of this event held today. Chowdhary Zakir Hussain Chaadh of Samba was declared winner by the committee.
Other wrestlers, who marked their presence in the event and won cash prizes included Makhan Din, Mohammad Shreif Lodha, Ch Roshan Din Bhadhana, Shinda Jaato and Bhora Banaia Chowdhry.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel