Friday, July 11, 2008

Roomani (रूमणि) in Jaunsar Bawar

Jaunsar Bawar , a tribal area in Dehra Dun District of Uttarakhand is not only famous for its beautiful mountain range but also for its hard working and simple typical hill area tribals. They also have unique ways of celebrating even small moments of happiness in the full company of their community, guests, soliciting as many of them as possible. One such occasion is the rainy season festival of Roomani which is celebrated in the Jaunsar Bawar tribal area. The gaiety is especially noteworthy in villages like Mairawna, which have paddy as one of the main crops due to availability of water streams for irrigation.

In a few days time, primarily agrarian people of Jaunsar Bawar would have finished the farming activity of transplanting paddy crops in their fields. After grueling days of hard labour the coming Sankranti which falls around mid July every year, various villages would have bustling evenings with village-folks joining each other braking into song and dance, exchanging pleasantries, before breaking for feasting on traditional dishes of Taudiya ki Roti, Uluwe-Pinunwe, Ghee, Halwa, etc.

This celebration is also marked by a strong sense of caring for each other. This is reflected in the village-folks voluntarily coming together for completing the paddy plantation of all those who are left behind, so that they also finish the work on this crop by the appointed day. This make the day truely enjoyable to every one.

One more noteworthy aspect of Roomani festival is the extended festivity seeking participation of nearby villages. This is done by adjusting days of celebrations to avoid falling on the same day. This ensures participation from neighbourhood villages in each others festivals. Within a village there is a healthy competition of trying to take home as many guests as possible. Higher the number of guests at home for dinner, greater is the happiness in the family.

In this age of cut throat competition and contempt for fellow citizens, the Roomani festival, show-cases to the world, Jaunsar Bawari spirit of living together, sharing every bit of happiness with each other, and of the voluntary self-less act of taking along ones who are left behind. I think the modern society has some lessons to learn here.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

manshu chauhan Village bhangar chakrata dehradun

Unknown said...

Great love to your janambhumi and jansari community

Anonymous said...

proud to be a jaunsari.