Kinnaur - Fairs and festivals Aug./Sept.05?

AndreasW

Hi all,

i'll stay in India between 12.08 - 13.09.2005 (arrival/departure Delhi) and visit Kinnaur again.

At first, I would like accompany the locals from Purbani and around to the Shiva Lingam on the shoulder of Kinner Kailash.


© www.andreas-wagner-audiovision.de


Source: http://www.worldisround.com/articles...6/photo15.html

Deepak Sanan & Danu Swadi wrote in "Exploring Kinnaur & Spiti":
Hope this yatra will be undertaken around the fullmoon date on 19.08.05 ?!! - If someone knows more details about this pilgrimage, please tell me more...

Between 16. Bhadra and 23. Bhadra celebrate the Kinnaurese their special flower festival "PHULAICH" (Ukiang or Menthoko meens the same???) on different places. - It's true, that 16.-23. Bhadra is the equivalent of 04.09 -10.09.2005 in this year???

This festival starts in lower Kinnaur and Sangla Valley and ends in upper Kinnaur!
I've read in "Exploring Kinnaur & Spiti" that Lippa's Menthoko (Changmang) festival, celebrated together with the Sumcho villages is the best!
This sounds very interesting for me! Has someone further information or is in touch with the locals concerning details and dates of this festival???
Is an "Innerline Permit" necessary already for the link road in the Taiti Valley to Lippa and Asrang? - The check point in Jangi is a little bit afterwards the junction in Aren?!!

I'll be glad, if someone in this great forum has answers of my unusual and special questions. - Perhaps "dhananjay"....

Another question ist interesting for me. - Which of you is in touch with the villagers in Nirmand? ( http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/200...dows/main3.htm ) When will be celebrate the famous Bhunda festival again?

Thanks in advance
AndreasW from Germany

dhananjay

Hi,
Andreas !!! I shall have to get back with more details on the festivals ... well however coming to ILP ... just get it done in any case ... Concerning Phulaich .... I have had the chance to witness the festival twice ... Once at Batseri and the second time at Ribba ... courtesy some friends I have from Kinnaur .... Phulaich is the onset of Autumn .... It isa time when all of lower Kinnaur celebrates ... Angoori flows like their rivers and everything everybody is in wild abandon ... It is a festival of flowers .. where people from the villages collect wild flowers from the nearby alpine pastures and gather there for nights of festivity .... It happens in September each year ... There are no special dates as in you could mark the calender .... However I shall try and find out ... Yes Bhadra does fall in Autumn .. september/october ... The shivling yatra takes place every year starting from Peo/Kalpa .... I am not sure again about the dates .... also another good option is to be a part of the
Kinner Kailash Parikrama following the same route hoever involving the crossing of the Charang pass .. The parikrama starts each year a week ten days before Janmashtami (Birthday of Lord Krishna) sometime in August and ends at Kalpa/Thangi ... one may choose to join the pilgrimage .... One of the best ways to discover Kinnaur ... Another Yatra of major significance is theSrikhand Yatra ... This takes place in June/July each year ... Starting from Sarahan .... I should be getting in touch with my highlander friends for more information ... Till then happy Musings ...

Cheers,
Dhananjay

AndreasW

Hi Dhananjay,

thanks for your fast and competent reply - again and again!!!
That's the reason, why I come back every year to Himachal... ... Now, I'll take pictures and look for interesting storys about the Kinnaurese. It's a new slide show project from me... That's follows "SPITI - The hidden heritage of Tibet"...

I have had also the chance to witness the festival PHULAICH in 1999 in Kamru and Ropa! Last year I missed it on one day in Chitkul. We did the Kinner Kailash Parikrama and started our trek at Janmashtami in Charang, but we was on the way without other pilgrims. - What a pity! - Look to my pictures in this German Trekkinforum: http://trekkingforum.com/forum/showt...kinner+kailash

In 2003, 4 days before the July fullmoon, I had the chance to witness this yatra starting with a lot of Sadhus in Nirmand... But I want celebrate DAKHRAINI with the Kinnaurese in this year... You know, Angoori was tempting...
Now hurry! - It's plenty time till August! But I would appreciate it, if you got precisely informations of your highlander friends...

Cheers to Shimla
AndreasW