Village men gather at Aglar river valley for Maund mela 2014

2014-08-12 10

Villagers are gathering at Aglar valley for Maund fishing mela near Yamuna bridge.

Maund Mela is a yearly fishing festival of Garhwal and its origin can be dated back to the pre-independence feudal era, initiated by the then Maharajah of Tehri. 'Maund' is a local term meaning the state of drunkenness or addiction.

Every year the local villagers gather at Aglar River, near Yamuna Bridge in Tehri district of Garhwal, Uttarakhand to celebrate the fishing festival.

The Maharajah then fixed one day which usually falls around 29th June of every year as "Mound."

The preparation for the festival begins one month before the actual day of the festival, when one chosen village is given a task to prepare "Mound", sort of addictive paste using the bark of "Timru" plant available locally, for the fish. The bark of the plant is dried and after grinding the powder in the water mills, a powder is created that is put on this day in the Aglar Rivulet so that the fish become paralysed and are caught easily in the nets that are spread downstream.

The use of the powder takes place after every head of the village arrives at the designated location at the Aglar Rivulet.
The villagers under the age bracket of 12 to 60 then wait for fish to fall in the respective nets of the individuals.

Source: younguttarakhand.com/

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