Hola Mohalla @ Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, India

Hola Mohalla is a Sikh sporting event held every year in a public arena near Holagarh Fort close to a small river named Charan Ganga in the holy city of Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, India.

Warrior Nihangs celebrate it a day after the Holi festival to demonstrate ancient sports and martial art skills in simulated battles and competitions.

The image of the Gatka-Chakar (circular device for deflecting weapons) you see here is something that I had seen in a Hindi movie in 2006. I was fascinated but had no clue what it was. This year I saw another image of it and followed the deep trails and trenches of internet hyperlinks to figure our that they were a part of a bigger festival. In a matter of three days tickets were booked, arrangements were made and I landed up in Punjab last week to see Hola Mohalla 2013. It is also popularly called the 'Sikh Olympics'.

Gatka Chakar - Hola Mohalla 2013

This was not the first time I was visiting a Gurdwara (Sikh Temple). I have always been amazed by its cleanliness, crowd control and lack of any beggars around. A prayer is called an 'ardaas' in Punjabi. I had gone to pray for a friend. I am not a firm believer of rituals but I do believe in the power of faith in the beyond. There is something beautiful about placing unconditional trust in something. It calms one down.

'Nihangs' are warrior Sikhs who carry forward the legacy of ancient warfare and are martial arts experts of  combat techniques of the bygone era. In today's world it is purely ceremonial and is exhibited only during festivals or special occasional. Activities related to their military and wartime prowess is called Gatka Art. It includes horsemanship, sword/stick fights, use of quoits/daggers/aquatics/archery etc. 

Anywhere in the world, combat sports come with a baggage of aggressiveness. But here, I found them to be serene, focused and determined. Most of them wore blues, whites, blacks and orange.

The street procession is called nagar-kirtan where they display their mastery and head towards the stadium where formal competition takes place.

I did not see many corporate banners or FMCG stalls in the area. I come from an advertising background but it always makes me very happy to see the lack of their presence as well. Untouched by commercialism is an aspect which you find far and few. This is one such place. Raw, rustic, unadulterated and pure in its form and talent. Both men and women.

 

You can stay there in Gurdwara rooms by the SGPC or hotels. Another alternative is to stay in Nangal of the Bhakra-Nangal Dam fame which is nearby. Silly me, I realised now, after decades, that Bhakra and Nangal are two separate dams, not a single one.You should keep at least three days if you want to see famous places nearby. One full day for Hola. One for visiting Anandpur & Kiratpur Sahib Gurdwara (preferably the day after Hola). One for the Brahma Temple,Naina Devi & Bhakra. The Bhakra Dam is a must see. It is one of the highest gravity dams in the world. The pride of India - Its work started in 1948 and was completed in 1963. Within budget and within time! The Satluj Sadan on bank of Govindsagar reservoir at Nangal is where the Panchsheel treaty of peaceful co-existence was discussed by the then Indian prime minister Pt. Jawahar lal Nehru and his Chinese counterpart H. E. Chou-En- Lai on April 28th 1954.

Satluj Sadan by Govindsagar Lake - Nangal, Punjab

Holi write up in Cox & Kings Travelscapes

Click on this link to read the write up - Holi across India By Vandana Natu

Holi Hai!!!!

Holi with friends

Every day is Holi & Diwali with him around :)

Response to Stimulus @ Kumbh Mela 2013

It has been over a month since I came back from Allahabad after taking a dip in the Sangam (confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical river Saraswati) on the Mauni Amavasya day of Mahakumbh. I am told there were anywhere between 20 to 30 million people present there that day. I am yet to figure out why I went there.

Kumbh Mela 2013, Allahabad

Anyone who has returned from the Kumbh Mela has a bag full of dirty clothes and a heart full of feelings that are unnamed yet. One has felt a lot. An entangled mesh of darting emotions which very well fit the random Brownian movement pattern between the heart and the mind.

Acute sense of awareness and a deluge of unresolved impressions make you feel like you have gained pounds of weight. The weighing scale might still be a friend who shows you the same number but you feel fat and heavy. The amount of intake is something you cannot measure hence the difficulty in being able to manage and classify it.

'All living beings respond to stimuli', we were taught in school. An important feature to identify living from the non-living.

Here I was. Waiting to respond. Having just experienced an exponential overdose of stimulus after stimulus. Surprisingly, very little assault on my olfactory senses though (the waste management by the administration has been outstanding). Apart from the unusually strong upheaval and surge of emotions, I wasn't able to pin point exactly what were my experiences. Hopefully they will sort themselves out in the coming days.

I started downloading and editing the photographs. After cropping the following photograph as I pressed ctrl + 0, I felt a sting. A punch that hit me somewhere in the solar plexus. This picture was now full frame and I could see fine details of the crooked spine of an old lady in it. Right next to it was another photo of a different old lady who was alone. She walked without any family member.

I need good shoes.
My legs hurt if I walk much.
I am getting old, I need to see the world fast.
I want a good travel bag, warm clothes.
I need a new phone.
I cannot travel without a camera.

Those were a few of the points I remember harping so much about that they were as good as sugar-coated complaints. The bent spines of these ladies made my nags seem so flimsy and spineless.

Looking at these two photographs reminded me of the unfortunate incident of 'railway railing collapse' at Allahabad Junction on the 10th of March 2013. I opened a photograph on the computer. I had asked a fellow passenger to click it on the 8th of March. I wanted to wipe away my smile in the picture. But I can't. It belonged to a time when the time was good and the railway station stood there welcoming one and all. I was the one who arrived. I held those rails and climbed up.

At Allahabad Junction on 8th Feb 2013 

What I feel right now belongs to a time when the same railway station (and probably the same platform) is the cause of death of so many. The ones who departed. They held those rails and plunged.

We belong to different places, as different people in different times. To try and remain sane in all those planes is a herculean task. To figure out how you felt and behaved there and carry the same thread forward is even tougher.



I am sure I will settle down and so will the whole 'Kumbh' experience. I have seen amazing things. Some funny. Some inspiring. Some scary. Some repulsive. Some surprising. It was a collection of so many 'some's'. I will write about them all. But for the moment, I am simply thankful to be back home.

The school books were right. All living beings do respond to stimuli, albeit a bit late in this case. I started crying. And suddenly I was crying for many things. Some in sorrow. Some in gratitude. Some for the loss of lives. Some for the loss of conviction.

I cannot crib with conviction anymore, you see.

(The Reason - I reached Allahabad by Purushottan Express on the 8th of Feb. I was to take the same train back on 10th Feb at 7:45 pm. But I was invited to attend a friend's marriage reception on the same night in Delhi. So I took the evening flight out on 10th, instead of the train. I shudder to think that if it wasn't for the reception, I would have been at Allahabad Junction at 7:00 pm yesterday, at the time of the tragedy that claimed 37 lives).