Igas festival in Uttarakhand, CM Dhami congratulates, send selfie and win prize

There is a tradition of celebrating Bagwal, Igas in Uttarakhand. Diwali is called Bagwal here, while 11 days after Bagwal another Deepawali is celebrated, which is called Igas. On the day of Igas festival, associated with the folk culture of the mountain, sweet dishes are prepared after cleaning the houses and deities are worshipped. The Uttarakhand government has also announced a holiday today, stirring the juice in this festival. This has doubled the enthusiasm of the people. It is not possible that Uttarakhand should not be mentioned during the festival and festive season. The festival of Diwali was celebrated with great pomp across the country. It is the beauty of India that the festival of Diwali is celebrated in different provinces along with the festival of lights with its age-old traditional ways. Similarly, in Uttarakhand too, there is a tradition of celebrating Deepawali in a unique way. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has congratulated the people of the state on the festival of Igas.

CM tweeted in Garhwali-

आप सभैं प्रदेशवासियों के इगास/बूढ़ी दीवाली की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं !

आओ, हम सभैं मिलीजुली बेरि बुढी दिवाली मनूनू और अपणी नय पीढि के अपणी महान लोक संस्कृति दगाडा जोडनू। लोक पर्व बूढी दिवाली हमरी समृद्ध संस्कृति की पछयाण छ। यैके यादगार बणूने कि थे हमले राजकीय अवकाश की घोषणा करी रा।

— Pushkar Singh Dhami (Modi Ka Parivar) (@pushkardhami) November 4, 2022

Win bounty on Igas

हमारी सरकार ने इगास/बूढ़ी दिवाली के अवसर पर 3 भाग्यशाली विजेताओं को प्रोत्साहन पुरस्कार प्रदान करने का निर्णय लिया है।#इगास मनाते हुए आप भी अपने परिवार के साथ सेल्फी लेकर #SelfieWithFamily हैशटैग के साथ अपनी फ़ोटो सोशल मीडिया पर अपलोड कर उपहार जीतने का अवसर प्राप्त कर सकते हैं। pic.twitter.com/oYvBcgDNC9

— Pushkar Singh Dhami (Modi Ka Parivar) (@pushkardhami) November 4, 2022

What is Igas festival

There is a tradition of celebrating Bagwal, Igas in Uttarakhand. Diwali is called Bagwal here, while 11 days after Bagwal another Deepawali is celebrated, which is called Igas. On the day of Igas festival, associated with the folk culture of the mountain, sweet dishes are prepared after cleaning the houses and deities are worshipped. Also cows and bullocks are worshipped. In the evening, dancing buffaloes are played in an empty field or barn in the village. Bhailo is a kind of torch, which is rotated during the dance. Firecrackers are not used on Egas.

This is why Igas is celebrated on the 11th day

There is also a belief that when Maryada Purushottam Lord Shri Ram returned to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile, people welcomed him by lighting ghee lamps. But, the information about the return of Lord Rama to the Garhwal region was received on Kartik Shukla Ekadashi eleven days after Diwali, so the villagers expressed happiness and celebrated Diwali on Ekadashi.

This is the second belief

The second belief is that at the time of Diwali, the army of Garhwal under the leadership of Veer Madho Singh Bhandari of Garhwal had won the battle of Dapaghat and Tibet and the Garhwal army reached its home on the 11th day of Diwali. Diwali was celebrated at that time in the joy of winning the war and the soldiers reaching home.

There is another story

Another similar story is that a person from Chamba had gone to the forest to get wood for making buffaloes and did not return for eleven days. In his sorrow, the people there did not celebrate Deepawali. When that person returned, this festival was celebrated and played the folk game Bhailo. Since then the tradition of celebrating Diwali and playing buffalo started on the day of Igas Bagwal.

What is Igas Bagwal

There are 4 Bagwals in Garhwal. The first Bagwal occurs on the Chaturdashi Tithi of Krishna Paksha in the month of Kartik. Like the whole country, the second Amavasya is celebrated in Garhwal with its own folk traditions. The third Bagwal is celebrated on Ekadashi of Shukla Paksha in Kartik month, which comes exactly 11 days after Badi Bagwal (Diwali). Ekadashi in Garhwali is called Igas. Hence it is known as Igas Bagwal. The fourth Bagwal comes exactly one month after the second Bagwal or Badi Bagwal, on the new moon day of Margasish month. It is called Rikh Bagwal. It is celebrated in the areas of Jaunpur, Tholdhar, Pratapnagar, Rawai, Chamiala etc. of Garhwal.