The Butter Festival, Andudi, celebrated in the Dayara Bugyal (high altitude alpine meadow) might face problems this year too. The festival had to be suspended at least once in the past due to the roads and the link routes remaining blocked. The situation on the ground being as bad this year as well, no preparatory arrangement is in sight as yet, deepening uncertainty over the event.
Playing Holi with milk, butter and butter-milk with prices sky-rocketing may sound fantastic for others, yet this is a reality here. The Dayara Tourism Festival Committee, Raithal annually stages the Butter Festival — locally called 'Andudi' — in August with great fanfare in the grand valley and particularly in Raithal village nestled in the mountains at the altitude of over 10,500 feet in the border district of Uttarkashi.
The butter and other dairy products used during the festival are contributed by the villagers who begin preparing and storing these items days in advance. Andudi is celebrated to thank lord Krishna, the celestial protector of cattle or 'Gaupala'', for protecting the cattle from the evil forces as they graze in the open meadows in Dayara.
On the day of the festival, the men and the women play Holi with artistes posing as 'Krishna' and 'Radha' with butter, buttermilk and milk. During the festival, women perform their traditional songs and dance -- Tandi and Raso -- in the quiet valley of Dayara.
With things looking uncertain with the condition of the roads remaining vulnerable to the vagaries of nature, the committee is yet to gear up for the upcoming popular festival. However, a committee official said that if the weather is conducive, the festival would surely be organised this time.