The festival of spring Phool Dei was celebrated in many parts of the State on Wednesday. The festival which is celebrated on the first day of Chaitra Month of Indian calendar also heralds New Year in the Hills of Uttarakhand. Tradition has it that little girls forming small congregation collect different flowers in small baskets made from Ringal ( bamboo) and place them on the doorsteps of all the houses in their neighbourhood.
They offer their best wishes to the family for their prosperity and well being. Thanking for their wishes people offers them sweets and small treats.
Following centuries old tradition which gives a message of harmony with nature and festivities in midst of all the hardships, Phool Dei was celebrated in many areas of Garhwal and Kumaon hills on Wednesday.
In some places, this festival is celebrated all over the month. However, because of modern day lifestyle and large scale migration from the hills of the state, the festival is losing its sheen.
Talking about significance and his memories associated with this beautiful festival of flowers, Celebrated Folk Singer Narendra Singh Negi regretted that the festival is losing its old glory .
“This festival is for little girls. I remember when I was a small boy it used be a month- long celebration. The girls used to sing melodious traditional folk songs while placing the flowers.
It was a like a duty for the girls to wake up in the morning and collect flowers from fields and forests,’’ he remembered.
Negi attributed rampant migration from the villages located in the mountains and invasion of modern culture to the declining glory of the traditional festival of the state. “The festival is losing its relevance because of the fact that the people are shifting from villages to the cities and are forgetting their old culture.
To preserve this festival, the people should come back to their homes, their villages, to their roots so that the new generation gets acquainted about our tradition, culture and festivals,’’ he said.