Returning home after fishing, showing off the day's haul, after Maund Mela 2024 below Mussoorie

Villagers pack away the catch and return home after fishing, and show off the day's haul, after Maund Mela 2024 Fish killing festival that takes place below Mussoorie. One man shows a fresh water Eel.
#eel #fishing #uttarakhand #maundmela
Maund Mela is the Fish killing festival of Uttarakhand, takes place in monsoon, decimates stream of aquatic life but is also culture. More of a cultural binding festive occasion today, it brings Garhwalis who have moved to the plains for work back to the hills to celebrate this outdoor occasion with their male brethren from the villages.
Garhwal is located in the state of Uttarakhand, which is a northern hill province of India. The area has its own traditions, festivals and culture.
Each year a festival takes place here on the banks of river Aglar in the Tehri district of Garhwal. This is the Maund Mela. This unusual fair, attracts people from Kumaon, Garhwal and the Jaunsar region of Uttarakhand. The fair is held every year in the Aglar valley and is also known as the fish killing festival.
It is a tradition that dates back to the pre-independence feudal era, initiated by the Maharajah of Tehri, who dedicated one day entirely to fishing on the popular demand of the local villagers, as fishing was previously banned by the Maharajah in this Valley.
The preparation for the festival begins a month before the actual day of the festival, when one chosen village is given the task to prepare Maund powder using the bark of the “Timru” plant. Maund powder is made of crushed Timru, a plant found abundantly in the Himalaya.
Timru or Zanthoxylum Armatum is a shrub belonging to the family Rutaceae. It is found in the warmer valleys of the Himalaya, ranging between 1000 and 2100 m above sea level. It plays very important role in this festival for the villagers of the Aglar valley.
The host village has to arrange for 8-9 tonnes of this powder which is thrown into the Aglar River after the customary rituals. Maund, which has a chemical composition forms a muddy impenetrable layer over the water surface. The layer depletes the river's dissolved oxygen reserve and suffocates the fish and all other aquatic creatures in it.
Once the powder is thrown into the river, the fish are unable to breathe inside the water and so they come right up to the water surface. Once this happens, enthusiastic villagers thrash the water with sticks and shove the half-conscious fish in basket-shaped nets and store them inside cloth pouches.
The people of Garhwal have no idea that Maund actually triggers an ecological crisis in the region. The powder is washed further down the river after a few hours but its effect lasts for an entire season.
Although it may sound and look bizarre this festival is celebrated with the greatest enthusiasm and excitement in the Tehri district of Uttarakhand. The local administration tried to ban this festival as the use of the anesthetic powder in the festival kills most of the fish and is harmful and poisonous for other aquatic life in the river even much further downstream, but to no avail. The villagers continue with this annual ritual for now but we hope that they will try to modify this festival to altogether stop the ecological damage caused by their revelry.
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