Jhiri Mela
fair
When it happens
October
Around Kartik Purnima, the full moon of Kartik, falling in October or November. The date moves with the lunar calendar.
Significance
One of the largest rural fairs in the Jammu region, and unusual in that its object of devotion is a cultivator who died over a question of agricultural justice rather than a deity or a king.
Why it's celebrated
It commemorates Baba Jitto, a farmer who by tradition took his own life rather than surrender an unjust share of his harvest to a landlord, and his daughter Bua Kodi.
How it's celebrated
Farmers come in their hundreds of thousands, many walking, and the fair fills the fields around the shrine for a week. Cattle are brought and traded, offerings of grain are made, and the crowd is overwhelmingly rural — this is a farmers' gathering before it is anything else.
Key rituals
Offerings of grain and produce are made at the shrine; devotees come on foot from surrounding districts.
Beliefs & spiritual meaning
Baba Jitto is held to protect the harvest and the farmer who works honestly.
History & origins
The story is told of Baba Jitto, a cultivator of Jhiri, who was pressed by a landlord for a larger share of his crop than had been agreed and who refused it at the cost of his life. His daughter Bua Kodi is venerated alongside him.
Frequently asked
When is Jhiri Mela held?+
Around Kartik Purnima, the full moon of the month of Kartik, which falls in October or November. It runs for roughly a week at Jhiri village, about 14 km from Jammu city, and the date moves each year with the lunar calendar.
What actually happens at Jhiri Mela?+
It is a farmers' fair. Cultivators come in very large numbers, many on foot, to make offerings at the shrine of Baba Jitto; cattle are traded and the fields around the village fill for the week. It is a rural working gathering rather than a staged cultural event.
Related festivals
fair
Bali Yatra
Cuttack (Gadavada ghat on the Mahanadi River), Odisha
fair
Jonbeel Mela
The banks of Joonbeel, a crescent-shaped wetland at Dayang Belguri near Jagiroad, Morigaon district, about 3 km from Jagiroad town.
fair
Madai
Bastar division and Kanker district — Charama, Kurna, Narayanpur and many other villages each hold their own.
fair
Surajkund International Crafts Mela
Surajkund Mela Ground, Faridabad district, Haryana, beside the tenth-century Surajkund reservoir.
fair
Renuka Ji Fair
On the banks of the sacred Renuka Lake, Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh.
fair
Uttarayani Mela, Bageshwar
Bageshwar town, Kumaon — at the Bagnath temple and on the Numaish Khet ground beside the Saryu, at its confluence with the Gomti.
fair
Chandigarh National Crafts Mela
Kalagram, Manimajra, on the eastern edge of Chandigarh near the Panchkula border.
fair
Gangaji Fair, Dabhel
Somnath Mahadev Temple at Dabhel village, Daman district — inland, away from the beach circuit.