Jaagar is a form of ancestor spirit worship practiced in the hills of Uttarakhand, both in Kumaon as well as Garhwal. The word jaagar comes from the Sanskrit root, jag or to wake, jaagar is a medium or way in which gods and local deities are called or waked from their dormant stage and asked for favors or remedies for certain problems plaguing the person.<br /><br />It is attached to the idea of divine justice and is organised to seek penance for a crime or seek justice from the gods for some injustice.<br /><br />Music is the medium through which the gods are invoked. The singer or Jagariya sings a ballad of the gods with allusions to the great epics like Mahabharat and Ramayana and which describes the adventures and exploits of the god being invoked.<br /><br />These traditions are the part of a kind of Folk Hinduism prevalent, in fact, all across the Himalayas, which have been there along with the mainstream Hinduism for ages.<br />The hard life of the Himalayas and constant exposure to the vagaries of nature inspired a strong belief in paranormal phenomena and also in numerous folk gods who were given great reverence and respect. Every village had its own god protecting its boundaries Bhoomial Devta or Khitarpal, each family its Kul Devta and numerous other benevolent demi-gods and malicious spirits which could reward or torment people and had to be appeased.<br />The isolation of the Kumaon and Garhwal Himalayas promoted the emergence of local religious traditions which are still strong in these regions along with mainstream Hinduism<br />Jaagar ceremonies are of two types one is the Dev Jaagar, the invocation of a god, usually local gods in the body of the medium and the other is the Bhoot Jaagar the invocation of a deceased person spirit or soul in the medium's body, although other forms like Masaan Puja also exist.<br /><br />Today, Jaagars are seen more as cultural and musical heritage in the need of preservation than the religious ceremony itself. But it is still highly revered especially in the rural areas.<br />For years of evolution Jaagar singing has transformed into an art which is greatly cherished and the exponents of which are often heralded as living heritages.<br /><br />Source: Wikipedia<br /><br />This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at wfi @ vsnl.com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.
