UDHAMPUR: Rutt- Raade, a month-long festival of Dogra tradition that started on "Aashaad Sankranti," came to a conclusion on "Shravan Sankranti" when fully grown Raade were immersed in the cold waters of the Duddhar stream. at the University of Jammu's Udhampur Campus (Garnai-Lotta), here today. The event was organized under the visionary leadership of Prof. Umesh Rai, the Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu.
The "Raade Visarjen" celebrations started with the gathering of ladies, men, and children from the surrounding villages of Udhampur Campus came together to bid adieu to fully grown Raade and immerse them in the local stream's flowing waters in line with all the customs. According to Ms. Taruna Dubey, an economics lecturer at the Udhampus campus, for the past month, young women and girls have been beautifying the "Raade" with colourful Rangolis’s made of local plant-based organic colours on Sundays with the goal of bringing back beloved customs.
Today, on the day of Sharvan Sankranti, after paying traditional obeisance and colouring, they were dug out of the ground and placed in bamboo baskets and were carried by the male members to the location of their immersion. During the procession, women chanted divine hymns and folk songs celebrating the health and growth of the community, respecting elders, mother nature, the soil and regional deities.
Prof. Yash Pal Sharma, the Udhampur Campus Rector, outlined the significance of the festival and voiced his concern about the younger generation's lack of cultural knowledge. Recalling his personal experience of Raade festival, Prof. Sharma summarized the festival's spiritual, cultural, philosophical, historical, socioeconomic, and scientific foundations as well links with human and environment. He said that commemorating these events will pique the youth's interest in learning more about our rich culture and bring them closer to nature.
Prof. Sharma hoped that the general awareness campaign on the significance of “Raade festival” among the masses would be initiated under the patronage of the Prof. Umesh Rai, the Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu from now onwards.
On the occasion a Ficus religiosa (Peepal tree) was also planted on the premises of the Udhampur campus. The festival was coordinated by Mrs Taruna Dubey, Dr Ritika Sambyal, Dr Kamani Dutta, Mr. Nikhil Khajuria, Dr Sunita Kumari, Dr Jyotishna, and non-teaching staff of the Udhampur Campus and residents of the village Garnai-Lotta.
