Hilljatra
हिलजात्राKumaon region · the Sor valley, Pithoragarh
What Hilljatra marks
A masked agrarian folk pageant of the Sor valley around Pithoragarh, brought long ago from the Sorar region of Nepal. It celebrates the monsoon farming cycle and the ox-and-plough life of the hills.
How it's celebrated
Performers in masks enact the whole village year: ploughing, transplanting paddy, pairs of oxen, herders and comic characters, and the fearsome red-faced Lakhia Bhoot, a form of Shiva, who is the high point. Kumaur village near Pithoragarh is especially known for it.