What’s the pageant ‘Leatri’ celebrated within the month of ‘Asu’?

Within the mountains of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, that is the season of hay-cutting, wherein the landowners accumulate fodder for his or her animals for all of the yr.

On this ritual, the folks of the village are invited to the instance of grass chopping which is known as ‘Latri’.

This ritual is an instance of brotherhood and brotherhood for the folks of this area which has been happening for hundreds of years.

Responding with chants and dances to the beat of the drum, the people who find themselves engaged in chopping grass with sickle in hand do that paintings with out pay.

Many of the house of ​​Kashmir beneath Pakistan is composed of hilly spaces the place the elements is delicate in summer season, then chilly in wintry weather and motion in those spaces turns into limited after snow fall.

Earlier than the coming of wintry weather, the bushes flip yellow as a substitute of inexperienced after leaf losing right through autumn.

In such climate prerequisites, when different issues together with blocking off of roads because of snow fall have an effect on the day-to-day lifetime of other people, there also are issues of meals for people and pets on this season.

Other people dwelling in mountainous spaces now not simplest retailer meals for themselves in wintry weather but additionally prepare meals for his or her pets.

Right through the month between the top of summer season and the onset of wintry weather, the mountain dwellers minimize the herbal grass at the mountains and retailer it for the six months of wintry weather. .

Harvesting grass at the top mountains is an excessively arduous job that isn’t a role for a unmarried particular person.

For this objective, the population of those spaces lodge to the centuries-old cultural ritual ‘Latri’.

Leitri is if truth be told a Hindi hill language phrase that means ‘cultivation, chopping inexperienced, chopping grass’.

The folk dwelling within the hill villages incessantly have fun this ritual as a pageant.

As quickly because the summer season is over, within the month of Isu, the folks of the village ship invites to their village mosque or to other people’s properties, saying that such and this kind of day is a litari at our space, wherein they’re invited to take part.

After this announcement-like invitation, the boys of the entire properties within the village arrive early within the morning from the home from which the invitation of the Latri has include their sickles, the place they’re handled with breakfast.

The host arranges an open house for those individuals to sit down, the place those liturgy members can engage with every different and sharpen their gear, the sickles, right through which particular visits are made through drummers with seven There are normally hillbillies making a song.

After the breakfast and sprucing of the sickles, they officially start the Latri with the chanting of hymns, hymns, natiya arifana to the beat of drums and the song of shehnai, accompanied through those that have come to chop the grass from the host’s space. They go away to visit where the place the grass must be minimize.

Sardar Muhammad Yusuf of Dhera Sharif house of ​​Kashmir may be one such landowner who cleans his space yearly for chopping grass.

He says, ‘We’re protecting farm animals and the zamindar’s livelihood isn’t because of farm animals, when farm animals are stored, they should be controlled and grass must be minimize for his or her six months’ meals. is When the month of Isu comes, then the association is completed, if it’s not carried out, it’s tricky for us and that is our paintings within the villages with out which there’s no selection.’

After harvesting, the hay is saved in a unique manner through stacking it the wrong way up, this procedure is known as ‘Ghara Rachna’.

This procedure is completed simplest through a talented particular person. The highest and backside of the hay bales are made in this kind of manner that the rainwater does now not input it and the grass is safe.

Raja Shahid Latif belongs to Khawra house of ​​Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Shahid himself belongs to a big landed circle of relatives. Shahid Latif says about Latri that ‘Latri is principally brotherhood, the folks of the village assist every different, if anyone faces any drawback, all of them stand along side him, be it a dying or a space. Making, after we assist somebody whilst striking a roof at the space is known as ‘Pachhii’ and coming in combination to chop grass is known as Latri.

I’m a landowner, I’ve 400-500 bales of grass, I used to ask other people within the village through sending somebody from my space to mention that there’s a muddle in my space and you have got to come back. I carry yogurt to somebody’s space, somebody brings corn flour, this is a ritual that nowadays if somebody is helping me on my latri, I can assist him the next day to come.’

Muhammad Ashfaq who’s the owner says, ‘As of late is our Latri, the next day to come it is going to be every other servant’s, in the similar manner the villages cooperate with every different and paintings in combination.’

Whilst Chaudhry Obaidullah says that ‘now we have a large number of solidarity in Kashmir, we do every different’s paintings in combination and thus in combination we entire the paintings of the entire other people, we lack roads in our hilly spaces. Will clear up it in the similar manner.’