Associate Professor Vishav Jyoti
Abstract- Folklore represents traditions and beliefs that are done at a local level. Himachal Pradesh is blessed with a vibrant tradition. Among several interesting social practices prevalent in the rural society, there is a festival known as Dagyali which is celebrated in three main districts of Himachal Pradesh viz Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur. It is an auspicious festival of witches. The researcher highlights the complexities of this belief and practice. The focus of the article is the local folk community in the area, who actively take part in the festival celebrations. Exploratory and descriptive research methods form the basis of the study. Five individuals of varying ages were the subjects of a case study in order to get a range of perspectives and views regarding the presence of this witch festival. Interpretative phenomenological and thematic analysis is also used for the study. The responses were collected through interview based schedule, observation, informal discussions, from the rural people. The findings show that anxiety persists among people when negative behaviors gain power, and caution must be exercised to avoid becoming impacted by bad energy. Since this practice is less well-known in the field of research, the study’s findings focus on the significance of the festival in the lives of rural people and highlight how important it is to preserve nature in 21st century by expressing the network of human interactions that unite people and foster cultural inheritance through folk beliefs. The findings of the study contribute to a deeper understanding of folklore, culture and society and hence contribute in the promotion of intangible cultural heritage in Himachal Pradesh. The idea for this study emerged from an exploratory trip to Solan where I encountered the captivating tradition of witches’ (known as Dagyali in local language).
