Chhapar Mela

What it is

Chhapar Mela is an annual fair in Punjab, India, lasting three days. It honours Gugga, called Gugga Veer, a Chauhan Rajput of legend who is said to have held command over every kind of snake. The fair takes place at Gugge di Marhi, a large holy place built in his memory in Chhapar village, Ludhiana district. The gathering is a public devotion as much as a festival: people worship what is described as Gugga's snake form, sing folk songs, dance, and share in one act with the soil. The shrine itself has a name for curing people who have been bitten by snakes. Among farmers of the Malwa belt the date is fixed enough that field work is arranged around it.

Where it comes from

Devotion at the site is traced, in local belief, to a small group of worshippers who began the fair about 150 years ago. A story tells of a boy and a snake born together into an agricultural family in Chhapar. The two were so close that each felt the other's pain. When the snake was killed by a passer-by who took it for a threat, the child died too. Elders advised the grieving family to honour Gugga and Siddha, and a he-goat was let loose to strike the ground and mark the place of worship. That spot became Mari Gugga, and the fair is believed to have grown from that small beginning.

How it is done

The fair runs for three days. Its central custom is a shared act with the ground: earth is scooped up seven times as an appeal to Gugga for safety against snakes, and the same digging is done at a smaller fair held at the same place. Worship is directed mainly at Gugga's snake form. Folk songs and folk dances fill the days, and the gathering has the character of a big public festival. People consider that digging the land will bring Gugga to guard them from snakes.

Tools and materials

The working material is plain earth. It is dug and lifted seven times, and that act carries the whole appeal for protection. The place is the other element: Gugge di Marhi, described as a large holy place built in Gugga's memory, which has a reputation for curing snake bites. In the origin story a he-goat marks the sacred spot by striking the ground, and the animal is left free to do so. The rest of the fair is made of songs and dances rather than special objects.

What it is for

The fair exists to ask Gugga for safety from snakes and, at his shrine, to seek relief for people who have been bitten. The appeal is made through the sevenfold digging of the earth, which people understand as a way of bringing Gugga's guard down on them. Around this sit the ordinary purposes of a Punjabi mela: worship, reunion, music and enjoyment. Farmers of the Malwa belt treat the date as a fixed point in the year and arrange their agricultural work around it.

Who does it

No separate class of ritual specialist is described. The fair is carried by those who come to it: devotees of Gugga, Jatt families of the area, and in recent times politicians who attend the gathering. The scooping of earth is done by the people present rather than by a named priest. The shrine at Gugge di Marhi is the fixed point they come to, and its reputation for helping the snake-bitten belongs to the place as much as to any office. Local elders appear in the founding story, advising the family to worship.

Peoples and places

Chhapar Mela belongs to Punjab, in India, and to the Malwa belt in particular. The village of Chhapar lies in Ludhiana district. Jatts are named among those who attend, alongside politicians, and the farmers of the Malwa area are said to shape their field work around the fair's dates. Attendance has risen to millions in recent years. A smaller version, the Minor Chhapar Mela, is held at the same place after the main fair, and the same sevenfold digging is practised there.

What people believe

Behind the fair stands Gugga, a Chauhan Rajput of legend said to have held extraordinary power over snakes, and said to have gone down into the earth with his horse. Worship is offered mainly to his snake form. A second story tells of a boy and a serpent born on the same day, whose lives were joined so tightly that the death of one ended the other. A further tale has a faqir cursing the area after a local man pulled up a twig he had planted, so that the place would see a crowded camp and then emptiness.

When it is done

The fair falls yearly on Anant Chaturdashi, the fourteenth day of the bright half of Bhadon, the month that runs from mid-August into mid-September in the Hindu calendar; in practice the fair is described as held in September. The Minor Chhapar Mela follows the main one at the same site. Because the date is set by the lunar month, it is the marker farmers of the Malwa belt wait for before adjusting their agricultural chores.

Compare and confuse

The fair has a smaller twin at the same site, the Minor Chhapar Mela, where the sevenfold digging of the earth is repeated; local story ties its beginning to a ruler's ban on the main fair. The shrine is known as Gugge di Marhi and, in the account of its founding, as Mari Gugga. Gugga himself carries the name Gugga Veer and is described as a Chauhan Rajput.

Law and persecution

At the start of the twentieth century a Maharaja is said to have banned the fair after a complaint from some farmers. Local accounts hold that his horses then began to die mysteriously, and that the run of misfortune ended only when he announced a second, smaller fair to follow the main one, the Minor Chhapar Mela. The story is given as the reason two fairs are now held at the same place.

Today

The fair has grown from a small gathering of devotees, by local reckoning about a century and a half ago, into a large regional event. Attendance is now counted in millions, and the fair is described as having become a grand festival over the past few decades. Politicians appear among those who attend, and the event keeps its music, dancing and public character. The date holds its place in the farming year of the Malwa belt.

Questions people ask about Chhapar Mela

Good reading and sources

• Chhapar Mela on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data