Ghoga Mata

Ghoga Mata

Well, the practical is that I'll be heading to Kedarnath on April 27th and for the next 6 months or so (or so the plan goes, at this point), Kedarnath will be the base of operations, with trips out. As far as I know, my phone will continue to work and I'll be able to check email hopefully occasionally. My recollection is that there is email in Gaurikund, the town at the trailhead for Kedarnath, but I haven't been able to confirm it at this time.

There is a children's holiday that celebrates the goddess called Mother Ghoga, or Ghoga Mata. It is eight days long and overlaps slightly with the spring Navaratri (yes, there is a spring Navaratri, even though the one in the fall is much more well known. It is almost completely a children's holiday. Here is what happens: children take little reed baskets and go into the woods and collect certain flowers (especially red and yellow flowers, i.e. burams and fyoli) and walnuts. The children in each village (with a little help from grownups) then decorate a mini palanquin with scarves and flowers and paper murtis such that it looks in every way like a real palanquin, except that it is in miniature and there is no deity inside. Then, every morning for 8 mornings they process the palanquins through town, with several of the children acting as a priest and wearing a dhoti and everything. They do puja and arati to the palanquin (dholi) in the morning and evening just as if it were a real murti. As the process through town, they stop at peoples houses and ask/demand money, and in return they sprinkle flowers and apply a tilak (colored marking on the forehead). This money asking can sometimes be quite aggressive -- it was common to see a group of small children carrying a dholi barricade the road and collect tolls from cars before allowing them to pass. People give them money with varying degrees of good humour, less and less as the 8 days progress. One group of children decided that they liked me, and invited me the last night to come viist them and to sit in Ghogha Mata's room. I experienced this, even more than almost anything else that has happened to me in Ukhimath, as a huge honor. They sat me in a chair next to the palanquin, gave me chai and suji ka halva, and treated me as and honored guest. It started to rain outside and they said, triumphantly, now you'll have to stay here for the night! Don't worry, we've sorted out your accomodations. I declined, so three boys were appointed to shepherd me back to the main path. As we were walking they asked, aren't you afraid of the dark, and the leopards? I said no, I'm not afraid. Don't you want to know our names? What are your names, I asked. "Ravi, Vicky, and Jackson" Jackson? Apparently a famous WWF wrestler. The WWF is well known in Ukhimath.

A friend of mine, a little bit later, told me the story of Ghoga Mata that he had heard from his paternal grandmother. Parvati had been feeling like she wanted to go visit her natal place, but Shiv didn't want her to go. Finally she went anyway but Shiv appeared before her on the path and took the shape of a demon, so she got frightened and decided to return home without going to her natal village. But, she didn't have anything to eat and she got very hungry, so hungry that she had to eat snow. She was also at this point six month pregnant and in her duress, she gave birth right there to Ghoga, 3 months premature. Then she returned home. Shiv, already knowing the answer, asked her how her trip was. FIne, said Parvati. Shiv, knowing that she had only eaten snow, said, what did you eat there? Show me! And she then had to vomit the water-snow out, since that was all she ate. Ghoga Mata was angry at Shiv and so she possessed him / went inside of him and cause him to break out in little black spots. Then Shiv had to go back to the spot where Ghoga Mata was born and there she was worshipped and songs were song until she became pleased and then left Shiv alone.So, presumably, the holiday commemorates the ways that Ghoga Mata had to be worshipped in order to leave Shiva alone.

Most people don't know this story, but what I did find when talking to my 20 30 something friends was that they have very fond memories of the holiday and could still remember (and sing, loudly and offtune) the various little songs that they used to sing to Ghoga Mata. Nostalgia central.