Explanation:

The term Hiljatra comprises two words – ‘Hil’ meaning slush and ‘jatra’ meaning travel. Thus literally it means a travel in the rainy season when the fields are covered.Monsoon is te time when the festival is celebrated in the Sor valley of Kumaon.When the Hiljatra started, no one can tell, but according to local belief, four brave men of the Mahar clan brought this festival from Nepal to the Sor valley in the times of King Pithorashahi. It was in the Kumaud village that Hiljatra was first organized.
Hiljatra is famous for its novel dance form in which the participants dance wearing masks of animals. The zeal is easily felt in this colourful festival that is more close to folk-theatre. Men disguised as women enact them working in the fields. The end is brought up by the appearance of a character called ‘Lakhiya'. He wears a queer and fearful mask and is believed to symbolize rudra – one of the incarnations of Lord Shiva.