Fagli Utsav begins in Lahaul-Spiti :

The five-day Fagli Utsav began in Lahaul-Spiti last evening and will continue till February 9. The festival is being celebrated with traditional fervour, depicting the rich cultural heritage of the district.

• This is a new year festival preceding the beginning of Tibetan or Chinese calendar and is celebrated to mark the end of winter or the beginning of spring. It is celebrated in February in the entire valley on the moonless night or Amavasya.
• The festival, locally known as ‘Kus’, is one of the most important festivals of the Pattan valley. Villagers decorated their houses and light lamps.
• Locals said each day of the festival had a special name. The first day was called ‘punha’, representing ploughing of a field. People prepared local dishes like ‘totu’, and ‘marchu’, and offered these to the deities.
•  “According to the ritual, the head of the family and his wife prepare ‘totu’, a dough of roasted barley flour and butter milk, in the morning and offer it to the deities. After that, it is distributed among family members.”
• “During the festival, people also pay respects to their cattle and acknowledge their dependence on them. They also visit an old person in the village and later in the day, the entire villagers congregate to pay respect to each house with ‘marchu’, a local dish,”.
• “To mark the festivity about two feet bamboo stick is fixed on the floor and a white bedsheet is draped around it to signify an angel dressed in white. The figure called Baraza is embellished with jewellery and marigold flowers. The delicacies are placed before it, the incense is burnt, oil lamps are lit and the house is fully decorated.”
• The residents of Lahaul Spiti celebrate a number of festivals during winter when the entire district remains cut off for around six months due to heavy snowfall.

Other Fairs/Festivals of Lahaul Spiti :

Ladarcha fair :

Previously, this fair used to be celebrated  in Kibbar maidan in Spit in the month of July where traders from  Ladakh, Rampur Busher and Spiti meet in this fair to barter  their produce. Due to closure of Tibetan traders, this fair is  now being celebrated at Kaza, the headquarters of Spiti Sub  Division in the 3rd week of August. A large number of visitors  and traders from Kullu/ Lahaul/ Kinnaur meet there. It has now  become a conference of cultures of Spiti, Ladakh & Kinnaur as  also of the Indian plains.

Pauri fair :

This  fair is celebrated during summer in the 3rd week  of August every year. The  fair is combination of pilgrimage and festive activities.  Preparations are made at least a week in advance and most of the  people leave  their homes a day before the celebrations, where  they have faced darshan of  the statue of Triloknath (Shiva Lord  of Three Worlds) or Avolokiteshvara as it is regarded by  Buddhist. After paying  their obeisance, people go to the  parikrama gallery between the inner and outside walls of   temple.

Tribal fair Keylong :

Tribal  fair coinciding with Independence day is celebrated with great  pomp and show from 14th to 16th August, at Keylong the  headquarters of the district.  People from all parts of the  valley congregate in their queer disposition and a large number  of Indian and foreign tourists gather here to witness the fair.  It is being celebrated as at State level fair. In order to make  the fair colourful , artists and cultural troupes are invited  from Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Leh , Chamba, Kullu, Spiti in  addition to local artistes.

Tsheshu fairs :

Tsheshu fair is celebrated in  Shashur, Gemur, Kyi, Kardang Tabo  and  Mane Monasteries in the months of June.  A large number of  devotees/ people gather on these occasions.Devil dance is performed by the  Lamas bedecked in colourful dresses and wearing masks of  different birds and animals.

Festival of light :

A  festival of lights known as Diwali is celebrated all over India  in October every year. A similar type of festival is celebrated  as Khogla in Pattan valley and Halda in  other valleys of Lahaul  at the second and third week of January.  The date is fixed by a  Lama while in Pattan valley it is celebrated to Magh Poornima  coincide with (full moon). Pencil cedar branches are cut into  strips and are tied together into bundles to make a torch called  Halda quite similar to Hola in upper regions of Shimla  district.  In the evening halda at each house are lit and  brought together at one centre place. This is repeated four to  five times, each time in honour of different deities. When  the ceremony is over, the villagers return to their houses.  The  haldas are prepared and lit in the same manner and collected at  one place where they burn to lashes. But there is slight  difference. Along with honouring  the deities, the people of  Gahar valley curse the Ranas of clans  hostile to their own.   The people of  Keylong curse the Ranas of Goushal and Kardang  threatening to bite their hearts.

Gothsi ( Gochi) :

There is a festival of the Bhaga valley which is celebrated in  February in the houses where a son was born during the preceding  year. The villagers gather in the morning. A dough is made of  Sattu ( roasted barley ) and is placed in a big plate. It is  lifted by four men  to the place of the village deity which is  generally an idol of stone, a tree or a bush.