Calling spring in the courtyard of Himalayas, visit the ‘Ful Dei’ festival to feel the cold breeze.

Village children. They have baskets of flowers in their hands. They are spreading those flowers from door to door in the locality. At the same time, greetings are being given to everyone. The incident is from Uttarakhand. In the hill villages there, this custom has been practiced for a long time in spring. Devbhoomi celebrates a unique festival in spring. What is the name of this festival? Do you know what? Recently, thanks to a social media post by industrialist Anand Mahindra, this casual festival has now become the talk of the netizens.

This ancient folk festival is called Phul Dei. The festival is celebrated at the beginning of Chaitra month in Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand. Although it lasts throughout the month. It is basically a festival of gratitude to nature. The word ‘phul dei’ literally means offering flowers. When spring hits the Himalayan hill towns, village children get up early in the morning to collect fresh flowers from the hills and forests. Then they split into small groups and attacked every house in the village.

Placing flowers on the doorstep of the house, they sang folk songs in tune—
“I give flowers, I give charms,
Deni Dwar, Bhar Bhakar,
Greetings from Yo Delhi Soun Baramba,
Aje teri soun daheu, soun ni soun..’. The essence of which is, may the houses be filled with flowers, may everyone’s life be happy. May the storehouses be full of grain in this family and prosperity in the lives of all. By cutting rhymes, the children keep bowing to the house’s courtyard or Dehli again and again. In this festival, the young children of the house, especially the girls, go from house to house in the village and bring flowers and rice. In return, the householders give gifts of jaggery, rice or sweets to the children. This mountain custom surprised Indian billionaire businessman Anand Mahindra. According to him, the appeal of this festival is completely different. Where children play tricks or treats on Halloween, children do not demand but offer blessings and love to all in the festival of ‘Ful Dei’.

Anand Mahindra lamented in his post that he had never heard of this beautiful festival before. In today’s age when there is so much talk about environmental awareness, this festival is a shining example of environmental protection. He felt that this celebration of the intimate relationship between nature and man should spread across the globe. Just as Holi is universal today, so the festival of ‘Phul Dei’ deserves to be recognized beyond the Himalayas to the plains and the courts of the world.

This festival, created by the combination of environment and culture, teaches us how to be happy easily by loving nature. This ancient folk festival of Uttarakhand is now viral. Who does not want to participate in such a floral festival? If there is a will, there is a way. Cut tickets for Uttarakhand. Revel in this local festival of villages nestled in the lap of the Himalayas. This is the best opportunity to immerse yourself in the ancient traditions and culture of India.