E-Paper
Recreating rural Punjab: PU youth festival aims at ethnic revival
Contests like making ‘guddian patole’ and ‘mitti de khidaune’ now part of the gala
In a bid to revive the rural heritage of Punjab, the Panjab University Youth and Heritage Festival is promoting ethnic competitions leading to an increased participation of students from rural colleges of the state.
This year around 1,700 students have participated in the zonal festival being organised at Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 42 (PGGCG-42). Competitions such as khiddo making, paranda making, chhiku making, guddian patole making and naala making have been introduced over the last three years, leading to an increased participation of students from rural colleges of Punjab.
Other competitions recently introduced in the youth fest are pranda making, tokri (basket) making, mitti de khidaune making, peerhi making, rassa vattna and eennu making. Earlier, only two competitions based on rural heritage, Phulkari making and pakhi making, were held at the youth fest.
Professor Binu Dogra, principal of host college PGGCG-42, said, “These competitions are aced by the students of the colleges in rural areas leading to more participation in the fest. Moreover, these also help to revive the otherwise fading heritage of Punjab. We must understand that it is not just youth festival but youth and ‘heritage’ festival.”
CONTESTS ON TRADITIONAL CRAFTS
Guddian patole are dolls and horses made from cloth, peerhi is a small stool made by weaving; rassa vattna is the traditional technique of tying ropes using feet and khiddo is a small ball of rags and waste clothes that mothers used to weave for children to play with. Mitti de khidaune (toys) are made with fresh clay, chhikku is the art of basket weaving; and paranda is an ornamental braid tassel.
In fact, competitions to revive the literary heritage of Punjab have also been included in the festival including muhavare da vaartalap (conversation in idioms) and bhand.
“Usually this art is taught to us in our houses or by our grandmothers and grandfathers who knew this folklore well. It is eventually disappearing but we are trying to ensure that it is taken ahead from one generation to another,” said Supreet Kaur, one of the participants.
Komal, a student of Guru Gobind Singh College for Women in Jhar Sahib, Punjab, who won the first prize in guddian patole making, said her senior from school had taught her how to make dolls.
Professor Kirpal Kazak, who teaches folklore at Punjabi University, Patiala, said, “Apart from colour combinations and technicalities, these competitions are judged on the basis of metaphorical meaning that the art is trying to bring. We see if the guddian patole, chhikku, khiddo and other arts represent culture code and social paradigm or not.”
