E-Paper
Villagers hold liquor langar to pray for rains
As the mercurial monsoon continued to elude the region, a village in the Sangrur district tried an extreme way to propitiate the rain gods. Villagers at Ghanauli organised a liquor langar on Friday evening to "appease the angry rain gods who this season have not cast an eye on this region".
As the mercurial monsoon continued to elude the region, a village in the Sangrur district tried an extreme way to propitiate the rain gods.
Villagers at Ghanauli organised a liquor langar on Friday evening to "appease the angry rain gods who this season have not cast an eye on this region".
They started their 'rain prayer' by first offering liquor (desi) at Dera Ramgir, famously known as 'Neem Wale', which is a usual rite of prayer in this shrine. Later, they distributed the prashad, read free liquor, to the villagers. Hearing of the liquor langar, scores of villagers from nearby areas turned up with empty glasses and containers to partake of the offerings.
"Shayad hun rab sade te mehrban ho jaye (Perhaps, the god will now listen to our prayers)," said Darshan Singh, a resident of village Tunga, while raising his filled glass. The distribution of liquor went for around two hours till the offered stock ran out.
Many villagers made the most of the occasion by storing their evening quota as well. Villagers of Tunga, situated 20-km away from here, also organised a procession and sang songs to propitiate the rain gods. Some of them burnt effigies of soft toys (gudian patole) to invoke the rain gods.
Sarwan Singh, a farmer from Ghanauli, said there was nothing new about offering liquor to please the gods at the dera. "It's an old practice. "I have been waiting to irrigate my parching fields for the last fortnight. We will have to sow paddy all over again if we don't get rain in the coming days. May be, now the gods will hear us," he said.
As per the metrological department, Sangur district has only received 25% rain as compared to the last year. Many parts of Sangrur were facing drought-like situation.
