Today 29 Saptember Begin Baba Sodal Mela in Jalandhar Punjab and Hindu’s Festival Ganesh Visharjan and Anant Chaturdashi,
About Baba Sodal Mela Jalandhar
Today Baba Sodal Mela is celebrated in Jalandhar city of Punjab in the memory of death of Sodal Baba. Sodal Baba Mela is held in the premises of Sodal Temple. It is one of the famous fairs of North India as is celebrated with great enthusiasm and energy by the devotees. Thus it is also called as Jalandhar mela, mela Jalandhar wala, fair of Jalandhar, Jalandhar fair.
Mela Baba Sodal is celebrated on the fourteen day of Shukal paksha in the month of Bhaadon or you can say that it is one day prior to the full moon night or Poornima of this month. The month of Bhaadon clashed with the September month according to English calendar. A huge fair is organized in the premises of Sodal Mandir on that day. The devotees come from far away places. Some people start visiting the temple even on the early midnight of the beginning of the fair.
People who had the mannat of a baby boy specially came on the fair to take the blessing of Baba Sodal.
Baba Sodal Mela, Jalandhar is celebrated in the city to commemorate the death of the child deity, Sodal. The fair is hosted for a day in the city of Jalandhar on the day the child is said to have received his communion with God. Observed on the 14th of Shukal Paksh in the month of Bhadon, which coincides with the month of September in the English calendar, Baba Sodal Mela, Jalandhar is one of the most popular Jalandhar festivals celebrated by the people of the city.
The smadh of the child deity is the sanctum sanctorum. Beside it stands the portrait of the child that is embellished with flower garlands and rosaries. Prayers are offered here by the pilgrims who arrive from all the corners of the city and from the neighboring city of Jalandhar. Wading through the waters of the Baba Sodal-Da-Sarowar or the tank situated beside the smadh or taking a dip in the holy water also forms a part of the religious curriculum of the pilgrims. The religiosity of the people of Jalandhar is reflected in the Baba Sodal Mela in Jalandhar.
Legend goes that Baba Sodal was born in a family of Chadha clan of Khatri caste, in the Jalandhar city. There are several myths associated with the baba. One of them goes that as a small boy, Baba Sodal once followed his mother to the pond where she used to wash clothes. Despite being repeatedly asked not to follow, he reached the pond. Angered at his disobedience, his mother cursed him. He asked her to repeat the curse three times. As she did so, he immediately disappeared into the pond and was never found again. The day when Baba Sodal left the mortal world and proceeded towards his celestial abode is celebrated as a fair in the state.
There is yet another legend that is associated with Baba Sodal. It cites that after being cursed, Baba Sodal appeared in the form of a holy snake and declared his farewell from this mortal world. He asked Chadha and Anand families to accept his reincarnation and to offer him Mathi (local flour made snake) called “Topa”. He said that “topa” could be consumed only by the members of Chadha Clan. On the amawasya (no moon night) that falls before the Sodal Fair, the head of Chadha Clan visits the pond and extracts clay fourteen times for his each of his son.
The extraction of clay is done with the belief that by doing so Baba Ji will appear on the day of Trydashi (13th of local month). Kasar (kneading of simple flour) is also made and offered fourteen times, gradually in parts. On Chaturdarshi (14th of local month), all the members of the Chadha clan eat only fried food, especially made from a traditional fry pan. Before eight days of the fair, all members of the Chadha clan sow ‘Kheti’ in the name of Baba Ji, a tradition that means the more prosperous the sow, happier and richer will be the family.
Baba Sodal Mela Jalandhar Images
Baba Sodal Mela Jalandhar Video