Decorated bull on our way to Varasgaon Decorated bull on our way to Varasgaon Till recently, I had not heard of this festival called Bail Pola. When I came to know what the festival is about and why it is celebrated, I realised how ignorant and unaware I was! I was on my way to our farm at Varasgaon about 40kms from Pune. A beautiful, untouched and secluded hamlet in the hills of Sahayadri Mountains where time just flies looking at the serene landscape. Most of the people in this area are famers and celebrate a lot of local festivals. I will write about this place a little later but for now, I want to tell you more about this small celebration amongst farmers called Bail Pola. Local Farmer with his Bullock Local Farmer with his Bullock The naughty one who refused to pose for us! The naughty one who refused to pose for us! Now "bail" in Marathi means a bull and this festival is celebrated to thank the animal for all the works it is made to do on the farms. It is celebrated in the month of Shravan on a new moon day, a month that has all its days auspicious according to the Hindu religion. Though farmers use mechanical equipments for farming, in many remote places of India bullocks are still used. This is the very festive occasion for the farmers to pay their respect towards their bullocks. My curiosity sparked when I noticed a lot of farmers walking their bulls so smeared with colours, draped with colourful shawls and so lavishly decorated with frills and flowers, balloons that we waited to ask what was actually going on. A local farmer explained that they were heading towards a nearby village to flaunt his robust bull where many others would participate. The village was also supposed to have a fair and some procession to celebrate this festival. He also said that they spent the entire morning to wash the bull and paint them with turmeric and decorate them. Since I am an animal lover, I was so thrilled to see these people rejoicing over an animal that was su [...]
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