Gochi festival is organized to celebrate the birth of a male child. The festival is organized in the beautiful state of Himachal Pradesh that is often called "DevataBhoomi" or the "Abode of Gods". Also called Gotsi, the festival is celebrated exactly in the Bhaga Valley of the state. This festival describes the belief systems of the people of this beautiful state. The festival is usually celebrated during the month of February every year. The festival in Himachal Pradesh is observed in the houses of those people who got new member in their families in the form of a son previous year. It has been celebrated by the people of this region for many years. In this festival, token marriages of children below the age of six are also performed.
Rituals of Gochi Festival
The festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm and several rituals are observed as a part of the festival. A day before the festival, the village priest invokes a prayer to the local deity by holding a bow and arrow. Then he visits every home in the village where a male child was born the previous year.
All the people of village assemble together in the morning of the festival. A special cake is prepared and placed on a large plate and carried by four men to the village shrine. A young unmarried girl carries a flask of Chaang, which is a type of locally prepared wine. The girl is followed by two men where one carries a lit torch while the other carries a bundle of pine branches wrapped in sheep skin. These two men are followed by the women who have given birth to their first sons in the previous year in order to pay homage to the local deity. These women are further followed by all other women who have also given birth to sons.
The priest then makes a prayer to the God with a bow and arrow. The cake is then broken down to appease the deity. The sheep skin is freed from the pine branches and placed in a row or fixed on a tree. The priest then fires arrows at the sheep skin. If the arrows are fixated towards the right end of the sheep skin, it means the right side would have more sons the following year and vice versa. If the arrows miss the mark then it would mean that there would be no new born male child in the upcoming year.
The entire festival is accompanied by the beats of drums known as Lohar. The people dress up in their best attires and drink Chaang. The festival ends with their dancing to the beat of drums and throwing snow balls at each other.
