September
Khatarua
In mid-September, as the monsoon gives way to autumn, Khatarua is marked with evening bonfires, cucumbers and the honouring of cattle — a festival of the changing season and an old Kumaoni victory.
All festivalsKhatarua
/ kha·ta·ru·a /खतड़ुवा
the turn to autumn — the mid-September fire festival that marks the change of season and an old hill victory.
Khatarua falls around the middle of September, at Kanya Sankranti, as the rains end and autumn nears. When evening comes the bonfires are lit — a torch carried and burned to cries of 'Bhailo, bhailo' — and cucumbers, the season's kheera, are cut and shared. By tradition it remembers a victory of the hills over an old invader.
It is a herders' and farmers' festival too, when cattle are washed, fed and honoured for the year's work. A bright, smoky, celebratory turn from the wet season into the clear.
The bonfires
Evening fires and torches at the turn from monsoon to autumn.
Cucumbers & cattle
The season's kheera cut and shared; the cattle washed and honoured.
