Ginani

Ginani day gathering

Ginani is annual crop harvesting festival celebrated in valleys of Hunza and Nagar. General date being 21 June, that coincides with the longest day of the year.^[1]

History

Ginani is observed as a celebration of crop that has came into a position to be harvested. Hunza/Nagar valleys were once remote moutainious valleys, that was subjected to sporadic famines. So the farmers celebrated that their crops are not damaged by extreme weather conditions and they can survive the harsh seasons coming their way.

Ginani Celebrations

In Hunza the celebrations starts around ten days befor the Ginani. Musicians at Altit Fort play tunes that are called Hareeps in Burushaski, for ten days till the Ginani day.

On the day of Ginani, people gather at the a place called Chattaq, near royal palace. In case of Hunza, people gather at chattaq located at Baltit Fort.

Mir is presented visits the fields of wheat, where butter is spread over the wheat plants. Prayers are offered for prosperity and for betterment of community. A buch of wheat plants are taken with them. Wheat garins are extracted from husk and cooked.

Cooked wheat grains are put into Diltar (Lassi), which is offered to people gathered there.

Then comes the musical and dance performances. Mir dances first to the music. Then music is played, in a specific order tribes dance to the music.

Earlier, for most of the times Bitans used to perform at Ginani, to foretell the future on the orders of Mir.^[2]

See also

Hunza Valley

Nagar Valley

Shamanism in Hunza

Mir of Hunza

References