An Insight into Duggar Culture, Heritage

This book is divided into 14 chapters which have about 90 topics on various symbols and marks of Dogra Culture and heritage.

BY DR SUNIL BHARDWAJ

Name of the book- Glimpses of Dogra Culture & Heritage

Author- Ashok Kumar Sharma

Publisher-Bharti Publications, New Delhi-110002

Price- (1) Paperback (b/w, printed on 80 GSM paper) – Rs 690.00

-(2) Hardbound (coloured, printed on 130 GSM paper) – Rs 1985.00

There is no skepticism that Duggar has a rich, priceless, assorted and pluralistic culture of its own. The history of Duggar dates way back to the ancient times and its references have been found in the ‘Neelmat Puran’ and in old scriptures too. In Vedic times, this region is believed to have been a part of Maderdesh whose capital was ‘Sakala’ (the modern Sialkot in Pakistan). Though the rich cultural beliefs, mores, traditions etc have been practied in Duggar since times immemorial, they are evanescing in the wake of modernity, fast and materialistic life and gushing impact of social media on the lives of people. We, Dogras, the inhabitants of Duggar region, are deeply entrenched in our culture and value system. We take pride in following our mores, traditions and beliefs by visiting various shrines belonging to disparate cults, celebrating various festivals and appreciating the architecture, craftsmanship and masonry of forts and palaces built by our ancestors. As such, loss of the important marks of our culture does pain us a lot. It steers us to safeguard our rich & amalgamated culture that the author has brought out in the book ‘Glimpses of Dogra Culture & Heritage’ for the readers. This book is divided into 14 chapters which have about 90 topics on various symbols and marks of Dogra Culture and heritage. The writer, being an avid lover of Dogra culture and heritage, published a number of articles on Dogra Culture & Heritage in the newspapers to apprise the people in general of their rich culture bequeathed to us by our forefathers so that it can be conserved, preserved and transmitted to the posterity. Our real culture is nourished, practised and promoted in rural areas and the writer, having been born and grown up in a village, was lucky enough to have had a wide exposure to rural landscape and myriad beliefs, norms, traditions etc practised by the people in Duggar land. From the very childhood he fanatically beheld all the specks of our culture and being of a sensitive mind, he has reflected his ideas and experiences he imbibed in his youth in this book. Despondently, many treasures like many items of Dogra jewellery and Dogra dress have now vanished and so have the rituals that have been beautifully practised across Duggar till a few decades back. For instance, there used to be a time when the bridegroom would go to the bride’s home in a ‘Bangla’, his friends would sing ‘Sehra’ and the bride’s ‘friend’, Shiksha’ as the bride was bidden farewell. Similarly, folklores such as ‘Gasseitan’, ‘Jaatar’, ‘Gagail’, ‘Massade’ etc are on the verge of extinction and so have the festivals of ‘Rutt Raade’, ‘Tamdey’, ‘Drubari’, ‘Nag Panchami’ etc. Though the institutions such as Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, Dogri Sanstha, Dogra Sadar Sabha and the like-all based in Jammu, have played a significant role in the documentation, conservation, preservation and promotion of our unparalleled and priceless culture but the desired results can only be achieved if the people of Duggar at large cling to their culture and inherited values.In this respect, parents and elders have a prominent role to play.

This book has chapters on Dogra-Land & People, Folk Literature in Duggar, Nature Worship in Duggar, Pahari Schools of Painting, Folk Heros, Historical Towns, Historical Forts & Palaces, Fairs and Festivals, Famous Shrines, Local Deities etc which deal with various aspects of Dogra Culture & Heritage. The last chapter ‘Miscellany’ deals with famous but vanishing marks of Dogra culture, Charpai (Wooden Cot), Wooden Comb, Chinjj (Dogra Wrestling Match), Ram Leelas in Duggar, Dogra Pagri and of course, Gharat ( The Water Mill) each are illustrated with beautiful photographs. The book has insightful forewords by eminent writers and Padma Shri Awardees, Dr. Jitendera Udhampuri and Professor Shiv Nirmohi, both of whom have done a lot of work in writing and highlighting the various treasures of rich Dogra Culture & heritage.It makes it all the more engrossing, knowledgeable and worth reading. This book showcases the dazzling heritage and culture of Duggar region and is undoubtedly a must read. The writer deserves a huge kudos in his endeavours to highlight the main features of our glorious culture and motivate Dogras to value, follow, practise, preserve, conserve and transmit it to the coming generations. This book has an attractive cover and the book is beautifully printed on high quality paper. It is available both in the library edition and paperback form. Though the library edition is a bit costly as it is multicolour printed with about 100 coloured photographs illuminating our various marks and aspects of Dogra Culture, it is worth buying and I hope, it will serve as a Collector’s pride. The layout of this book, the readable font, the pacifying feel and the beautiful photographs make it a unique book for the readers to go through. The glossary appended at the end is useful for those who have little knowledge of Dogri terms & words used in the book. The book also ought to be purchased by the schools, colleges and universities and the students should be encouraged to go through the contents of this book so that they can imbibe, appreciate, preserve and transmit their cultural heritage to the coming generations. Last but not the least, this book gives a good insight to the art lovers, historians, scholars and researchers as it gives a peep into the rich cultural heritage of Duggar and it should serve as a useful compilation in the library of every Dogra ménage. The writer deserves a big adulation for his great work on Duggar.