Dehradun, March 14
In the ever-changing landscape of Dehradun, the Jhanda Mela has acquired a degree of permanency. To witness the fair that begins tomorrow, pilgrims from all parts of the country have started pouring in.

The 309-year-old fair stands for religious harmony and is celebrated to mark the birth of Guru Ram Rai. The day is also important in the history of Doon, as the city took its name after Guru Ram Rai established his ‘dera’ here.

What sets apart the celebration is community participation and religious fervour that devotees attach with the hoisting of a flag.

Tomorrow, all eyes would be fixed on the hoisting of the flag, a ceremony that is closely associated with the Udasin sect. Pilgrims throng the precincts of the Darbar Sahib that is the venue for the ceremony; even climbing nearby rooftops and trees.

“Pilgrims stand in rows to lift the 100 feet mast that is made of wood. It is believed that the sheer will of the devotees and blessings of the Gurus ensures that the flag is hoisted with ease,” said Vishnu Kumar Nautiyal, coordinator, Darbar Guru Ram Rai.

Prior to that, elaborate ceremonies are performed. The ‘Jhanda ji’ is worshipped and the flag is bathed in milk, curd and ‘ganga jal’ and then wrapped. Basically, the old coverings are removed and new added.

The numerous scarves that are tied around the mast symbolise the devotion and faith of the pilgrims who pray for fulfillment of their wishes.

Such is the fervour that advance booking has been made till the year 2075 for the velvet cover that covers the top of the mast.

The 100-feet wooden mast is changed every three years and is usually selected from the nearby Dhudli forests.

The Jhanda Sahib Mela lasts for 15 to 20 days and for denizens of Doon all roads for the coming days would lead to Darbar Sahib.

Interestingly, people who come here set aside these days exclusively in the service of Darbar Sahib.

Notwithstanding the mix of urban and rural milieu of the pilgrims, at the Darbar Sahib all distinctions evaporate.

“There is high degree of community participation at the ‘langars’ where all cook and eat together. The stay here rejuvenates devotees and rekindling their faith in humanity,” said Devender Das, the tenth Guru of Darbar Guru Ram Rai.

A community ‘langar’ has been running at the Darbar Sahib since more than 300 years. It is situated in as many as one hundred bighas of land, with the main gate on the western side.

According to SC Dhobal, an authority on Darbar Sahib, “It was at the behest of King Aurangzeb that the king of Garhwal Fatehsah donated three villages including Khurbura and Rajpur. Successive kings followed suit and soon Dhamawall, Muanwalla Pandiwari and Chhatarwalla were donated to Guru Ram Rai,” he said. The building of Darbar Sahib was constructed in 1764.

Meanwhile, the ‘mahant’ takes a lead in the celebrations by leading a ‘parikrama’, which is held on the ‘saptami’ and the sangat prepares the ‘prasad’ on ‘navami’.

There is also an interesting tradition associated with the welcoming of sangats or pilgrims. The first to arrive are from Punjab.

The messenger of Guru Ram Rai goes to a village in Kharar, near Chandigarh, and gives the first invitation to the ‘sangat of Bhalolpur.

On reaching Raiwal, the sangat is welcomed. Essentially, the custom has been kept intact as it traces the path that the guru took when he came to Dehradun.

Large groups of devotees of Guru Ram Rai Maharaj come from Punjab; some on
foot others in cars and some even tractors, to Dehradun a few days before raising
of the ‘Jhanda ji’.

The mahant also goes to the banks of river Yamuna at Rainwala (Haryana), which
is 45 kilometres from Dehradun, to invite and welcome another Sangat, this time
from Haryana.

The followers of traditional Hinduism also come from Saharanpur, Roorkee, Muzzafarnagar, Meerut, Bijnore, Moradabad and Bareilly.

Albeit managing such a deluge of visitors is no mean job, such has been the practice that everything falls in place.

“Wherever there is space, people rest in for the night and do not unduly bother others about space or the lack of it. At times there is not an inch of space left,” said Balwant, a pilgrim who has come all the way from Dubai to attend the mela.

“To accommodate the sangat, all the local schools run by Shri Guru Ram Rai Education Mission are closed down for around a week. Then there are continuous ‘langars’ running in several places to feed the pilgrims,” said BP Saklani, officer incharge, Darbar Shri Guru Ram Rai.

The major rituals observed by the pilgrims include paying obeisance at the ‘Jhanda Ji’ and Guru Rama Rai’s ‘samadhi’ at the Darbar Sahib, performing the ‘parikrama’ and seeking the blessings of the present ‘mahant’.

Notably, the Guri Ram Rai trust is also involved in several social and educational activities, but the credit for initiating philanthropic activities goes to the youngest queen of Guru Ram Rai, Mata Panjab Kaur, hailing from Pipli in Jalandhar, who dedicated the Darbar Sahib to the service and well-being of the public. To this day, the practice continues.

Dehradun, March 14
In a major blow to snow leopard conservation efforts, the male snow leopard at Nainital Zoo died under mysterious circumstances on Thursday. The animal, aged around 7 years, had been indisposed for quite some time.

The cynosure of visitors, the wild cat had been brought to Nainital Zoo along with a female snow leopard from Darjeeling Zoo some years back. The male leopard had been fit till March 8.

After that day, it showed paralytic attack symptoms and in spite of the conduct of initial treatment by Dr LK Sanwal, it finally stopped food intake on March 11 and died the subsequent day. The zoo authorities attributed gastroenteritis as the reason behind the death.

“According to post-mortem report, the snow leopard died due to gastroenteritis,” Biju Lal, divisional forest officer, Nainital, and director, Nainital Zoo, said.

He asserted that they had provided the best of medical facilities to the ailing snow leopard. A panel of doctors had worked on the beast round the clock.

“Some vital organs have also been sent to Indian Veterinary Research Institute for further ascertaining the exact reasons behind the leopard’s death,” he added.

The death came at a time when there has been a question mark on the available infrastructure at Nainital Zoo to house the rising number of leopard inmates.

Two Royal Bengal Tigers rescued from Corbett, including a man-eater, have been housed inside the zoo.

Wildlife conservationists had been raising apprehensions over the safety of these leopards citing lack of infrastructure at the zoo.

The Nainital Zoo has been facing an uphill task dealing with this sudden rush of leopards as it is the only place in the region where rescued wild cats can be kept.

Apart from the female snow leopard, the zoo houses a Siberian Tiger brought to the zoo in 1996 and two Royal Bengal Tigers - a male and a female. The authorities have strengthened the observation of the female snow leopard.

Wildlife conservationists squarely blamed the state wildlife authorities for the sorry state of affairs at the zoo, one of the important high-altitude zoos in the country.

There has been a rising concern over alternative sites for a rescue centre for such wild animals in the state.

The office of chief wildlife warden here had also taken special initiatives for speedy establishment of these centres.

Dr Hem Singh Gehlot from WWF for Nature Studies, which has been part of several such wild cat rescue operations in and around Corbett National Park, admits to the need of speedy establishment of rescue centres for the wild animals.

“With man-wildcat conflict rising in the state and over 15 leopards getting killed in 2009, the rescue centre is the need of the hour,” Gehlot said.

Ironically, the death of the snow leopard comes at a time when, for the first time, World Wildlife Fund-India has made Uttarakhand the focus state for initiating its project of snow leopard conservation.

Listed as endangered on the IUCN-World Conservation Union's Red List of the Threatened Species, the snow leopard that has its habitat in the higher reaches of the state at a height of 3,000-4,500 meters.

Dehradun, March 14
Cadet Ashutosh Pandey of Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) got the President’s Gold Medal for being the Best All Round Cadet (Jan term).

Cdt Pandey was conferred the award during the celebrations of the 87th Founder Day celebrations RIMC, yesterday evening. The Engineer-in-Chief Lt Gen Gautam Dutt gave away the awards.

Lt Gen Dutt said it is the Rimcollian spirit that keeps the RIMC going. He expressed his deep gratitude and happiness to see the high standards of the College and infrastructure unlike any other school in the country.

The celebrations ended with a wonderful cultural evening put up by the cadets, which included a play on called RIMC 2020.

Besides eminent Rimcollians, other dignitaries present on the occasion were former Chief of the Army Staff Gen (Retd) VN Sharma, Lt Gen SS Dhillon and RIMC Commandant Col. H Dharmarajan.

The results in various categories are as follows: Inter Section Awards: Gen KS Thimayya Shield for the best performance in co-curricular activities awarded to Shivaji Section, Education Cup for Overall Best Performance in Academics awarded to Chandragupt Section.

JGC Scott Cup for Overall Best Performance in Sports went to Shivaji Section, Gen GG Bewoor’s Cup for sending maximum cadets to NDA went to Pratap Section; Assam Rifles Trophy for Best in Discipline went to Shivaji Section. 28th Infantry Div Cup for the Section ranked Best in Interior Economy went to Pratap Section.

The most prestigious cup of the year, Gen VN Sharma’s Overall Championship
Trophy was awarded to Shivaji Section and Boxing Trophy for the year 2009
awarded to Pratap Section.

Individual Awards: President’s Gold Medal for Best All Round cdt (Jan Term) cdt Ashutosh Pandey and cdt Rakshit Sharma (July Term); Col Haughton’s Silver Medal for IInd Best All Round Cadet (Jan Term) cdt Nikhil Prabhune and cdt N Karthik Reddy (July Term); UN Jha Memorial Gold Medal for standing first in All India NDA merit list cdt Himanjan Sharma (Jan term) and cdt Anshu Kumar (July term).

Maj Greesh Verma memorial silver medal for standing Ist in RIMC Senior School Certificate Examination cdt Himanjan Sharma and Cadet Anshu Kumar (Jan term); Lt Cdr RK Sen memorial silver medal for standing Ist in RIMC Secondary School Examination cdt Mukesh Kumar (Jan Term) and cdt Archit Gupta (July term).

Air Vice-Marshall Jaswant Singh Trophy for the Best Sportsman of the Year to cdt NCO Shyam; Admiral Madhvendra Singh CNS Trophy for the Best Marksman for the year 2008 went to cdt Ashish Tiwari; Maj Gen Bhagwati Singh Trophy for the Best Soccer Player for the year 2008 was awarded to cdt NCO Shyam.