Igas Bagwal (Uttarakhand) 2026

Puja Vidhi: Garhwal (Egas)

Who Celebrates This Festival?

• Families with Cattle: Households in the Garhwal hills keep this festival at home, worshipping their cattle with Pinda, Haldi and a garland.
• The Whole Village: At night the village gathers for the Bart (rope pulling) and the Bhailo (burning bundles of wood), singing the old Bhailo songs together.

When Should This Be Performed?

• Worship of the Cattle: The cattle are worshipped in the morning, and the worship goes on until midday. Check the tithi timing for your city on this page.
• Night Rituals: The puja of the local deities, the Bart and the Bhailo are kept at night, when the village comes together.

About the Festival

Igas Bagwal is a much-loved festival of the Garhwal hills of Uttarakhand, in which families worship their cattle by day and the village lights the Bhailo at night. Igas is the Garhwali word for Ekadashi, and Bagwal means Diwali. It takes place on the Ekadashi (eleventh day) of the Shukla Paksha in the month of Kartik, eleven days after Diwali.

The Katha (Story of Madho Singh Bhandari)

Long ago, Madho Singh Bhandari, a Veer Bhad (warrior chief) of Garhwal, was the commander of the army of Mahipati Shah, the king of Tehri. The king sent him with his army to fight Tibet.

While the army was away, the time of Bagwal (Diwali) came, and not one soldier had returned by the festival. Everyone believed that Madho Singh and his men had fallen in battle, so no one in Garhwal celebrated Bagwal that year. A folk song still recalls his mother, who waited for him while festival after festival passed and her Madho did not come home.

Then, exactly on the eleventh day after Diwali, Madho Singh Bhandari came home to Maletha with his soldiers, having won the battle of Dapaghat in Tibet.

In that joy the people lit lamps and kept their Diwali on that very day. Since that day, the festival has been kept in Garhwal as Igas Bagwal.

Samagri List (Items Needed)

Gather these items before starting the morning puja:

• Cooked Grain for the Cattle (Pinda): Bhat (cooked rice) or Jhangora, or Jau (barley), or Badi and Mandua, as your home prepares it, and a Parat (large plate) decorated with flowers
• Worship and Decoration: Water to wash the cattle's feet, a Diya, Dhoop, Haldi, mustard oil for the horns, and a garland for each animal
• Gwal Dhindi and Thread: A leaf holding Halwa, Puri and Pakodi, and the Raksha Bandhan thread from the wrist
• Festival Dishes: Swale and Pakodi of urad dal
• For the Bhailo: Dry wood of pine, Til, Bhangjira and Hisar, and a rope to tie it
• For the Bart: A thick rope of grass

Puja Vidhi (Step-by-Step Guide)

Follow these step-by-step instructions carefully to perform the ritual correctly:

Step 1: Worshipping the Cattle (Morning till Midday)

1. Cook the Pinda (cooked grain for the cattle) from Bhat or Jhangora; some homes use Jau, or Badi and Mandua. Set it on a Parat decorated with flowers.
2. Wash the feet of the cattle, light a Diya and Dhoop, and worship them.
3. Apply a Haldi tilak on the forehead, put mustard oil on the horns, and place a garland round the neck.
4. Feed the cattle the Pinda from the Parat.

Step 2: Gwal Dhindi and the Thread

1. Take a leaf holding Halwa, Puri and Pakodi to the cowshed along with the Pinda. This is the Gwal Dhindi, which is given to the child who tends the cattle once the cattle have eaten.
2. In some homes, the Raksha Bandhan thread is taken off the wrist and tied to the tail of the cow, or to the tail of the calf with a wish.

Step 3: Festival Dishes

1. Make Swale and Pakodi of urad dal in your house.
2. If a household is in mourning, it keeps no Bagwal that year, so send it Swale and Pakodi.

Step 4: Preparing and Blessing the Bhailo (Night)

1. Gather dry wood of pine, Til, Bhangjira and Hisar, and tie it with a rope into the Bhailo.
2. At night, worship the local deities (Devi-Devta) of your place.
3. After the puja, apply tilak to the Bhailo.

Step 5: Bart and Bhailo

1. Join the villagers in pulling the Bart, a thick rope of grass.
2. Light the Bhailo and sing the Bhailo songs, such as "भैलो रे भैलो, काखड़ी को रैलू, उज्यालू आलो अंधेरो भगलू" (light will come, and darkness will flee).

Puja Vidhi: Kumaon (Budh Diwali)

Who Celebrates This Festival?

• Women of the Household: The women of the house take the main part, painting the Soop (winnowing basket) and driving out Bhuiyan, the figure of poverty, sorrow and disease, to invite Lakshmi-Narayan into the home.
• Women Keeping the Ekadashi Fast: The women of the house also keep the Ekadashi fast (Upavas), eating no rice on the day.

When Should This Be Performed?

• Driving Out Bhuiyan: The Soop rite is done on the day of the festival (homes differ on the hour). Check the date for your city on this page.
• Feeding Five Girls (Panch Kanya): Five girls are fed first, before the family eats.
• Evening Diyas: Diyas are lit in the evening at the threshold, by the Okhal and by the Tulsi.

About the Festival

Budh Diwali is a much-loved home observance of Kumaon in Uttarakhand, in which the women of the house drive Bhuiyan out with a painted Soop and invite Lakshmi-Narayan in. It takes place on the Ekadashi (eleventh day) of the Shukla Paksha in the month of Kartik. Kumaon speaks of three Diwalis, for the three ages of Lakshmi, and this last one is the Diwali of Lakshmi in her old age.

Samagri List (Items Needed)

Gather these items before starting the puja:

• Soop & Colours: A Soop (winnowing basket), Geru to coat it, and Biswar (paste of wet ground rice) to draw the figures with your fingers
• Aipan: Aipan colours for the door, the threshold and the Tulsi pot
• For the Rite: Khil (puffed rice), walnuts, pomegranate (Dadim), and a sugarcane stick (Rikhu)
• Lamps: A Diya for the Okhal and a Diya for the Tulsi
• Food for the Five Girls: Puri, Bade and sweets
• Fast Food (in many Kumaon homes): Ugal flour, milk or water, Ghee, potato pieces, and Sendha Namak (rock salt)

Puja Vidhi (Step-by-Step Guide)

Follow these step-by-step instructions carefully to perform the ritual correctly:

Step 1: Painting the Soop

1. Give Aipan (Kumaoni ritual patterns) to the door, the threshold and the Tulsi pot.
2. Coat the Soop with Geru.
3. With Biswar and your fingers, draw Lakshmi-Narayan on the front of the Soop.
4. On the back, draw Bhuiyan (also called Ghuiyan or Alakshmi) with four backward-turned feet and no mouth (Brahmin homes draw a man holding a broom instead).

Step 2: Keeping the Ekadashi Fast

1. The women of the house keep the Ekadashi fast. For the vrat itself and Tulsi Vivah, see the Dev Uthani Ekadashi page.
2. No rice (Bhat) is eaten on this day, and those who fast eat mostly fruit.
3. In many Kumaon homes, Ugal flour is sifted, made into a thin batter with milk or water, and spread by hand on the Tava with a little Ghee (Chholi Roti). It is eaten with potato pieces and Sendha Namak, not sea salt.

Step 3: Driving Out Bhuiyan

1. Put Khil, pomegranate and walnut in the Soop.
2. Go through every corner of the house beating the Soop with the sugarcane stick, and scatter Khil as you go.
3. Say: "आओ लक्ष्मी, बैठो नारायण, निकल घुइयां" (Come, Lakshmi; sit, Narayan; get out, Bhuiyan). The wording varies by home, and some say "भाज भुइयां भाज" (Run, Bhuiyan, run).

Step 4: Breaking the Walnut and Pomegranate

1. Go out to the courtyard by the Okhal (the grain-pounding mortar), or in some homes to the Tulsi pot.
2. Light a Diya there.
3. Break the walnut and the pomegranate there.

Step 5: Inviting Lakshmi-Narayan In

1. Come back into the house scattering Khil again.
2. Say: "आ लछमी बैठ नरैणा" or "आओ भैठो लछमी नरैण, भाज भुइयां घर से बाहर" (Come, Lakshmi, sit, Narayan; Bhuiyan, run out of the house).
3. In some homes the Soop is then left by the Tulsi pot.

Step 6: Feeding the Five Girls

1. Prepare traditional dishes such as Puri, Bade and sweets.
2. Feed five girls (Panch Kanya) first.
3. Then the family eats.

Step 7: Lighting the Diyas (Evening)

1. In the evening, light a Diya at the threshold (Dehri).
2. Light a Diya by the Okhal.
3. Light a Diya by the Tulsi.