JAMMU, Nov. 15 -- The annual Jhiri Mela, one of the region's major religious and cultural gatherings, will commence on November 23 at the shrine of Baba Jittoo in Jhiri village, around 20 km from Jammu city along the Jammu 'Akhnoor Highway, and continue for 11 days, officials said on Sunday.
The fair, held every year on the occasion of Kartik Purnima, is expected to draw lakhs of devotees from Jammu and Kashmir and neighbouring states including Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, who gather to pay obeisance to Baba Jittoo and his daughter Bua Kouri.
The mela commemorates the supreme sacrifice of Baba Jittoo, a farmer who, according to local folklore, laid down his life nearly 500 years ago in protest against the oppressive demands of a ...