Art & Culture

ARTS IN MIRZAPUR

On the screen of art and culture Mirzapur comes to the light in the first half of 19th century. In the literature the men of letters belonging to Mirzapur contributed highly in the national awakening struggle and the literature of Bharatendu era. The literary circles as Matawala Mandal and Prem Ghan Vritta were deeply influenced by the conscience of Bharatendu era. Some immortal works of literature as Nagari Neeradh and Anand Kadambini by Prem Chand, Matwala by Mahadev Prasad Seth etc. came in to existence in this age. Other writers of national fame whose workplace was Mirzapur, were Badrinarain Chaudhari, Premchand, Ramchandra Shukla, Pandey Bechan Sharma Ugra, Bang Mahila, Bhagwan Das and the famous historian Kashi Prasad Jaiswal.

FOLK CULTURE IN MIRZAPUR

The villages of Mirzapur district have their specific folk culture. Kajali, Biraha, Lavani, Lachari, Belwariya are folk songs of the area. Kajali is the most popular folk genre of Mirzapur and the surrounding area. Other popular folk song of the area is 'Biraha'. The competitions between two 'Biraha' parties are still organized in this area. Biraha is based on the saga or folklore which is traditionally romantic or the tales of chivalry or devoted to goddess or the stories based on contemporary incidents.

Local Fairs and festivals are in-seperable parts of the folk culture. Many fairs are organized at the places of mythological and religious significance.

Vindhyachal Mela held four times a year is the most prominent of the fairs of the district. Vasantik Navratra and Shardiya Navratra gathers massive crowd of pilgrims around Vindhyachal temple. From the remote corners of the country, lakhs of Devotees come here to have a glimpse of mother deity 'Vindhyawasini' twice a year during nine-day long Navaratri festival. According to the Hindu calender the second day of Bhadra Krishna is supposed to be the birth day of Goddess Vindhyawasini. Since the Goddess is also named as 'Kajjala', the Jayanti festival is celebrated by the name of 'Kajali Utsav'. All the five Tuesdays of Shravan month also attract the devotees to the temple.

The glimpse of our folk culture is also visible in the fair of 'Asthabhuja Mandir' held on the last Tuesday of Shravan month. On every Monday of Ashar and Shravan month the devotees of nearby areas gather at Sheetala Devi temple situated in Vijaypur township 18 kms away from Vindhyachal. On the southern end of the district temple of Garbara Devi is located on the border of Madhya pradesh. A huge fare is held here on the first Monday of Agahan month. Bawan Bhagwan temple adjacent to Ohala bridge is another place of mythological importance. On the twelfth day of Bhadra Shukla is celebrated here as Bawan Dwadashi.

FAIRS IN MIRZAPUR

The city also celebrates several festivals with pomp pageantry and grandeur. The period around Dusherra and Diwali is a time of Fair and festival for the inhabitants of the city. The dramatic representations of Lord Ramas life are performed at Purani Rajgaddi and Ram Bhawan along with many other places before Dusherra. On the day of Dusherra the largest fare of Ravan immolation and Ram's coronation is held at Durga Devi, Bariya Gath and Trimuhani locality. A series of pageants known as Bharat Milaps are held here after Dusherra in which like that of carnivals the tableaux based on history, mythology, religion and current topics are taken out over the streets of the city. All along the night the entire city remains full of festive enthusiasm and the routes of the tableau are decorated with electric lighting.