Devotees in Nanda Devi Raj Jaat Yatra

Nanda devi Raj jaat is one of the world famous festival of Uttaranchal. Thousands of devout pilgrims follow the four horned goat as it leads them up to the glacial tarn of Roopkund where the hundred of skeletons lie, left over from an ancient tragedy - either avalanche or poisoning - no one knows! Men and women in trances, possessed by the devi, dance in mad abandon. The royal family of Garhwal conducts the Nanda Raj Jaat to please the Isht-Devi, in order to seek blessings for a prosperous kingdom and the defeat of their enemies. In Chamoli Nanda Devi Rajjaat is organized once in 12 years. The jaat starts from Nauti village near Karnprayag and goes upto the heights of Roopkund and Haemkund with a four horned sheep. After the havan-yagna is over, the sheep is freed with decorated ornaments, food and clothings and the other offerings are dischared. This footage is part of the professionally-shot stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and Digital Betacam. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... wfi @ vsnl.com and [email protected].