The Sajja of Showcasing Newly Woven Pattus and Traditional Natti Dance
Published on HivePostify by @elsaenroute · Wed Sep 02 2026
Let me take you through the Sajja of this season and share the happy faces and the colourful patterns that made the day special!
If you’ve followed my blogs from the Himalayan village of Shilha, you might already know I stay close to this village and am fascinated by the life and rituals here. Sajja is celebrated at the beginning of the new month in the local calendar, and there are different customs for each Sajja.
This time, the season is called Birshu, and the Sajja was a grander festival than the usual temple visits by the ladies carrying the incense to offer their Devata, aka God. In this blog, I’ll take you along the festivities of the season that marks the new year according to the local Himachali calendar.
Showcasing the New Pattus
Almost all ladies in the village would be seen weaving their traditional dress called Pattu once it starts to snow. In my previous blogs, I have shared how they start this process of weaving by first arranging the threads to hand-weave the entire fabric by adding designs and patterns at the borders.
It takes months to finish, depending on the patterns and designs they would like to weave on the fabric.
Today, on the day of Sajja, most of the ladies and girls wore their new Pattu. One of the main activities included women dancing in the plaza area close to the temple at first.
They started dancing when the Devata went to another location from the main temple and kept dancing until he returned. And then he, their Devata, gave his blessings to the crowd waiting for him and joined the dancing ladies.
After dancing for a while in the nearby plaza area, they went into the temple complex and continued their dance there. They were dancing the same steps they had been practising every evening for almost a month in front of the temple.
It was not just the prayerful or devotional vibe in the temple complex. There were many making reels wearing their new Pattu, many taking photos, and so many new-age activities. Everything just felt festive during this time.
The Community Food
Soon after the dancing finished, everyone hurried to their houses and then came out with small bowls and spoons. We were also invited to join them. The next ritual for this Sajja is to go around the houses and have food. And, every household prepares this food to distribute to everyone. It includes a main food and a orange colour sweet rice. Some of them give a sweet dessert as well.
I also met other tourists in the village, which made it easier for me to follow the crowd, which otherwise would’ve been a bit awkward. We were also invited by many people to have food. At the first house, we had this orange rice and then the kheer or rice pudding. It was just one bowl, but we were already full from that. So, we didn’t really eat anywhere else.
For the whole village, it was a fun activity to carry this bowl and go around to everyone’s, have a little chat and eat this offering.
After this, most people went home rested, I guess. For us, it was a pleasant day to go for Rhododendron hunting. So, we hiked up to the next mountain and caught the last rhododendron flowers of the season.
Since the weather has been so unpredictable and acting up, most of the flowers went away pretty fast. Thanks to our guide, we did find the flowers. When I say we, it was not just us humans but my puppies too. It was their first time seeing a rhododendron, and they were pretty excited about it too. Taste-wise, maybe not so much, but excited to check it out for sure.
That was this special Sajja for us, and now the wait for the main mela or the grand fest starts, where the whole village gets visitors from everywhere and from what I heard is a fun few days.
I know you might be wondering why I am sharing a lot about the temple and the rituals happening here. The truth is, this temple is the soul of this village and the silent witness to pretty much everything in their lives! My life and experience here in this remote Himalayan village are incomplete without these events, people and the Gods they look up to for everything!
[//]:(!worldmappin 32.00556 lat 77.37955 long Shilha village d3scr)
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