Thakur Mela started in Thar
Thakur Mela in Thar(click to enlarge)
Thar (White Desert). Wearing colorful traditional turbans and carrying family swords, the members of the Thakur community of the adjacent areas started pouring into the village, where they would gather at the main water well of the village to celebrate the annual cultural event.
Achhro Thar (White Desert) located in the eastern corner of the Sindh in district Sangahr along with Indian Border, is known worldwide for many cultural activities and is the hub of the villages of Thakur. Thakur are the desert landlords and they mostly celebrate such events in the area to highlight their presence. When we moved from Khipro (a taluka or town in the desert Sanghar) on old style jeep, we traveled about 60 kms from the Khipro town to reach this village to see this unique Mela.
Locals do not welcome outsiders in this Mela. There are no temporary stalls selling ice-creams and other food items, no puppet show and no rush of the people. Most of the participants are from the same family and they all know each other with their names. During the three days long Mela hundreds of the Thakur gathered at the village well with their camels and other animals.
They exchange the family stories, cook traditional desert food and show each other the decoration printed on the camel body. They also decide the family matters, matrimonial disputes and sometimes they exchange animals for different reasons. Most of them are not even agreed in the normal days to accept that such Mela held in the village. The elder members of the community tell the long stories to the children and children are also taught how to save the animals during worst drought. The also teach the children the secrets of the desert and how to drive the camels in long scattered sand dunes.
