Punjab - Sodal Mela

Pilgrims from across the region have started converging for the fair of Baba Sodal scheduled to be held on Wednesday morning. The road from Devi Talab Temple to Sodal Temple has been decorated with buntings while hymns played though the public address system.
Devotees have been coming to the temple since the few days to offer prasad. Prayers are offered to the child deity for fulfillment of a wish.
Most devotees are women, who bring children to pay obeisance. They chant bhajans near the samadh of Baba Sodal.



Do you know which Idol is worshiped there?

Baba Sodal Mela, Jalandhar is celebrated in the city to commemorate the death of the child deity, Sodal. The fair is hosted for a day in the city of Jalandhar on the day the child is said to have received his communion with God. Observed on the 14th of Shukal Paksh in the month of Bhadon, which coincides with the month of September in the English calendar, Baba Sodal Mela, Jalandhar is one of the most popular Jalandhar festivals celebrated by the people of the city.

Did you ever celebrate this festival?

Legend has it that Sodal, a member of the Chadha clan of Khatri caste, who reside in the city of Jalandhar, sacrificed his life by drowning himself in the pond. Although prohibited by his mother, Sodal followed his mother to the pond. Enraged by his insolence, his mother asked him to drown himself in the pond. After asking his mother three times about her resolution and repeatedly receiving the same answer from her, Sodal jumped into the pond never to appear again. The people of the city of Jalandhar believe that the child was blessed with divine powers and celebrate his death anniversary every year.