Jeetu Bagdwal and the Anchharis

Jeetu Bagdwal was a young man of Garhwal famed for his flute. When he played, the cows stopped grazing and the streams seemed to listen.

One spring he set out to bring his sister home for the paddy sowing. Passing through the forest, he played his flute — and the Anchharis, the fairies of the high meadows, heard him and fell under its spell.

They told him he must come with them. Jeetu begged for time to finish the sowing of his fields. They agreed — but on the very day the planting was done, while he ploughed the field, the Anchharis came and took him away, oxen and all.

To this day, 'Jeetu Bagdwal' is performed in Garhwal as a ritual dance-drama, and people still warn young men not to wander the bugyals playing the flute too sweetly.