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| Time
of the year |
: |
March - April |
| Venue |
: |
Around
Rajasthan |
| Language |
: |
Rajasthan
& Hindi |
| Duration |
: |
18
days |
|
| About
the Gangaur Festival |
| The
Gangaur festival is celebrated throughout
Rajasthan with great enthusiasm but the celebrations
in Jaipur and Udaipur have their own special
charm. The Gangaur Festival most important
local festival of Rajasthan commences on the
first day of Chaitra, the day following Holi
and continues for 18 days. The Gangaur Festival
is the colourful and is observed throughout
the State with great fervour and devotion
by womenfolk who worship Gauri, the consort
of Lord Shiva during July-Aug. It is the celebration
of monsoon, harvest and marital fidelity in
Jaipur. This festival holds a special significance
for the Rajasthanis. For a newly-wedded girl,
it is binding to observe the full course of
18 days of the festival that succeeds her
marriage. Even unmarried girls adorned in
their best clothes pray for a spouse of their
choice and the married ladies pray for the
welfare of their husbands. |
| History |
| Gangaur
festival is an important festival of Rajasthan
and celebrated by girls and married women
throughout Rajasthan. The festival is held
in honor of Gauri, a manifestation of goddess
Parvati, the wife of Lord Shiva. Gan is a
synonym for Shiva and Gaur which stands for
Gauri or Parvati who symbolises saubhagya
(marital bliss). Parvati or gauri is the consort
of Shiva, the destroyer. The festival is held
in her honour as she is the symbol of virtue
and fidelity and as such is the mythological
role model of married women. This colourful
festival is held about a fortnight after Holi
and the celebrations go on for eighteen days.
|
| Activities
during the Gangaur Festival |
| This
festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm
by Unmarried girls and married women. During
the last three days of the festival, They
decorate the images and make them look like
living figures. At an auspicious hour in the
afternoon, a procession is taken out to a
garden, tank or a well with the images of
Gauri and Isar, placed on the heads of married
women. Songs are sung about the departure
of Gauri to her husband's house. The procession
comes back after offering water to the image
of Gauri, which faces backwards on the first
two days. On the final day, she faces in the
same direction as Isar and the procession
concludes with the consignment of all the
images in the waters of a tank or a well.
The women bid farewell to Gauri and turn their
steps homewards with tears in their eyes and
the Festival comes to an end. The celebrations
at Bikaner , Jodhpur , Jaipur, Udaipur , Nathdwara
and Jaisalmer are full of pomp and are a must-see.
|
In Bikaner, married women
and maidens fast during the festival. They
prepare sweet dishes, carry them to a well,
make an offering to the goddess, and return
home distributing these as prasad on the way.
In Jaipur, a sweet dish called
Ghewar is characteristic of the Gangaur festival.
People eat and distribute it among their relatives
and friends. A procession, carrying the image
of Gauri, forms at the Palace Gate known as
Tripolia and moves on the city streets passing
Chaugan and on to Talkatora. A vast gathering
of the people of Jaipur and villagers from
nearby areas witness the procession.
In Jodhpur, Early in the
morning, thousands of maidens, clad in their
best attire, singing melodious songs bring
water and durba grass in silver or brass pots
to a place known as Girdikot. People from
in and around Jodhpur come to the fair to
be a part of the revelry.
In Nathdwara, the procession
of Gangaur continues for 7 days. Each day,
a particular color is chosen for the dress
of the goddess. On the last day of the festival,
the image of Gauri is dressed in black with
golden lace and women carrying the image too
are dressed in a similar fashion. This indicates
the final departure of Gauri. The Brahma temple
is the most important temple here and is,
in fact, the only Brahma temple of India.
It is interesting to note that Brahma is not
worshipped, even though he is one of the Holy
Trinity of Hinduism. Brahma, it is said, had
descended on earth to perform a Yajna (fire-sacrifice).
His wife Savitri was not with him at that
time and the Yajna would be incomplete without
her. Therefore, Brahma married a local girl
and sat down for the Yajna. Meanwhile Savitri
landed on earth and, upon finding this new
bride sitting next to Brahma, cursed him that
he would never be worshipped anywhere else
on earth.
In Udaipur, the images of
Isar and Gauri are taken in a procession to
Pichola Lake and are taken around the lake
for an hour. The ceremony comes to an end
with a display of fireworks on the banks of
the lake. |
| How
to reach |
Jaipur can
be easily accessed through air, train or road.
By Air : Jaipur has
its own airport, and is well connected to
all other tourist and business centres.
By Rail : Jaipur is well
connected to Delhi by Shatabdi Express and
the Pink City Express. Other connections to
Jaipur are from Bikaner , Jodhpur , Udaipur
, Ahemadabad, Secunderabad and Lucknow .
By Road : A network of reasonably
comfortable tourist buses, run by road corporations
of Rajasthan, Haryana and others. |
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