Gangaur Festival

The Gangaur festival is Rajasthan's most popular festival which is celebrated with great pomp and grandeur in the period between July-August. This festival is primarily a women's festival who worship goddess Gauri the holy consort of Lord Shiva. The festival is celebrated in anticipation of a favorable monsoon, a good harvest and of course marital bliss.

The festival starts the following day of Holi, the festival of colors. The Gangaur festival is an 18 day affair. The festival is of great significance to both married and unmarried girls who partake just one meal per day for the entire duration of 18 days.

Women embellish their hands and feet with mehendi and wear new clothes. Earthen pots are in much demand especially those with holes. The womenfolk carry these pots with a glowing lamp inside on top of their head. They move around amassing currency notes and coins along with other essential assortments like sweets, butter, oil, etc. the women are on the move for 10 days and it is only on the tenth day that they break the pots and ultimately throw the shards into a water-body (tank or reservoir) located in the neighborhood. Once this ritual is over, its time for some feasting and banqueting.

The Gangaur festival is celebrated all over Rajasthan with great pomp and grandeur. The festival is particularly conspicuous by its frenzied passion in Jaipur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. During the festival a spectacular boat race is held in the picturesque Lake Pichola. Women are seen carrying brass bowls on their head as they march along the streets.

The Gangaur festival is particularly significant to the tribal village folks of Rajasthan. In the countryside, the village folks take out colorful processions that wend their way from village to village. The festival provides the men and women of Rajasthan's countryside to choose their life partners as they are provided with the opportunity to intermingle without any taboos whatsoever.

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