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Rajasthan, though mostly desert, gets filled with colorful and grand celebrations during fairs and festivals. For every religious occasion, change of season, every harvest, and a fair can be expected.
For the month of January, a Camel Festival is held in Bikaner. The desert city becomes alive with all the music and festivities that include camel races and camel dances plus the beauty of the decorated ships of the place. By late January and early February, everyone is delighted with the Nagaur Fair taking place in Bikaner and Jodhpur. It is an animal fair where cattle, horses and camels are accompanied by their owners and march around the area. There are also games and contests like tug-of-war and camel races. In Jaisalmer, there is the Desert festival that takes place during the full moon in February. It is a journey lasting for three days into the heart of the Thar Desert and the golden city of Jaisalmer. Rajasthani dances like Tehratal, Gangaur, Chari, Moria, Gair Dhap and Ghoomer can be watched in the sand. Aside from that, there are ballad singers, musicians, snake charmers and puppeteers. This festival is one of the most popular in Rajasthan. By March, an Elephant festival is held in Jaipur. The elephants parade with decorations in their tusks and trunks along with camels and horses and the performances of folk dancers. The festival is to worship Ganesh or Ganapati who is the elephant son of Shiva and Parvati. A spring festival of Gangaur is held in March to April and is one of the most important local festivals of Rajasthan. It is to worship Gauri, the consort of Shiva and a manifestation of Goddess Parvati. The event symbolizes marital happiness and conjugal bliss. Other festivals are the Mewar Festival, Teej or the festival of swings, Marwar festival and Pushkar Fair.
The dates of these festivals are determined by their lunar calendar and have certain religious significance. These show the arts and crafts that Rajasthani people have.
Desert Festival of Rajasthan
The Desert Festival is a three-day event that is held in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan in the month of February.
The event is filled with a lot of performances like open-air folk dances such as Ghair, Fire and Ghoomar dances, acrobatics, puppet shows, snake charmers show. The dance performances are made livelier with colorful skirts, tie and dye dupattas done under the rhythm of folk music. As an added attraction, there are camels, desert stalls as well as tents. Customary programs of the event are the Camel races, Turban Tying Competition and Mr. Desert competition.
On the third day of the festival, the sands are filled with a new spirit brought by the open-air light and sound show. This part marks the finale of the Desert Festival.
The Jaisalmer Desert Festival is held to showcase the folk arts and crafts of Rajasthan. The cultural traditions of Rajasthan are made known to all the tourists witnessing the event and serves as a cultural gala of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
The Gangaur Festival
The Gangaur Festival is one of the most important local festivals of Rajasthan. It is celebration done throughout the state to worship Gauri, the consort of the Lord Shiva and the manifestation of goddess Parvati. It symbolizes marital happiness and conjugal bliss as well as the monsoon and harvest in the place.
The festival begins on the first day of the Chaitra and goes on for 18 days. During the event, newly-wedded women observe the 18 days of the festival to ensure success in marriage while the unwedded women fast and eat only one meal daily for 18 days.
For the celebration, images of Gauri are made out of clay. There are families who make permanent wooden images and ask for matherans or reputed painters to paint the wooden image on the eve of the festival. For the ladies, they decorate their hands and feet by drawing pictures of the sun, moon, stars, flowers and other geometrical designs using a myrtle paste.
Mewar Festival
Rajasthan hosts a lot of festivals. One of which, and definitely not to be missed upon traveling to India, is the Mewar Festival. It is a three-day festival that takes place in the city of Udaipur. It is a celebration of the advent of spring, usually in the month of March or April.
The whole city is quite a sight to behold during this festival as it is heavily decorated around this time of the year. Women, who play a major part in this celebration, dress up in their best clothes. The religious part of the festival is the procession of images adorned in lavish clothes and ornaments. Performers singing and dancing lead the procession all through the major roads of Udaipur. It concludes at the Gangaur Ghat of Lake Pichhola where the images are transferred into special boats that are left afloat in the lake. The culmination of the festival is very cultural. It is highlighted with songs, dances, special performances and fireworks display.
Nagaur Fair
Also known as the Cattle Fair, Nagaur Fair is the second largest fair in Rajasthan. Nagaur is a livestock town that holds a trade of thousands of animals during the months of January to February. Camels, horses, sheep, oxen, cattle and bullocks, among others, are the animals traded in this fair. These animals, which are displayed and traded, are heavily ornamented and so as their owners who sport colorful dresses and turbans. Men even flaunt their long moustache at this event. Other attractions include a showcase of wooden items, iron crafts and leather accessories. The Mirchi Bazaar or the Red Chilly Market, India’s largest is another interesting attraction in this fair. People who join the fair can also enjoy other activities such as campfires, tug-of- war, animal races and song and dance performances organized for the fair. Nagaur hosts the fair with a very festive atmosphere. It is where business and fun mix well together.
Pushkar Fair
Pushkar is a lakeside settlement that is sacred for the Hindus. It is one of the five sacred pilgrimage sites or dhams for Hindus. It is alo mentioned in the in the epic of Mahabharat and Ramayana. Thousands flock to this place to dip in the lake water and worship the Hindu god Brahma at his temple.
One of the most waited events in this town is the Pushkar Fair which goes on for five days beginning on the wake of Kartik Shukla Ekadashi until Kartik Purnima, days in the lunar month of the Hindu calendar. It is in this time that the town is transformed into a colorful ground. Camels, horses, donkeys, bull, decorative items for such animals and many other items are on display for sale. Camel races are held as well during this fair. The “beast of burden” is glamorized and adorned with lots of embellishments. Cultural shows highlight the event as well.
Urs Fair
The lakeside city of Ajmer holds the Urs Fair during the first six days of the seventh moth of the Islamic calendar in commemoration of the death anniversary of Sufi Saint Moinnuddin Chishti, popularly known as Gharib Nawaz or “protector of the poor”
The pilgrims make rich offerings at the saint’s tomb. The aroma of flowers, incenses and perfumes masks the shrine at this time of the year. Singers called qawwals chant and sing praises for saint outside. Another interesting ritual during the Urs Fair is the distribution of the blessed food called kheer, a milk pudding, to the devotees. Poets from different regions gather to recite their compositions honoring the saint. A mass prayer is conducted at night to seek guidance from the saint. There are bazaars are organized all around the town providing shopping venues for pilgrims and tourists. Lodging is not a problem in this time of the year for travelers as many hotels and guesthouses around the town providing accommodation. On your way back home, drop down to Sri Lanka and use Car Hire Sri Lanka to explore more attractive spots. |
