Gangaur Festival
| Year | Dates |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 8th -24th March 2023 |
| 2024 | TO BE ANNOUNCED |
The Gangaur festival is one of the most important festivals in Rajasthan. A festival dedicated to Shakti or women power, the Gangaur Festival has become a very popular festival in Rajasthan, attracting thousands of tourists all across the country to witness the grand celebrations of the festival. The Gangaur festival is one of the best festival tours in Rajasthan, celebrated for a period of 18 days. The Gangaur festival, Rajasthan 2023 dates are from 8th March to 24th March 2023. If you are planning a Rajasthan tour, then you can make plans to visit the state during this festival time. It’s a worthwhile visit to explore the traditions, rituals, love, marriage and grandeur of the colourful state of Rajasthan. Many tour packages are offered by the best tour operator in the country to have a glimpse of this traditional Gangaur Festival 2023 in Rajasthan.
Places where the Gangaur Festival is celebrated
• Rajasthan: Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Nathdwara
• Nimaar region (Barwani, Khargone, Khandwa etc.) of Madhya Pradesh
• Some parts of West Bengal, Haryana and Gujarat.
History of the Gangaur Festival
The term “Gangaur” is made up of 2 words – “Gan” (Lord Shiva) and “Gaur” (Gauri). Basically, a festival for women, the Gangaur Festival is regarded as one of the important Hindu festivals, where female devotees worship Goddess Gauri, the consort of Lord Shiva. Gauri is one form of Parvati, the wife of Hindu God, Shiva and is a manifestation of Shakti. According to legends, Goddess Gauri had shown extreme devotion and dedication to win the love of Lord Shiva. Seeing this dedication, Lord Shiva got besotted by Gauri and married her. When Gauri went to meet her parents after marriage, she stayed at her maternal home for 18 days and on the last day, she blessed all her friends with a happy marital life, good fortunes, good health of their husbands. On her farewell, a grand procession took place when Lord Shiva came to take Gauri home.
How the Gangaur Festival is celebrated?
Gangaur Festival is all about worshiping Goddess Gauri. It is a festival that displays love, beauty, colors, and rich traditions. The womenfolk celebrate the festival of Gangaur with great enthusiasm and devotion, praying for good health and long life of their husbands, good harvests, prosperity, and a happy marital life. Even unmarried girls pray seeking for good husbands. This festival is witnessed and participated by many, the locals and the tourists, including the members of royal families of Rajasthan. So, during Gangaur Festival Rajasthan 2023, you will be amazed to see the true essence of Rajasthan.
Rituals followed in the Gangaur Festival
• For 18 days, the married women of Rajasthan keep fast, and restrict themselves to eat one meal a day.
• The foremost tradition is to collect ashes in earthern pots referred as Kunda and sowing seeds of wheat and barley inside the pots.
• After a week, the married women start making clay idols of Lord Shiva and Gauri. Rajput families worship traditional wooden idols of Lord Shiva and Gauri which are repainted and decorated every year. These idols are kept in the earthern pots, along with wheat and barley and then worshipped.
• It is a ritual to receive gift hampers (clothes, jewellery items, makeup and sweets) from married women’ parents referred as Sinjara. Women receive these gift hampers on the second last day of the festival so that the gift items are used on the main celebration or final day.
• Women are deck-up properly on the last day and they are adorned in their traditional dress, jewellery, adorning their hands and feet with mehndi.
The Grand Gangaur Festival Procession
One of the most spectacular events of the festival is the Gangaur Festival procession by a bevy of women in their colourful attire and traditional jewellery, carrying the earthern pots and Lord Shiva/ Goddess Gauri idols on their head. They walk all across the lanes and streets, collecting items like cash, sweets, ghee, oil, and jaggery on the way from home to home. The beautiful ladies with earthen pots on their head look just amazing as these pots are illuminated by lamps called ghudlias. The women while on the procession sing traditional Rajasthani songs. The royal Gangaur Festival procession is accompanied by camels, bullock carts, chariots, including folk artists, dancing and singing on their way. The entire procession is just colourful and gorgeous, and a sight not to be missed at all. This elaborate procession continues till the last day.
On the last day, women break these pots and throw the debris into a well or a tank. Even the idols are immersed in water. This marks the farewell to Goddess Gauri and an end to the 18-day long celebration of fun and traditions.
The royal procession of the Gangaur Festival takes place in Jaipur and Udaipur and thousands of tourists gather to witness this spectacular procession. The grandeur of the festivities makes all tourists bewildered. A Tour to Jaipur or a Tour to Udaipur during the Gangaur Festival is a lifetime experience. The celebration scale is too big in Jaipur as compared to Udaipur. If you are planning to visit Rajasthan, then book your Gangaur Festival Tour 2023 with the best Inbound Tour Operator in India.
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