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GANGAUR FESTIVAL
8th - 9th April 2008 |
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The
Gangaur Festival is a colourful and one of the most important local
festival of Rajasthan and is observed throughout the State
with great fervour and devotion by womenfolk who worship
Gauri, the consort of Lord Shiva.
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Gan is a synonym for
Shiva and Gaur which stands for Gauri or Parvati who
symbolises saubhagya (marital bliss). Gauri is the
embodiment of perfection and conjugal love which is why
the unmarried women worship her for being blessed with
good husbands, while married women do so for the welfare,
health and long life of their spouses and a happy married
life.
The festival commences on the first day of Chaitra, the
day following Holi and continues for 18 days. 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 fast for the full period of
18 days and eat only one meal a day.
Images of Isar and Gauri are made of clay for the
festival. In some families, permanent wooden images are
painted afresh every year by reputed painters called
matherans on the eve of the festival. A distinct
difference between the idols of Teej and Gangaur is that
the Idol will have a canopy during the Teej Festival while
the Gangaur idol would not have a canopy. |
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The ladies decorate
their hands and feet by drawing designs with mehendi
(myrtle paste). The figures drawn range from the Sun, Moon
and the stars to simple flowers or geometrical designs.
Ghudlias are earthen pots with numerous holes all around
and a lamp lit inside them. On the evening of the 7th day
after Holi, unmarried girls go around singing songs of
ghudlia carrying the pots with a burning lamp inside, on
their heads. On their way, they collect small presents of
cash, sweets, jaggery, ghee, oil etc. This continues for
10 days i.e. upto the conclusion of the Gangaur Festival
when the girls break their pots and throw the debris into
a well or a tank and enjoy a feast with the collections
made.. |
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The
festival reaches its climax during the last three days.
Unmarried girls and married women 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 Isar and Gauri, placed
on the heads of married women. |
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