Gangaur

Gangaur is one of the most important festivals of Rajasthan.The word, Gangaur, is derived from joining the two words ‘Gan’ meaning Lord Shiva and’Gauri’ meaning Goddess Parvati, his consort.

As per lore, it is believed that Gangaur is celebrated ever since  Goddess Parvati returned to her father’s home first time after her marriage to Lord Shiv &  her friends welcomed her home.

This is a festival of the unmarried girls and  married women where the girls celebrate the festival to gain a worthy husband & wish for his long life & the  married women wish for a  long life for their  husbands.
The rituals for this festival start on the day of the Holi dahan ( day before the Holi, the festival of colors). When ashes are collected from the Holi Fire to plant seeds of wheat and barley in it.
During the next sixteen days 16  Goddesses are worshiped. And on the 3rd day of Navratra ( new year according the Indian Vikram samvat Calendar) , Gangaur festival is held. When the Idol of Gauri  is taken out in a procession accompanied by horses, elephants, camel carts and brass bands playing maudlin tunes.It is said, in Jaipur, in olden times the idol of Gauri was accompanied with the idol of her husband,Isar. But one year ruler of Kishangarh state took it away with him forcefully & since then only the idol of Gauri is taken out in procession.

What festival worth its name does not have a sweet associated with it? The traditional sweet of this festival is ‘Ghevar‘. The sweet shops of Jaipur make different varieties of ‘Ghevar’ and the people of Jaipur consume them in large quantities.

For more than 257 years,  Helakhyal sangeet dangal is held on this occasion in Lalsot near Dausa. This is when the performing  parties educated & inform the public about the societal mores  & also inform the  administration about their displeasure with current policies.