The Mewar Festival is celebrated to welcome the advent of spring. It coincides with the festival of Gangaur in Udaipur, and has a unique charm about it. The festival of Gangaur is very significant for women of Rajasthan. It is a time for them to dress up in their best clothes and participate in the festival.

They gather to dress the images of Isar and Gangaur and then carry them in a ceremonial procession through different parts of the city. The procession winds its way to the Gangaur Ghat at Lake Pichhola. Here, the images are transferred to special boats amidst much singing and festivity.

Once the religious part of the festival is over, it is time for cultural events where Rajasthani culture is portrayed through songs, dances and other programmes. The festival culminates with an impressive fireworks display. Like other fairs and festivals celebrated throughout the state, there is a lot of activity, which keeps the participants in a joyful frame of mind, eager to enjoy every moment.

Major events of the festival

Singing, dancing, devotional music concerts and firework displays. Procession of boats in the lake.

• Duration : One day
• Time : March - April
• Venue : Udaipur, Rajasthan.

History

Udaipur is the jewel of Mewar kingdom ruled by the Sisodia dynasty for 1200 Years. The foundation of the city has an interesting legend associated with it. According to it, Maharana Udai Singh, the founder, was hunting one day when he met a holy man meditations on a hill overlooking the Lake Pichhola.The hermit blessed the Maharana and advised him to build a palace at this favorable located spot with a fertile valley watered by the stream, a lake, an agreeable altitude and an amphitheater of low mountains. Maharana followed the advise of the hermit and founded the city in 1559 A.D.

The Gangaur Festival is the colourful and 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 during July-Aug. It is the celebration of monsoon, harvest and marital fidelity in Jaipur.

Gangaur was celebrated as the state festival of the erstwhile state of Rajputana and each ruler took great pride in celebrating the festival with pomp and pageantry. The farewell given to Parvati on her last day was re-entered in the form of a magnificent procession on the final day of the festival. This tradition is still a part of the festivities of the Gangaur festival in the village Dundlod.

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 precedes 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. 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. The festival reaches its climax during the last three days. When 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.