Gangour Fastival Rajasthan Fastivals of India

                                                         Gangour Fastival

                                                               Date : 9 Aprile 2016

Gangaur festival of Rajasthan is celebrated in reverence to Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati. It derives its name from the words 'Gan' and 'Gauri', the former is another name for Shiv while the latter is used to address Parvati. The festival centers around women and all the rituals to be followed are observed by them. The festival is held in the month of 'Chaitra' as per the Hindu calendar. The festival rituals commence the day after Holi.

Gangaur is a festival celebrated in the Indian state of Rajasthan and some parts of Gujarat, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh

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Gangaur is colourful and one of the most important festivals of people of Rajasthan and is observed throughout the state with great fervour and devotion by womenfolk who worship Gauri, the consort of Lord Shiva during March–April. It is the celebration of spring, harvest and marital fidelity. Gana is a synonym for Lord Shiva and Gaur which stands for Gauri or Parvati who symbolizes Saubhagya (marital bliss). The unmarried women worship her for being blessed with a good husband, while married women do so for the welfare, health and long life of their husbands and for a happy married life. People from Rajasthan when migrated to Kolkata in West Bengal started celebrating Gangaur. This celebration is now more than 100 years old in Kolkata.

• Collecting ash from Holika Dehan and burying seeds of wheat and barley in it and protecting them by watering till the seeds germinate.
• Songs in praise of Shiv and Parvati are sung by women who also carry pots on their heads.

• Women make clay images of both Shiva and Parvati.
• A procession is taken by young girls and all of them place an earthern pot with holes and lamp inside on their heads. They distribute cash and other gifts on their way.   

• The final day of the festival sees images of Gauri being taken out in a procession accompanied by camels, bullock carts, horses and elephants. The procession is symbolic of return of Gauri to her husband's (Shiv's) home.
• To mark the end of the procession, the girls break their pots

The ladies decorate their hands and feet by drawing designs with Mehndi (myrtle paste). The figures drawn range from the Sun, Moon and the starts 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.

The festival reaches its climax during the last three days. The images of Gauri and Isar are dressed in new garments especially made for the occasion. 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, bawdi or johad or well with the images of Isar and Gauri, placed on the heads of married women. Songs are sung about the departure of Gauri to her husband's house. The procession comes back after offering water to the first two days. On the final day, she faces in the same direction as Isar and the procession concludes in the consignment of the all images in the waters of a tank or a well. The women bid farewell to Gauri and turn their eyes and the Gangaur festival comes to an end.