One of the most important native festival of Rajasthan is Gangaur. This term stands for the meaning of “gan” as Lord Shiva and “gauri” or “gaur” as goddess Parvati, the heavenly partner of Lord Shiva. Gangaur symbolically celebrates the marital and nuptial bliss. It is celebrated in the month of chaitra (March-April) that is the first month of the Hindu calendar. This month brings along with it the end of winter and the arrival of spring.
Women on this day, worship clay idols of “Gan” & “Gauri” in their homes. Unmarried girls seek the blessings of Gan and Gauri for acquiring a good husband, while the married women pray for the good health and long life of their husbands. For a newly-wedded girl, it is binding to observe the full course of 18 days of the festival that succeeds her marriage.
The worship of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati goes on for around 18 days and on the final day, the Gangaur festival is celebrated with a great religious fervor. Women adorn themselves with new clothes and jewellery. They also apply henna on their hands. Gangaur festival women decorate their palms and fingers with henna. The idols of Gan and Gauri are immersed in pond or in a near by lake on the last day of the festival.
A traditional procession of Gangaur is headed by a colorful pageantry of elephants, old palanquins, chariots, bullock carts and folk artists. This festival reaches its best moment during the last three days. Women, married as well as unmarried, decorate the images and make them look like living figures. At an lucky hour in the afternoon, a procession is taken out to a garden, tank or a well with the images placed on the heads of married women.
Some families get their wooden images painted afresh every year by painters on the eve of the festival. The idols of Teej and Gangaur are different in the sense that the Idol of Teej has a canopy while the Gangaur idol would not have a canopy on them during the celebrations.
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