Mewar Festival, Udaipur

Mewar Festival, Udaipur

It is held in the month of March or April for three days during the Gangaur Festival, a women-only festival of harvest and martial fidelity. Thus the ceremonies and rituals are apparently identical. The festival has both religious and cultural significance and it is awaited in full earnest by the locals each year.

For women, Mewar Festival is a time to flaunt their costumes and jewellery. So they wear their garish traditional attire with full poise despite the added weight of heavy adorations of jewellery. Also, their hands and feet are fully painted with mehandi (myrtle paste).

Marking the ceremonies, women gather for dressing the idols of Isar (Lord Vishnus) and Gangaur, his consort. The goddess is considered to be the Goddess of marital happiness and conjugal bliss. Married ones pray to Gauri for marital bliss and the health of their husbands. The single ones pray in earnest for a match of their choice. After the decorations are done, they put the idols on their head and carry them in a ceremonial procession to different parts of the city. Majority of the participants are women but few men also do take part in the fun. The women are seen singing and dancing, and to cheer them on the organizers encourage local artists to come and display their talents.

The march concludes at Gangaur Ghat at Lake Pichhola. The idols are then transferred to special boats which are quite eye-catching as hundreds of them float on the water. The women look happily on singing as they watch the boats float. The air vibrates with their song and laughter. Thus the religious part ends.

The second session is a time of cultural events that reveals Rajasthani culture through songs, dances and other programmes. It is a fun packed event full of joy and exuberance and it is impossible not to have fun here. The festival comes to a stop with an impressive display of fireworks lighting up the sky with a shackling thundering noise.