Fairs and Festivals in Rajasthan


Fairs and Festivals in Rajasthan	home / fairs and festivals

Rajasthan, the land of colors and warmth, is known for its multitude of fairs and festivals. Each part of the state has some local festival to commemorate an event, a deity, or an important personage. The fairs and festivals of this state are known for their beauty and liveliness, attracting both domestic as well as international tourists. If you do not have the time to go around visiting each and every part of a district, but still have a keen desire to understand their culture, or purchase handcrafted items, then being present in Rajasthan during the time of fairs and festivals is always a good idea. Many of the fairs and festivals of Rajasthan are geared toward the tourist – the people who drive the economy of many of the districts in Rajasthan. While many of the fairs and festivals, such as Desert Festival, are organized keeping the visitor in mind, other events including Pushkar Fair and Urs Festival Ajmer are centuries old. While the essential format of these events has not changed a bit through the ages, the infrastructure available to participants and visitors has undergone a sea change.

Take the Pushkar Fair, one of the oldest fairs in Rajasthan. The site holds religious significance for Hindus, who come here during the months of October to November to wash away sins in the holy waters of the lake near the Brahma Temple. The Pushkar Fair, held at the same time, is strictly commercial, in sharp contrast. It is a place for camel owners to sell and buy camels, as well as horses and mules. The fair, once a routine event, has today been upgraded to a world famous tourist extravaganza, thanks to the luxury Swiss tents with decorated flaps and attached baths, jeep tours, and air conditioned coaches to take visitors around.

Teej is another old festival of Rajasthan. It commemorates the wedding of Goddess Parvati with Lord Shiva, and also heralds the arrival of spring. While primarily a festival for women, especially married women and women looking forward to marrying their “prince charming”, the highlight of the festival is the procession taken out in the streets of Jaipur. The Goddess Teej, done up in beautiful dress and ornaments, is carried at the head of the procession on a carriage. She is accompanied by male and female traditional dancers, musicians, and a cavalry of camels, horses, and elephants.

The Urs Festival Ajmer is the largest Muslim festival in India. It marks the death anniversary of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, the Sufi saint. The festival sees religious ceremonies as well as more general events such as poetry and qawali recitation.

The Elephant Festival celebrates the contribution elephants made to the fortunes of kings and princes, since essentially only they were wealthy enough to own elephants. These mighty beasts also did their part in protecting the common citizens in times of war by charging enemy battlements as part of a cavalry.

The Baneshwar Festival is dedicated to Lord Shiva, and is primarily a tribal festival that sees participants coming in from as far as Gujarat and Chattisgarh. If you have landed in this desert region in the hot summer month of June, then perhaps you can cool off in the hill station of Mount Abu, which holds the Summer Festival at this time. There is much to do in Rajasthan, and much to look at as well. Attending the fairs and festivals in Rajasthan is one method of ensuring that you get to have a whiff of Rajasthan culture no matter how hurried your tour.