The women folk take the festival seriously. It is mandatory for a newly-wedded girl to observe the full course of 18 days while unmarried girls fast for the whole period surviving only on one meal a day. Married ones pray to Gauri, the consort of Lord Shiva, for marital bliss and the health of their husbands.
The single ones pray in earnest for a match of their choice. The festival is in honour of Gauri, the personification of excellence and marital love.
The Festival kick-starts with a customary gathering of ashes from the Holi Fire in which seeds of barley are buried. The seeds are devotedly watered daily awaiting their germination. Women dress in their best clothes and apply henna on their hand and feet. They assemble to observe a ceremony singing devotional songs to Lord Shiva and Gauri and to make their images on clay.
The seventh evening is quite an interest. Unmarried girls assemble and take out a street procession balancing Ghudlia, an earthen pot with holes around and a lamp inside, on their heads. This ceremony continues for a fortnight. The women are given sweets, ghee and cash by the elders.
The final day is a spectacle. There is another women-only procession and the streets are filled with women carrying lively images of Gauri singing songs about her departure to her husband’s home. Traditionally dressed camels, bullock carts, horses and ornamented elephants also take part in the march. An idol of Gauri is carried in beautifully decorated gold and silver palanquin. It comes to a close with the breaking of pots and throwing the trash into a tank or pond followed by a huge feast from the collections they received.
In Udaipur there's a boat procession on Lake Pichola ending with a loud colorful fireworks on the banks. In Jodhpur, thousands of maidens rise early in the dawn, singing and carrying water and grass in pots. The celebrations are marked with equal zest at Bikaner, Jaipur, Nathdwara, and Banswara. |
