gangaur – UdaipurBlog

[Photos] Gangaur Festival 2014

The traditional Gangaur procession started Wednesday at 04.30 pm from Ghantaghar meandering its way through Jagdish Chowk, Bhattiyani chohhta, concluding at the spectacular Gangaur Ghat where the women of different local communities kept the idols of Gauri for further customs.

Over the years, numbers of festivals and fairs have changed in nature; however, the Gangaur procession has retained its traditional charm. Since the days of Maharanas, there is a tradition of offering the royal Gangaur from the shore of the lake using the Royal Gangaur Boat. Tourists and the local crowd witnessed a beautiful traditional programme including dances like Chari, Bhawai, Terah taali, Ghoomar, Phool Holi and Mayur Nratya .

The procession also included the exhibition of Gangaur idols on the royal boat followed by fireworks at Hanuman ghat. Many others celebrated Gangaur at the Goverdhan Sagar . The celebrations were organized by the Rajashtan state department of tourism.

Photos by : Aman Bhandari

Photos By: Siddharth Nagar

Photos By: Devashish Dhaybhai

Udaipur celebrated Jal-Jhulni Ekadashi with great Enthusiasm

According to the Hindu calendar, Gyaras, or Ekadashi is basically, the 11th day of each waxing (Shukla Paksha ) and waning moon (Krishna Paksha). Ekadashi is the Hindi word which stands for “eleventh. “Ekadashi Upvaas, Vrata or Fasting is considered very important & beneficial for all Hindus, specially women. “Upvaas” means Up – Vaas i.e., to stay close to God. The purpose of fasting is to experience peace & bliss. Eating less enables the mind & body to function more effectively. Hindus observe 24 11th-day fasts during the course of the Hindu year, although some are more important than others. One of them is Jal Julni Ekadashi. Each Ekadashi is held in honor of a different Hindu legend and has specific religious duties associated with it.

This ekadashi, known as Jal-Jhulni Gyaras, or Jal-Jhulni Ekadashi, like all other festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm on the land of Maharanas i.e. Mewar. In Udaipur, different processions start from the various parts of the city and end at one point i.e. Gangaur Ghat where people use to swing the deities of Lord Krishna in child form(Baal Gopal) in the lake pichola. These procession are called Ram Revdies.

Here are a few clicks by Mujtaba showing this year’s celebration of Jal Jhulni Gyaras in Udaipur

Edited By: Prasun Bannerjee