The Post Includes 2 Days Mega Coverage of the State Level Independence Day Program which was held in Udaipur. The Events included : Camel Tattoo Show in BN College, Cultural Evening – Spandan 2014 which was held in Railway Training Ground on 14th August. The next day included the Independence Day Show at Gandhi Ground, Artillery Display at Fatehsagar Paal, Laser Show at Paal in the Evening. It was a wonderful experience for the people of Udaipur to see all these activities been held in our own City.
The event was very well managed and executed by the District Administration. We would like to personally thank the District Collectorate for allowing us to Cover this Event for the People of Udaipur.
Every year the grand Rath-Yatra is held on the Ashaad Shukla Dwitya of Vikram Samvat, as per the Hindu calendar. On this day thousands of devotees pull the huge chariot loaded with ornaments and idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra in a long procession. Though the centre of attraction is Orissa, many other Indian cities also have their own extraordinary programs on this day. Udaipur holds the distinction of holding the 3rd largest Rath Yatra in India. The city has two Rath Yatras on the same day at different locations.
idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra in a long procession of 21km from Jagannath Dhaam, Sector 7
The Rath Yatra at Udaipur is a significant event in the entire state that is witnessed by numerous tourists both foreigners and Indians. During the Rath Yatra, The City of Lakes is colored in the most vivid hues of sheer joy & enjoyment and is flocked with devotees who wish to pay their honor to the deities and seek their blessings.
Rath from Jagannath Dham, Sector-7 The Rath Yatra started from Shri Jagannath Dham Sec-7, Hiran Magri and lead towards the Krishi Mandi, Shiv Mandir, Machla Magra, Sec-11, Patel Circle, Khanjipeer, Rang Niwas, Bhattiyani Chohatta to Jagdish Mandir. From there it merged with the Jagdish Chowk Rath Yatra in the same route and then took a separate route from RMV Road to Udiapole, Takeri, Madari, Sec-6 and returned back to the Shri Jagannath Dham of Sec-7. Largest distance covered : 21kms
Main Attraction
The Rath Yatra that started from the ancient Jagdish Temple, near the City Palace.
The Rath, a gigantic chariot, approximately 15 feet long, 8 feet high and adorned by precious metals like silver. This eventually turned into a procession which passed through a large part of the city. The path followed by this Rath was Jagdish Mandir- Jagdish Chowk, Ghanta Ghar, Bada Bajar, Bhadbhuja Ghati, Teej Ka Chowk, Dhan Mandi, Asthal Mandir, R.M.V. Road, Rang Niwas, Kalaji- Goraji, Bhattiyani Chohatta, and Rath Yatra concluded with the Maha Arti at the Jagdish Temple.
UIT alongwith District Administration organized a 2 Day Painting Exhibition at Fatehsagar Paal where more than 40 Artists Participated. For all those who have missed here are the glimpses of nearly All the Paintings Displayed at Fatehsagar Pal.
विश्व का भरण पोषण करने वाले भगवान् विष्णु वैसे तो क्षण भर का भी विश्राम नहीं करते ,किंतु भारतीय संस्कृति ने देह एवं देव में विभेद न करते हुए समग्र पूजन-अर्चन-वंदन को एक सूत्र में आचरण के लिए निर्देशित किया है-” यथा देहे तथा देवे ” अर्थात जिस प्रकार हम शरीर(देह) का प्रतिदिन स्नान , भोजन , वस्त्राभरण , शयन व जागरण का विधान करते है, उसी प्रकार देवताओं को भी पूजा में स्नानार्थ जल , भोजन हेतु नैवैद्य (प्रसाद) एवं वस्त्र-आभरण में श्रृंगार आदि समर्पित करते है। विष्णु हमारे ह्रदय में निवास करते है ,”हृदये विष्णुं ध्यायते “।
ह्रदय एक क्षण के लिए भी विश्राम नहीं लेता , किन्तु वैज्ञानिक तथ्य है कि ‘ लुब-डब ‘ की ध्वनि के बीच सैकंड से भी कम समय में ह्रदय विश्राम कर लेता है, कथा है कि –
भाद्रपद मास कि शुक्ल एकादशी को शंखासुर नाम के राक्षस से संग्राम करते हुए विष्णु भगवान ने उसका वध कर दिया , तदुपरांत अत्यधिक परिश्रम से हुई थकान दूर करने के लिए विष्णु क्षीर सागर में शयन करने लगे । क्षीर सागर में चार माह तक शयन के उपरांत कार्तिक शुक्ल एकादशी को भगवान विष्णु शयन त्यागकर जागृत हुए । इसी भावना से इस एकादशी को देवोत्थापनी एकादशी या प्रबोधिनी एकादशी से संबोधित किया जाता है । सामाजिक संस्कारो का आज से शुभारंभ हो जाता है।
विवाह आदि शुभ कार्य प्रारंभ होने लगते है, वस्तुतः ग्रीष्म एवं वर्षा ऋतु में अत्यधिक ऊष्मा एवं जलप्लावन , आंधी , तूफ़ान आदि मौसम से होने वाली आपदाएं शांत होने से, क्षीत ऋतु के आगमन से प्राणियों में उर्जा एवं शक्ति का संचार होने लगता है जिससे हम अपने कार्यों को, कामनाओं को पूरा करने में तन-मन से सक्षम हो जाते है। नए धान्य की उपज से प्राप्त आर्थिक संसाधन भी हमें प्राप्त हो जाते है , अतः देव प्रबोधिनी के पश्च्यात शुभ कार्यो के लिए मुहूर्त बताये जाते है।
इसी दिन तुलसी विवाह की भी परम्परा मनुष्य जाती की वनस्पतियों के प्रति सजीव भावना की परिचायक है । तुलसी को एक पौधा न मानकर जीवन रक्षक, तथा हमारी रोग-प्रतिरोधक क्षमता को बढाने वाली वनस्पति के रूप में देखा जाता है। तुलसी को विष्णु की प्रेयसी के रूप में सम्मानित कर शालिग्राम स्वरुप से तुलसी विवाह करवाकर अपनी कृतज्ञतामयी भावनाएं समर्पित की जाती है।
देवाराधन के ये विशिष्ट प्रयोजन परंपरा के रूप में ऋषियों- मुनियों ने समाज की समृद्धि एवं सुखी जीवन के लिए निर्धारित किये हैं जो उत्कृष्ट मानवीय सभ्यता एवं संस्कृति के द्योतक हैं, परिचायक हैं-
Vibrant, vigorous and graceful! Folk dances of Rajasthan performed gracefully by the colorful crowd punctuate Rajasthan’s barrenness, turning even the deserts into fertile basin of limitless colors and variations of the amazing folks living here. One of these rich festivals is GAVARI, which is a distinct art form found in the cultural heritage of the Bhils who express the devotion and faith to Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati through Folk Dance, Music and Folklores. It also symbolizes human love for forests, animals and people. Quite unique and impressive, isn’t it?
Rajasthan encompasses numerous tribes having distinct identities in term of costumes, dialects, beliefs and arts. People have nurtured a splendid tradition of folk songs and folk dances of which Gavari is unique in itself which is celebrated by Bhils. The Bhils are the original inhabitants and tribal of Mewar- Vagad area of southern Rajasthan which was gradually conquered and inhabited by Rajput kings and other northern settlers around 3rd to 4th century BC.
After the monsoons, in the months of September and October the forty-days-festival “GAVARI” is celebrated by Bhil tribe in Udaipur, Rajsamand and Chittor districts of Rajasthan. Whole male folk, even children participate in this dance-drama symbolizing a healthy environment and it intends to ensure the well-being to the community and the village. While only Bhils perform them, other castes attends the performances and offer donations. During this period, people do not eat any green vegetables, stay away from alcohol and avoid being non-vegetarian. They sleep on grounds and avoid taking bath (except on Dev-Jhulani Ekadasi).
Gavri Mewar – via: gavari.wordpress.com
There is no definite origin of gavari. Some beliefs say the story of demon Bhasmasur who worshiped Lord Shiva, who pleased with bhashmasur’s devotion, granted him a strange wish that whenever he keeps his hand on anyone’s heads that person will die burning in fire. Thereafter, Bhasmasur started misusing the grant by killing innocent people on earth. Lord Vishnu to resolve the problem transformed himself into a beautiful woman named Mohini – the dancer and went to Bhasmasur. Bhasmasur fascinated by her beauty started imitating her dance and kept his hand on his head to copy mohini, thereby departed his life.
Bhasmasur’s soul asked forgiveness from lord Shiva and appealed Lord to keep him alive in minds of people in return of his great devotion. Lord Shiva thereafter declared that, for paying homage to a great devotee like Bhasmasur, Gavri will be celebrated every year. Since then this fest is organized in the region of Mewar by the Bhil Community.
According to another belief, Lord Shiva had been ruler of Mewarever since times unknown. Eklingji, a place about 17 km. away from Udaipur, was believed to be his holy abode. Once, Goddess Parvati, his spouse, had gone to visit her father’s home for a long period of a month and a quarter. Deeply in love with his wife, the long separation ran Shiva into deep melancholic mood. To amuse him, the devoteesGanas(who wereBhils) devised an entertainment program made up of dancing, singing and theatrical activities. The event eventually became ritualistic and took form of Gavari, which is now an integral part of socio-cultural and religious life of the Bhils.
In this folk play there are four kinds of characters – dev, humans, demons and animals. The RAI and BURIYA are the two main mythological characters to form the GAVARI, Bhil ritual performance. In GAVARI dance-drama group, there are two RAIs in form of PARVATI (GORJA) and MOHINI goddesses in female costumes who always stays or sits in the centre of the performing circle. The BHURIYA as Bhashmasur – keeps a wooden mask of black surrounding bull tail hair on his face and carrying a wooden stick or “Chhari“, always walks in opposite direction to other performers. The other priests as Bhairon and goddess Mata, stays with RAI as a guard to her.
Mostly in the day time they perform GAVARI in the village where they enact different mythological and social episodes with MADAL and THALI as their main musical instruments. People go from village to village, especially to the villages where their daughters and sisters reside after getting married.
Photo by: Pramod Soni
Any open space can serve as a stage. For five to six hours each day; the troupe performs a series of episodes. On two occasions the festivity lasts all night. Like many Indian rituals, these scenes blend secular, folk, and Hindu epic characters with references to local daily life. Despite some comic scenes, the Gavari ritual is generally solemn, ending with the appearance of gods and goddess, and often including trance among both performers and audience.
In Gavari, the last day of performance, rituals the Bhil Gavari players also dance and perform in the night as night awakening rituals. With other legends, they also perform the “Hiraniya Bhoot” or ghost performance in which two artists plays the role of ghost in which they covered the body with the grass.
Gavari is played so skillfully by these tribal people that it produces the impact of an eye catching scene, the magical effect of which makes the viewers stop and stay on to watch it and get engaged until the episode reaches its end. Gavari, not only holds its audience spellbound for whole day long, but also refreshes and energizes performers as well. Gavari is thus a valuable cultural inheritance bestowed by the tribal from one generation to the other and from one century to the following one.
Rajsamand Lake is an epitome of didactic work done by the princely states for the well concern and revampment of society and economy, which could be easily traced by its sun gold essence of gleaming ethics and serenity. This is a massive lake with well built Ghats. It is one of the largest artificial lakes of medieval period. It is a place of small gust of pleasure, where sun shades the waters the lake, precisely pedestrianized and stuffed with beautiful arrays of silver linings is bestowed to the town Rajsamand. The lake contours about 1.75miles wide, 4 miles long and 60 feet deep, having coordinates 25°4’14″N 73°53’15″E.
The fabulous site of this tarn was the result of a dam constructed across the river Gomati, Kelwa and Tali was debuted by Maharana Raj Singh I in the years 1662-1676 with elaborated structures of Jharokas and jettings. The catchment area of the lake is approximately 508 square kilometers.
Why was it Constructed?
The major reason for construction of Lake Rajsamand was to overcome the problem of drought and to render employment for victims of a widespread drought and famine in the year 1661, and to provide canal irrigation to local farmers. It is among the oldest relief works done in Rajasthan. The digging of this foundation began on January 1, 1662. Construction of the actual dam began on January 14, 1676. Mukund Jaggatnath was one of the main architects. It was built in Indo –Persian style and materials used for the construction were stone, rubble and masonry. RiverGomti is the main supplier of water to Rajsamand Lake.
Architecture & Design:
On the bank of the Dam three mandaps were constructed out of white marble, each mandap has three chokies. The first mandap has very interesting scenes where a newly wed girl is departing from her husband’s house. The villagers are seen in sad postures. It is shown that the husband is dragging the wife; the camel of the camel cart is also seen in a sad posture. The second mandap has a scene of animal fighting. The fight of Elephant with Horse is depicted.
On the southern end of this lake their lies a large embankment 183 m. long and 12 m. high, known as Nauchowki or the nine pavilions. It is believed that the dam measures nine hundred ninety nine feet in length and ninety-nine feet in breadth. Every step measures nine inches and there are nine white marble cenotaphs build on the dam. Each of these cenotaphs is nine feet in height and is at nine degree angle from each other. This embankment has marble terraces and stone steps touching the lake and is dotted with five toranas or weighing arches and chhatris (cenotaphs). The colonnaded pavilions are decorated with depictions of the sun, chariots, gods, birds and dancing girls, exquisite carvings that are claimed to be unique in India. It is overviewed by the Dwarikadhish temple and from the Kumbhalgarh Fort the vista it glitters with gushing water is as captivative as scarlet is. This place is also considered to be the one where Maharana Raj Singh and his descendents organized the event of Tuladan: they were weighed in jewels and gold, the cash value of which was distributed among Brahmans for the construction of temples and tanks for the welfare of the people. The history of Mewar is also inscribed here in 107 stanzas, on its 21 marble stones known as ‘Raj Prasasti‘ an epic by Ranchhor Bhatt. It has also been acclaimed as one of the longest etchings in India. The epigraph has given lot of historical, commercial, civil, educational, weighing system etc. to carve out the history and to bring the different shores of historical facts together. The Rajsamand was also the scene of a desperate battle in the late 17th century between Mewar and the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The Mugals destroyed the torans and ruined all the carvings on the mandap. During World War II, Rajsamand Lake was used as a seaplane base by Imperial Airways for about six years.
There was no provision for sluice gates, at the time of construction of the lake. Irrigation water was supplied by means of a lift irrigation system. The first sluice gate canal was built by the British people, it is 8 km long, and after independence in the 1960s, an ambitious second one was added, which was 35 km long.
Preposterously, in the year 2000, the lake came into the verge of its existence it was just a barren land of rocks and weeds and residents used the Nand Sagar Lake located about 15 km upstream as a substitute then fortunately on the passage of time the monsoon refilled it. Now the Lake Rajsamand has been used for irrigation and its canal network services are used to provide water to 42 villages covering an area of 7,284 hectares. The villages viz.: Peepli, Mohi, Kuwariya, Bhava, Rupakheda etc. are the regular connectors of this water.
The charm exuded by the unparalleled beauty of the Rajsamand Lake is infectious and the tourists are attracted to this place. It has genuine beauty of its own, especially when women clad in hues of yellow, green, purple accommodate the lake on the festive of Gangaur and Teej. The provocative thing of this place is its purity of water, the shimmering and dancing rays of sunbeams of the settling god and the colour changing water beckons the tourists to its charm by over whelming their hearts.
Yesterday Devotees witnessed Lord Jagannath on a Rath Yatra Event. The Rath Yatra event is carried out every year with thousands of devotees waiting to take a glimpse and blessing of Lord Jagannath. Here is a set of Pictures of this huge Holy event. We hope you commemorate these Pictures and Event through your UdaipurBlog.com.
Photos By Yash Sharma
“चांदी रे रथ थे चढो रे सांवरिया.. मनमोहक कर ल्यो श्रृंगार, सांवरिया री आरती आरती संजोयिलो, चर्मृत लेई-लो, ले लो प्रभुजी रा नाम… सांवरिया री आरती “
“मात-पिता तुम मेरे , शरण गहुँ मैं किसकी… तुम बिन और ना दूजा, आस करूँ मैं जिसकी.. “ जय जगदीश हरे…
सेक्टर सात से निकलने वाली रथयात्रा, जो मूल रथ यात्रा में शामिल होती है, किसी भी मायने में पुरी रथयात्रा से कम नहीं होती.. प्रभु जगन्नाथ, भ्राता बलराम और बहन सुभद्रा के विग्रह पुरी की याद दिला देते है. शहर में सबसे लंबी दुरी तय करके सेक्टर सात से पुराने शहर तक का सफर तय करके तीनो भाई-बहन जगदीश जी की रथ यात्रा की शोभा बनते है. यह रथ यात्रा सेक्टर सात से प्रातः 11 बजे प्रारंभ होती है, जो मूल रथ यात्रा के समापन के पूरे तीन-चार घंटे बाद आधी रात को पुनः अपने स्थान पर जाकर विश्राम लेती है
Photo By : Gajendra Pancholi
A Heart-full of Thanks to Administration of Udaipur
This week in Udaipur Speaks column, the residents of Gayatri Nagar, Sector 5 share their problem and pain. Problem prevails on the issue of drainage and water pipeline service disturbance. The drainage system of Sec .5 Gayatri nagar has been constructed in the year 2007. And it was in a good condition. In views of the residents, the people of Gayatri Nagar did not have any trouble with the drainage system.
In a conversation with the residents, they informed that last Sunday, i-e 19th of May 2013 the drainage system had been demolished by a contractor including the House Ramps and drinking water supply pipes for re-construction of the drainage system , which was not needed at all. The construction isn’t in even its minimal pace yet, and now they are not getting any drinking water from more than a week, and also are not able to take their vehicles on the road as the Ramps & water pipes are broken. Not only an issue for vehicles, this is causing too much inconvenience for the elderly people, as well as posing threat to kids of the colony.
“It was also promised to us that a new water pipe line will be replaced by the old one as the latter is covered by the new drainage system under construction, which is also not fulfilled. Its very risky especially for kids and Aged persons to move over from the broken drainage system as the contractor has put weak temporary ramps over it.“, added another resident of the colony.
The situation is really bad, and we just hope for an immediate action on it. People from other parts of the city can also share their problems, views and more they would like to share with the city under this column.
Techno India NJR Institute of Technology, Udaipur as Aakash Project Center is conducting 4 days Aakash Android Application Programming Workshop for Students (23rd – 24th Feb 2013 and 2nd -3rd Mar 2013) under National Mission on Education through ICT (MHRD, Govt. of India) and in association with IIT Bombay.
It is now well established that the quality of education can be improved considerably by proper use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), to supplement the conventional mode of education. Aakash tablets were launched by MHRD in October 2011. These are Low Cost Access cum- computing Devices. The National Mission on Education using ICT (NME-ICT) envisages that these tablets should be deployed for empowering our students and teachers.
Through this workshop, IIT Bombay plans to train participants on android application programming for Aakash tablets with two objectives. The first is to test and enhance the effectiveness of these tablets for use in classrooms. The second is development of new open source educational applications and contents for Aakash, largely through final year Research and Development projects done by BE/MCA/ME students.
Following topics will be covered in the workshop:
Android Apps Programming:
Getting Started with Android
Setting up Eclipse for Android Software Development
Android Building Blocks
Layouts and UI Control.
Android Application Resources.
Introduction to Animation and Graphics.
Data Storage.
Web Application Development.
Publishing your Application.
Since the workshop is funded by the National Mission on Education through ICT (MHRD, Government of India), there is no course fee for participation.
Piyush Javeria, Aakash Project Coordinator describes Aakash as an access device in which a Linux environment has been developed atop an Android operating system. Tailored compilers for C, C++, Python and Scilab are ported so that users can write and run programmes on the tablet, emphasizing its use as a full-fledged computer. Powered by a 1GHz processor and backed with a 512 MB RAM, Aakash 2 sports a 7″ capacitive screen, a USB port and micro SD card slot and promises a battery life of 3 hours for normal operations, running at core, the Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich). He also added that 200 students of pre-final and final years of engineering have registered and are attending this workshop with great enthusiasm. They are getting chance to use Aakash tablet and deploy their own created apps on it. First day concluded with basics of Java and Android with development of simple android application development. Students can also participate in National Software Development Competition on AAKASH tablet (http://aakashlabs.org/compete) and win prizes worth Rs 1 lac.
Photos By : Priyansh Paliwal & Yash Sharma
Gavri Mewar – via: gavari.wordpress.com
