Gangaur - A festival originated from one of the most beautiful states of India Rajasthan .
Rajasthan remarks some of the greatest cultures and some of the most beautiful traditions .

I am originated from Rajasthan , though I wasn’t born there but my roots are from Rajasthan as my ancestors are from there . A wide variety of traditions and their importance in our lives has shown today’s generation , the connection of roots and the importance of traditions .

Gangaur

Gangaur is the festival where Lord shiva is worshiped as Ishar and lordess Parvati as Gavar . The bond between them and the relation that these lord carry coins the nature of love which is eternal .
In this festival the married womens , worship for longetivity of the lives of their husband . The unmarried womens pray for a good husband . It is believed that Lordess parvati blesses them with good relations , abundance and mainly a good marital life .

Mythological story

The emergence of gangaur is based on a story in the vedas , where it is told that on one fine day , lord shiva and lordess parvati were travelling on earth land and on their journey lord pravati saw a pregnant cow and the pain that she was bearing was tremendous . Seeing this lordess Parvati asks lord shiva to remove her pain by transfering the pain into her . Lord shiva somehow donot do that and move forward with her untill she sees a kingdom which was full of sad and grief , lordess Parvati asks the kingdom people , why are they so sad . To which they say that the queen is about to be a mother and is in so much pain . Again lordess Pravati asks lord to remove the pain of pregnant queen by tying her a knot and remove the pain in her womb . Somehow lord convincess to move forward and after sometime she reaches her mothers place known as Mykaa . The family welcomes them warmly , decorated the whole house with flowers and make some delicious foods . It is said that Lord Shiva eats all the food and there is nothing left for lordess parvati . She then eats some raw batasha (form of sugar) and water only . When asked by Lord shiva , she says she has eaten what lord shiva ate . (She lies) . Its is stated that lord shiva sees her stomach with his powers and he saw that there was only sugar and water in her stomach . After lord confronts lordess , lordess Parvati asks the lord to bless all womens with a miracle that no one can ever see whats inside her stomach as she has to keep the dignity of both the houses , her mothers house and her husbands house .
Before they leave , lordess Parvati sees her devotes worshipping her admist the garden , all decked up in 16 sringar (its all the 16 materials a married women uses to get ready). Therefore she offers them more material of sringar and bless them with a happy marital life and long life to their husbands .
(This story I came to know by my grandmother , therefore i only know what she told me )

Gangaur -16 days

This festival is followed by ladies fasting for 16 days or only the last day of gangaur . All these days the womens go and pluck grass from the garden and then with the help of milkwater mixed with curd is sprinkled with the help of that grass .
The ladies then draws 16 dots of kajal and 16 dots of vermillion on the wall . The ocassion is then followed by the girls rounding and throwing water as they rotate as a sign of creating a protection line (religious belief).
All the while , the most important part is that they also sing lot of religious songs known as geet and they do get ready really well .

The worship of wooden dolls

Know a days these wooden statues of Lord shiva and Lord parvati are kept in the home covered for one whole year and are only taken out on these 16 days .
People dress them multiple times during these days and decorate them with a lot of accesories . Just like an Indian Bride and groom , all accesories are available in minature forms . Just like our moms wear these stones jewellery , diamond accesories , similarly we get small minatures for these idols .
The garments can be purchased from the market or even we can make them .
In my home , I have stiched the whole outfit which comprises of :
Legenga (skirt) .
2 dupattas .
One blouse .

Then we have , (male)
Sherwani ,
Pants .
Dupatta .
Pagaddi.

For the accesories we have a wide range of chokers , long necklace , earings , nath (nose rings) , borla (headgear) , bangles , kamarbandh (waistband) and much more . Rajasthan culture has some really good and beautiful jewellery .

Gangaur Last day
On the last day , everyone becomes sad as the idol departs from the home , in sense that lordess parvati returns to her husbands palace . The idols are then covered with a cloth and kept inside a cuboard .

Our culture is so rich , there is still so much to tell but I think the post already got to long . I donot wish to end it here , do let me know if you want to know more about this festival . I will be really happy to tell you more about it .
May the lord and lordess shower their blessings on everyone. #Happy_Gangaur!

All the content is mine .
All pictures are from my Iphone.

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