Fairs and Festivals of Rajasthan
The desert state of India, Rajasthan is beautiful, fascinating and colorful state with its vibrant, exotic traditions and royal glory. The Rajasthan state shimmers with colorful fairs and festivals throughout the year for every religious occasion, change of season and every harvest.
As Rajasthan celebrates every occasion with grand fairs so is called as the land of Fairs and Festivals. Rajasthan state celebrates animal fairs and religious fairs. People of Rajasthan dress up in a grand manner where men wears red turbans and women dress up with bright colored lehangas and odhnis. And perform folk dances of their region that adds charm to these fairs.
These festival and fairs of Rajasthan shows the joyous spirit and passion of the people towards life.
Fairs of Rajasthan
Pushkar Fair :
Pushkar is a town situated in Rajasthan where the only temple Lord Bhrama, the creator of Universe is located in India. Pushkar fair is celebrated on full moon light in the month of November. People take a dip in the Pushkar lake to bestow salvation.
The Pushkar Fair is famous tourist attraction in India where people from all over the world visit this place during Pushkar fair. Villagers come from different parts of the state and bring their cattle with them.
Banganga Fair :
The Banganga Fair in Rajasthan is celebrated annually on the full moon day during the month April. This Banagana fair is organized at historical township of Bairath in Jaipur district. People vistit this fair and worship Lord Shri Radha Krishna, take a bath at the ghats of the Banganga river, which is believed as purifying the soul by taking dip in this Banganga river.
Nagaur Fair :
Nagaur is the attractive town of Rajasthan. The Nagaur fair is one of the most celebrated festive by Rajputs that depicts the Rajasthani rich culture during the Nagaur Fair. This is the second largest cattle fair in Rajasthan state which is held every year in the of Magh. The Nagaur fair is renowned for selling and buying of cows, bullocks, camels and horses.
Baneshwar Fair :
Baneshwar fair is celebrated in the month of January. It is a religious festival with simple and traditional rituals. The Baneshwar fair will be held at a small delta formed by the river Som & Mahi. This Baneshwar fair is the centre of attraction of a large number of tribals from the neighboring states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. People worship Lord Shiva in the name of Baneshwar.
Shekhawati Fair :
The Shekhawati fair is held in the month of February every year for three days organised by the Rajasthan State Department of Tourism and District administrations of Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Churu jointly. The Shekhawati fair includes many programmes such as rural games, cultural programmes, haveli competitions and fireworks.
Festivals of Rajasthan
Brij Festival :
The Brij Festival in Rajasthan is celebrated few days before Holi festival in the month of March. Lord Krishna is worshipped on this Brij festival. This festival is marked as the spirit and enthusiasm of people of Rajasthan. On this Brij festival, villagers dress up in multicolored dress and perform singing and dancing by men, young and old, rich and poor all gathered together.
Marwar Festival :
Marwar festival was originally known as the Maand Festival falls in the month of October. This festival is mainly devoted to the music and dance of the Marwar region. The Marwar festival is organized by the Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan. This festival recreates the old world charm and graceful dances of the desert.
Desert Festival :
The Desert festival in Rajasthan is the most popular festival that comes in the month of January in Jaisalmer town. The Desert festival is a journey into the heart of the Rajasthan desert, the golden city of Jaisalmer. The shows on the sands attracts everyone. There held many traditional programmes like folk dances, ballad singers, snake charmers and puppeteers, camel dances, camel acrobatics, camel races, and camel polo with decorated camels.
Teej Festival :
Teej festival is celebrated in the month of August which marks the arrival of monsoon. Many processions are done by womenfolk dressed in bright colors as Teej is a women’s festival where it is also the festival of swings beautifully decorated with flowers and are hung from trees. Teej festival is dedicated to the Goddess Parvati, commemorating her union with Lord Shiva.
Elephant Festival :
Elephant Festival will be held in Jaipur every year. During this festival, elephants are decorated with bright coloured cloth (jhool) and ornaments with heavy jewellary. This Elephant festival is celebrated one day before Holi. Decorated elephants participate in the processions moving with poise in pageant, play the regal game of polo and run races.