Thread by @vselenophile

Gangaur: Festival of love.
"Gana" is another word for Bhagwan Shiva, and "Gauri" is manifestation of Devi Parvati. Gangaur signifies Bhagwan Shiva and Devi Parvati togetherness #Thread @LostTemple7

Gangaur festival begins on the first day of Chaitra, the day following Holi and continues for 16-18 days.

The first tradition of Gangaur is collecting ashes from the Holy fire in earthen pots (Kunda) and sowing seeds of wheat and barley in them.

Inspired by Extreme devotion and dedication shown by Devi Gauri to win Bhagwan Shiva’s love we all worship Devi gauri and Bhagwan shiva a divine couple.

After seven days women make colorful idols of Gauri and Isar (Shiva and Parvati) while enchanting Rajasthani folk songs.
Here what I made once, #divine

In some families idols are preserved for years and on auspicious occasions, they are decorated and painted.

Bindora is taken out by the unmarried girls with a diya placed inside an earthen pot called Ghudlia with dhol on the evening of the seventh day.
To take out bindora with dhol, and friends used to join them. What an occasion of celebration.

While roaming around they were blessed with small gifts like sweets, Jaggery, little currency, ghee or oil, clothes, and Jewellery. These days’ women put up their best by dressing up, putting on jewelry, adorning their hands with Heena and also decorating their idols for puja

This continues for the rest of the days and on 3rd day of Shukla paksha of Chaitra Month the last day of the festival earthen pots are broken.

For all 16-18 days, newlywed women keep fast for the whole day while other women keep fast by eating a single time in a day.

Sinjara, on last second day, is sent by the parents of married women it consists of sweets, clothes, jewelry, and other decorative items for their daughters.

In the last three days, the festive vibe reaches the peak.
"Guna" or "fal" is made for Gangaur Puja.Celebrated widely in Rajasthan, some part of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal. Cultural activities like Rajasthani dance and Gangaur Melas are held throughout the 18-day period

In Udaipur, a boat procession takes place on Lake Pichola along with fireworks. Women try to balance brass pitchers on their heads, which is another attraction of this fiesta.

In Jaipur, the traditional parade starts out, is main attraction.Old palanquins, chariots, elephants, bullock carts, and folk performances make this procession all the more grand.

In the afternoon, a procession is taken out to a garden, bawdi or johad or well with the images of Isar and Gauri placed on the heads of women.
Songs are sung about the departure of Gauri to her husband's house. The procession comes back after offering water to the first two days

On the final day, all images in the waters of a tank or a well. The women bid farewell (Bidai) to Gauri and turn their eyes and the Gangaur festival comes to an end.The festival ends on the third day of Shukla Paksha.

At a time when traditional festivals are gradually losing their lustre with an amalgamation of western culture, celebrating festivals like these at the community level brings the younger generation together and makes them understand the essence of our culture.