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Fairs
Gopal-Mochan Fair
In Ambala, the most famous fair is held at Gopal-Mochan near Bilaspur
in Jagadhari tehsil. There is a sacred tank of the same name in
the place. The legend is that once Lord Shiva while rescuing Saraswati,
who was being pursued by Brahma, struck off the latter's head. A lock
of hair was left in Shiva's hand and his body was blackened. For a long
time Shiva was unable to cleanse himself. One night, when he was resting
at a cow shed he overheard the conversation between a cow and her calf.
The calf said he was going to kill his master, a Brahmin, to avoid being
castrated. The cow tried to dissuade the calf from the sin, but the calf
said, it knew of a tank where it could cleanse itself from the sin of
killing a Brahmin. Shiva
followed the calf the next day and saw it kill its master. The bodies
of the cow and the calf where then blackened until they cleansed themselves
by bathing in Gopal Mochan tank. Shiva followed their example and was
like wise cleansed. Since then the water of Gopal-Mochan have retained
their virtue. It is considered by many to be more efficacious than the
waters of the Ganges at Hardwar. The Rin Mochan is another water tank
situated close to the Gopal-Mochan. A big fair is held in the village
in the month of Kartik.
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Masani Fair
Haryana's most famous fair is held in honour of the goddess of small-pox,
Masani whose temple is in Gurgaon village. There is a legend about this
temple.
There was a shrine, sacred to the goddess Devi, locally
known as Masani at the village of Kesopur in the Delhi district. Some
two hundred and fifty years ago according to tradition, the Goddess appeared
in a dream to one Singha, a Jat of some influence and a resident at the
village of Gurgaon. The Devi communicated to Singha that she wished
to leave Kesopur and directed him to construct a shrine for her in his
village. At the same time, she authorised the fortunate Singha to appropriate
all the offerings at her shrine. The orders of the goddess were promptly
carried out. The shrine was built and flourished, its fame spreading far
and wide .
A visit to the shrine is an antidote for small-pox and
women from great distances flock to it with their children to obtain this
benefit. The greatest crowd is in April-May but all the year around steady
stream of people flows, Monday being the favourite day. Singha and his
heirs enjoyed the offerings for two hundred years.
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Basdoda Fair
At the village of Basdoda in Rewari tehsil there is an ancient temple
of Bhaironji. A fair is held on Chatsudi 11th, and the two following days.
For this, people come from as far as Delhi and Agra.
Melas
Mela Devi is held at Beri in Jhajjar of Rohtak district, twice a year.
According to a Legend, the image of goddess Bhumeshwari Devi was brought
from the hills and installed at Beri. Newly married couples blessed with
a son come here to pay homage. Mela Baba Mast Nath is held in February-march
each year at the Samadhi of the saint at Bohar near Rohtak. It is also
held at Khera Sadh and the people worship both at the Samadhi and the
temple. Sat kumbh fair is a religious celebration and is held at Kheri
Gujar (Sonepat) twice a year.
At the village of Khori-Shah-Choka in the Firozpur-Jherka
tehsil of the Gurgaon. Meos gather in large numbers on the 5th
to 7th Jama-di-Ul-awal, the object of their pilgrimage being
the tomb of Saint Shah Choka. Hindus also attend the Mela. This fair used
to be a great occasion for elopements.
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Surajkund Crafts Mela
Surajkund is a village which lies 8 Kms from South +Delhi between the
villages of Baharpur and Lakkarpur. It is famous for the crafts fair
held between the 1st and 15th February every year. The mela brings
together crafts persons from all over India like potters, embroiderers,
weavers, wood carvers, metal workers, stone smiths, painters etc. For
entertainment there will be performances by folk dancers, musicians, acrobats
and magicians. Click
here to know more...
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