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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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