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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 20 Kms from 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 more...
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