| Festivals
Festivals in Gujarat symbolise people's cultural, social
and religious aspirations. They help people to live a fuller and better life, remove monotony and provide healthy recreation. They promote
unity, fellow-feeling, self-discipline and austerity.
Navarathri is the most colourful festival of Gujarat.
The entire period between June and October,
when most of the countryside is engaged in agriculture, the festivals
celebrated are mostly days of austerity, penance and fasting. The period includes
the Gauri Puja, the Janmashtami, the Nag Panchami the Paryushan and the
Ganesha Chaturthi. Many of Gujarat's festivals are mostly celebrated
by women. Gauri puja is observed by young,
unmarried girls, who fast and pray for getting 'suitable husbands'. The
Savitri Vrata is observed by married women. They worship the banyan
tree and offer thanks for their happy married life. Gujarat also celebrates festivals like
Ramnavami, Sivaratri and Mahavir Jayanyti.
Muslims in Gujarat celebrate their festivals, such as the
Moharrum, the prophet's day and the Id days. Similarly Parsis celebrate
their new year day Pateti. Christmas, New year and Easter
are observed by the Christians.
Navaratri
The festival of nine nights in October, preceding the Dussera
is
a special feature of Gujarat when people assemble in village squares and temple compounds and sing and
dance till the wee hours in the morning. They worship the mother goddess
and her numerous manifestations during the festival. The festival
ends on the Dussera day, when artisans worship their instruments, agriculturists
their ploughs, warriors their weapons and students their books. The Navaratri
festival is closely followed by the Sharad Purnima, the full moon night
in the Asvina month, when under the moon light people partake of prasad
rice and milk. The people of Surat make merry on the Tapi bank.
Gujarat has two temples dedicated to two most popular
mother goddesses of Gujarat, Amba Mata and Becharji Mata. On Kartika and
Chaitra Purnima days and during the Navaratri days, people visit
these temples and enjoy Gujarati's typical folk drama, the Bhavai.
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Diwali
 Asvina
is a month which marks the end of the harvesting season. This month ends
with the festival of lights Diwali, which is a four-day festival. The first day of the festival
starts with the Lakshmi Puja. The second day is considered as the day of
casting off evils. The third day is the main Diwali day. On this day
every home is illuminated with earthen lamps and the courtyards
decorated with Rangoli designs. The fourth and the last day is
the New year day for the Gujarati's when people visit temples in colourful
costumes and greet each other. The day following the new year day is called
the Bhai bij day when brothers are invited by their sisters to partake
of sweets with them.
The full moon day of the Kartika month, with its preceding
eleventh (ekadashi) day is called the Dev-Diwali. On these days the
marriage of the Tulsi plant with the Shaligram, symbolising Lord Vishnu,
is celebrated in every Hindu home in Gujarat. It also marks the termination
of the Chaturmans (fast), observed for the four months of rainy season, during
which Hindus, mostly ladies, miss a meal on every Ekadashi day and the
ascetics do not move about.
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Holi
Like the Diwali, the spring festival of Holi on the
full moon day in the month of Phalguna has a universal appeal. While
Diwali marks the end of the monsoon and therefore the agricultural season
of the Kharif crop, Holi marks the agricultural season of the Rabi
crop. The next day after Holi is celebrated as Dhuleti (Dhuli Padvo) when
people throw colour powder at each other and make merry.
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International
Kite Festival
Kite Festival, a national festival for Gujarat is observed
on the 14th of January, the day when the sun enters the tropic of cancer.
On this day young boys and girls and even old people, are on their
house tops flying kites. Now the festival,
held at Ahmedabad
attracts the connoisseurs of kites from all corners of the world and is
known as International Kite Festival. Started in the year 1989, it coincides with the festival
of Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti. The change in the direction of winds
on Makar Sankranti is marked by thousands of colourful kites of all patterns
and dimensions which dot the blue sky. The festival lures expert kite-makers
and fliers not only from major cities of India but also from around the
world. Know
more...
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Janmashtami
Janmasthami, the Birthday of Lord Krishna, is celebrated
on the twenty-third day in the month of Shravan as per Hindu calender
(August/September). It is celebrated with great fervor at Jagat Mandir
in Dwaraka. The idol of Krishna as an infant is worshipped, bhajans are
sung all over the state. A fair is held on this day at Jamnagar.
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Balev
and Raksha Bandhan
No festival except the Balev, when Brahmins change their sacred threads,
is exclusive to any particular community or section. The same day
sisters tie Rakhi on their brother's wrist wishing them a
happy life. The day is also celebrated as Nariyeli Poonam in the coastal
areas of the State, where people worship the sea offering coconuts.
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Saptak Music
Festival
A festival of Indian classical music usually conducted
on the First week of January in Ahmedabad every year. This festival was
inaugurated by Pt. Ravi Shankar in 1980. The musical event is organised
by a public charitable trust which runs the Saptak School of Music. This
festival which spans the first 11 days of January, showcases the best
talents and presents as many as a hundred plus musicians with sincere
commitment to standards. Know
more...
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Modhera Dance
Festival
The sun temple at Modhera in Mehsana district (102 km
from Ahmedabad, capital city of Gujarat), in north Gujarat, built during
the reign of the Solanki king Bhimdev I, represents one of the most magnificent
monuments of Gujarat. The temple, though in ruins, is considered one of
the best specimens of Indian art and architecture of the by gone era.
The temple dedicated to Lord Surya, the sun god has its outer walls covered
with sculptures in which the figures of Lord Surya are prominent. Know
more...
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