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Gangaur festival: Women pray for long life of husbands

          Jaipur (Rajasthan): The festival has begun in Jaipur when women pray for the long life of their husbands. The 16-day long festival emanates from the legend of Lord Shiva and Gauri, his consort. Legend has that Gauri, one of the incarnations of the Goddess Parvati, undertook intense meditation and penance to win Shiva over as her consort. The Gangaur festival symbolises the marital happiness achieved by Gauri. While married women evoke the blessings of Gauri and pray for the long life of their husbands, unmarried girls pray for a good husband. "Generally, newly married women pray to the Goddess Parvati for the long life of their husbands. It's the festival of Lord Shiva and Parvati. We worship the Goddess for 16 days, and then, a huge procession is taken out which marks its end," said Uma, a resident. A procession of folk artists singing and dancing to the tunes of traditional folk music marked the festivities on the concluding day. The Goddess Parvati is taken out on an ornate palanquin during the procession, which passes thorough the main thoroughfares of Jaipur. Caparisoned elephants bullock carts added colour and pageant, as women in their colourful traditional best walked along the procession. Scores of visitors, both domestic and foreign, joined the festivities. "It's extraordinary. It's a very fabulous event. It's incredible that we can see the procession with elephants, the traditions are alive in this city," said Jessica, a foreign tourist. The procession culminated with the immersion of images of the deity on the city's outskirts. The celebration also marks the onset of spring.
- March 22, 2007

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