Gangaur festival in India: 07-04-2008
The Gangaur festival is one of India's most memorable and important cultural events and it takes place from April 8th to 9th every year.
Held each spring in honour of Gauri, the festival is a celebration of purity and unmarried girls.
Colourful processions and noisy celebrations are to be expected in the event which is celebrated across Rajasthan.
The Rajasthan tourist board described the procession: "The procession is headed by a colourful pageantry of elephants, old palanquins, chariots, bullock carts and folk performance artists."
Regions across India are decked out in colourful attire for the event with pictures of Gauri often displayed in the areas.
Travellers will learn that Gauri was an unmarried goddess until she was joined with Lord Shiva when she was forced to undergo extreme penances and purification.
Women attending the event pray for the good health and long life of their husbands and in Rajasthan the idol of Gauri is submerged in a pond on the final day of the festival.
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