Of the innumerable festivals that mark the advent of spring, none is more colorful than the Mewar festival celebrated in Udaipur. The festival, coinciding with Gangaur Festival, immerses the whole city in vibrant colors with the facades of the local market bedecked with bright lights and decorations. Preparation for the festival begins months before the actual festival,with the entire city buzzing with activity as the festival draws near. As the date of the Mewar festival in Udaipur etches closer, locals, tourists and performing artists start pouring into the city, creating a spectacular ambience of mesmerizing decorations which is further augmented by the bright colored traditional wear that locals wear.

The Mewar festival, held every year in the month of March-April, can be split into distinct but integral parts i.e. Religious and Cultural.

The Religious part

The festival coincides with Gangaur festival which holds a special significance for womenfolk, the celebrations for which begin at least a fortnight ago. Gangaur begins from the next day of Holi and starts with gathering of ashes from the Holi fire. Barley seeds are buried in the collected ashes and are watered every day until the seeds germinate. Newly married women are required to observe fast for 18 days to ensure a happy married life. Many unmarried girls also observe fast for 18 days, eating just one meal a day. While the married women pray for marital bliss and good health of their partner, the single ones pray for a match of their choice.On the day of the Gangaur, women dressed in their finest clothes gather to dress the images of Isar (Lord Shiva) and his consort Gangaur (Goddess Parvarti). These idols are then carried in a huge procession which begins from the clock tower and ends at Gangaur Ghat at Lake Pichola. Here, the idols are transferred onto boats. This makes for a beautiful sight to behold, as hundreds of boats carrying the idols sail gently in the lake.

The cultural part

The procession is followed by a number of cultural events, including presentation of dance forms such as Ghoomar and Kalbeliya. The traditional songs sung by the local bards welcome the tourists and continue to enthrall them during the festival. The 3-day long Mewar festival is brought to an end with an impressive display of fireworks.

What’s unique about the Mewar Festival in Udaipur is the sense of legacy that’s associated with it. The ceremonies and the rituals associated with the Royal House of Mewar have been passed on unbroken for the past seven and a half decades, and still take place with the same grandeur and pomp as they did 75 years ago. If anything, the rituals and ceremonies have only evolved to become more radiant and full of life.