Over 3,000 Women Join Gangaur Mahotsav by Marwari Sammelan Sakchi Branch

Collective Gangaur Visarjan Held at Subarnarekha River in Mango amid Festive Celebrations

Key Points:

• Marwari Sammelan Sakchi branch organises Gangaur Mahotsav at Mango’s Subarnarekha river
• Over 3,000 women attend in traditional Rajasthani attire for collective visarjan
• 300 daughters and daughters-in-law of the branch honoured with gifts

JAMSHEDPUR — The Marwari Sammelan Sakchi branch organised the Gangaur Mahotsav at the Subarnarekha river in Mango on Saturday, with more than 3,000 women attending in traditional Rajasthani dress to perform the collective immersion of Gangaur and Jawara idols.

Gangaur is one of the most significant folk festivals of the Marwari community. It is observed on the third day of the Shukla Paksha of Chaitra month, which also coincides with the third day of Navratri. On this occasion, unmarried girls and married women observe a fast. They worship Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva together.

The word Gangaur is derived from two words — Gan, meaning Lord Shiva, and Gaur, meaning Goddess Parvati. The festival is regarded as an occasion for married women to pray for the long life and wellbeing of their husbands. It is also observed as a festival of unbroken marital bliss.

According to tradition, the festival begins on the day after Holi and continues for 16 days. One of its first and most important rituals involves collecting ash from sacred fire in earthen pots and sowing seeds of wheat and barley in them. After seven days, women prepare colourful idols of Gauri and Isar while singing Rajasthani folk songs. The festival concludes with the immersion of these idols.

Marwari Sammelan President Bajrang Lal Aggarwal said that Gangaur is among the foremost folk festivals of the Marwari community. General Secretary Bablu Aggarwal said that women of the Sammelan attended the collective visarjan programme dressed in traditional Rajasthani attire. Treasurer Sunny Sanghi said that women from various parts of the city came together for the immersion of their Gangaur and Jawara idols in the water.

Participants danced, sang, and offered prayers with great joy and enthusiasm during the visarjan ceremony. They also applied abeer and gulal on each other in celebration. The Sakchi branch arranged chilled water, sharbat, and chaat for the attendees.

In addition, 300 daughters and daughters-in-law of the branch were felicitated with gifts by the organisation on the occasion.

The event was organised with the active participation of Bajrang Lal Aggarwal, Bablu Aggarwal Mini, Sunny Sanghi, Abhishek Aggarwal Goldy, Om Prakash Ringsiya, Vijay Anand Munka, Santosh Aggarwal, Arun Bakarelwal, Lalchand Aggarwal, Deepak Pareek, Anshul Ringsiya, Ramesh Munka, Ashok Gupta, Nirmal Patwari, Deepak Chetani, Sanwarmal Aggarwal, Sitaram Debuka, Kamal Aggarwal, Punit Kawantia, Bajrang Aggarwal, Rahul Chaudhary, Rohit Aggarwal, Kushal Ganediwal, Vikas Kauntia, and Manoj Aggarwal, among thousands of community members.