A Woman’s Love – Gangaur Festival, Rajasthan

There are a thousand tests of a woman’s love for her man.

One is the Gangaur festival – where out of love, a woman fasts for her husband and then carries the heavy dolls on her head as she walks to the lake for immersing them.

The demands on her spiritual strength and her physical strength are high.

And at the end of it she is happy that she has borne these hardships for her man.

There is a story about the Gods & Goddesses regarding this tradition. But to me the heroines are these women themselves and not the gods for whom they do it.

What the woman does is indeed beautiful.

There are many such instances in India that are feted and celebrated by the women – all shows of strength and will power – that go towards showing their love for her man such as Karua Chauth.

Sometimes the ritual in the tradition is beautiful but the concept itself is not. The concept is imbalanced – for nowhere do we see parallels from the men’s side for their women.

There must be a reason why there are such traditions wherein which only one half of the partnership does special things for the other – I just don’t know it yet.

See more photos of this festival here.

Today, March 22nd, 2015 it is Gangaur once again and will be celebrated with a lot of spirit in Rajasthan.

April 2015.