Festival · Gauri and Isar (Parvati and Shiva)

Gangaur

Gauri’s great festival of Rajasthan. From the day after Holi, for sixteen or eighteen days, women and girls worship clay images of Gauri and Isar, Lord Shiva. On this bright Tritiya of Chaitra the images are carried in procession and given to the water.

Gangaur 2027
Friday 9 April 2027
New Delhi

For New Delhi, Friday 9 April 2027

Shukla Tritiya tithi

Begins
3:11 am
Ends
1:32 am, 10 Apr
Sunrise
6:03 am
Sunset
6:43 pm
Moonrise
7:13 am
Moonset
9:18 pm

Worked out for your city. Panchangs can differ by a minute or so.

Full panchang for this day →

How it is kept

Customs vary by region and family

  • Worship Gauri and Isar with water, flowers and doob grass
  • Carry the images in procession to a lake or well
  • Sing Gauri’s songs of farewell and share ghevar
Parvati, Gauri and her vrats →

What it remembers

Gangaur is the great festival of Gauri in Rajasthan. From the day after Holi, women and girls worship clay images of Gauri and of Isar, as Lord Shiva is called here, for sixteen or eighteen days, by different counts. It ends on the third day of the bright half of Chaitra, when the images are dressed, carried in procession and given to the water. The name joins Gan, for Shiva, and Gaur, for Gauri.

Gauri at her parents’ home

After Holi, it is told, Gauri comes to stay at her parents’ home, as a married daughter does. The women of the house keep her and worship her through the days of the festival. Then Isar comes to take her back to his home. Her going is kept like a daughter’s farewell: the songs of the last day are songs of parting.

The linga of sand

Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati and the sage Narada once came down to earth on the bright Tritiya of Chaitra. Parvati went to the river, made a linga of sand on its bank and worshipped Shiva there. Pleased, he promised that the women who worship the two of them on this day will have a long and happy married life.

Why girls keep it too

Gauri won Lord Shiva by her devotion, so the festival is kept by the unmarried and the married alike. Girls pray for a good husband. Married women pray for their husbands’ long life and health. A new bride keeps every day of it in her first year.

Keeping Gangaur

The worship runs from the day after Holi to the bright Tritiya of Chaitra, at home or with the women of the lane. Many women eat only one meal a day until it ends. Families keep it in many ways; follow your own tradition where it differs.

  1. The day after Holi, gather a little ash from the Holika fire, sow wheat and barley in it in earthen pots, and water them each day.
  2. Make, or bring home, images of Gauri and Isar of clay or wood, and dress them.
  3. Each morning, worship them with water, flowers and doob grass, singing the Gangaur songs.
  4. Put mehendi on your hands and feet through the days of the festival.
  5. From the seventh evening, girls carry the ghudlia, an earthen pot full of holes with a lamp inside, round the neighbourhood, singing for small gifts of sweets, jaggery and ghee.
  6. On the last days, dress the images in new clothes and carry them on your head to a lake, well or garden, singing the songs of farewell.
  7. Offer water, and give the images to the water on the last day. Share ghevar and sweets.

What you need

  • Images of Gauri and Isar, of clay or wood
  • Earthen pots with sprouting wheat and barley
  • Water, flowers and doob grass
  • Mehendi
  • New clothes for the images
  • Ghevar and sweets

Across India

Jaipur

On the last days the royal image of Gauri leaves the Zanani Deodhi of the City Palace and passes through Tripolia Bazaar, Chhoti Chaupar, Gangauri Bazaar and the Chaugan to Talkatora, with elephants, palanquins and folk dancers. Ghevar fills the sweet shops of the old city.

Udaipur

Images of Isar and Gauri are carried from the City Palace and across the city to Gangaur Ghat on Lake Pichola, where boats set out on the water. The Mewar Festival is held over the same days.

Across Rajasthan

In homes and lanes everywhere, women worship the two images through the days after Holi, girls carry the lit ghudlia pots in the evenings, and married daughters receive sinjara, gifts of clothes, jewellery and sweets from their parents.

Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana

Gangaur is also kept in the Malwa and Nimar regions of Madhya Pradesh, in Haryana, and in parts of Gujarat, each with its own songs and customs.

When it falls

Shukla Tritiya of Chaitra. Kept on the day this tithi holds at sunrise.

These are the usual rules. A few days can differ by a day in your tradition, so check with your temple.

Gangaur in the coming years

New Delhi, India time

  1. 2027Friday 9 April 2027
  2. 2028Wednesday 29 March 2028

Questions

When is Gangaur in 2027?

Friday 9 April 2027, in New Delhi. In a few places it can fall a day apart, so the date above is worked out for your city.

When does Gangaur fall?

Shukla Tritiya of Chaitra. Kept on the day this tithi holds at sunrise.

How is Gangaur kept?

Families worship Gauri and Isar with water, flowers and doob grass, carry the images in procession to a lake or well and sing Gauri’s songs of farewell and share ghevar. Customs vary by region and family.

Who is honoured on Gangaur?

Gauri and Isar (Parvati and Shiva). Gauri’s great festival of Rajasthan. From the day after Holi, for sixteen or eighteen days, women and girls worship clay images of Gauri and Isar, Lord Shiva. On this bright Tritiya of Chaitra the images are carried in procession and given to the water.

What is Gangaur?

The festival of Gauri, Goddess Parvati, kept above all in Rajasthan. Women and girls worship clay images of Gauri and Isar, Lord Shiva, from the day after Holi to the bright Tritiya of Chaitra, in March or April, and on the last days carry them in procession to the water.

Is Gangaur 16 days or 18 days?

Both counts are given. Some count sixteen days of worship after Holi; others count eighteen, from Chaitra Krishna Pratipada, the day after Holi, to the bright Tritiya. Families follow their own count, and a new bride keeps every day of it.

Who keeps Gangaur?

Women and girls. Unmarried girls pray to Gauri for a good husband; married women pray for their husbands’ long life and health. A bride keeps the whole festival in the first year of her marriage.

What is the ghudlia?

An earthen pot pierced with many holes, with a lamp lit inside. From the seventh evening after Holi, girls carry it on their heads round the neighbourhood, singing, and are given small gifts of sweets, jaggery, ghee or oil. At the end of the festival the pots are broken.

Who is Isar in Gangaur?

Isar is the name Lord Shiva is known by in Gangaur. Gauri and Isar are worshipped together as husband and wife, and the festival’s name joins Gan, for Shiva, and Gaur, for Gauri.

Why are the images given to the water?

Because Gauri is going home. In the story, she stays at her parents’ house after Holi until Isar comes to take her back, and the last day is her farewell. The women carry the images to a lake or well, sing her songs of parting and give them to the water.

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