Dhinga Gavar is a festival celebrated in

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Ki ...

, in Western

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. "Dhinga" literally means "fun by deception"; Gavar, also known as

Gangaur Gangaur ( hi, गणगौर, ISO 15919: ''Gaṇagaura'' ) is a festival celebrated in the Indian state of Rajasthan and Nimaar region (Barwani, Khargone, Khandwa etc.) of Madhya Pradesh. It is also celebrated in some parts of Gujarat and West ...

is the consort of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. The festival of

is celebrated throughout

, but that of Dhinga Gavar is celebrated only in

Folk Deity

Dhinga Gavar is a

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

, the humorous side of Shiva's consort

Time and Location

The festival of Ganguar starts from next day of the spring festival

Holi Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...

, which falls on the full-moon day of the month

Phagun Phaggaṇ ( pa, ਫੱਗਣ, ) is the twelfth and last month of the Nanakshahi calendar, which governs activities within Sikhism. This month coincides with Phalguna in the Hindu calendar and the Indian National calendar, and February and March o ...

of the

Hindu calendar The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a s ...

. Ganguar is worshipped mainly by newly-wed brides, unmarried girls, and married women. Every day, they dress in traditional ceremonial

costume and worship clay or wood statues of Isar (

) and his consort

(

Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...

), beseeching them for marital bliss. The festival ends on the following third day of no moon (amawas) of month

chaitra Chaitra (Hindi: चैत्र) is a month of the Hindu calendar. In the standard Hindu calendar and India's national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year. It is the last month in the Bengali calendar, where it is called Cho ...

. Thus the celebration lasts for sixteen days because of shortfall in tithi which is common in the lunar calendar. On this final day of the festival, a huge procession of well-decorated images of Ishar is taken through the main markets of cities; large crowds assemble in the streets to pray to them. On this day

Teej Teej ( ne, तीज, Tīja, translit-std=ISO) is the generic name for a number of Hindu festivals that are celebrated by women and girls. and welcome the monsoon season and are celebrated primarily by girls and women, with singing, dancing, ...

in Jodhpur, one image of Ganaur without Isar, known as Dhinga Gavar, is established at 11 important streets (''mohalla'') within the old fort wall of Jodhpur. It is worshipped by all women: married, unmarried, and widows.

Mythology

The legend is that

once teased his consort

by dressing up as a cobbler. In retaliation

also appeared as

Bhil Bhil or Bheel is an ethnic group in western India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. As of 2013, Bhils were the largest tribal group in India. Bhils are listed as tribal people of the s ...

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

women before

to tease and have some fun out of it.

Function

The function of Dhinga Gavar starts after sunset when the statues of Dhinga Gavar are put on a dais at 11 important location of old Jodhpur city. Each statue is decorated in typical Rajasthan costume with gold jewellery of 5 kg to 30 kg. The offerings to Dhinga Gavar are made of cannabis and dry fruits powder and is known as "moi". The women of whom mostly are from Pushkarna

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

families dress up in fancy dress costume as various

Hindu Gods Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. The terms and epithets for deities within the diverse traditions of Hinduism vary, and include Deva, Devi, Ishvara, Ishvari, Bhagavān and Bhagavati. The deities of Hinduism have evolved ...

and

Hindu Goddess Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conce ...

, police, saints, dacoit, tribal etc. and carry a stick in their hand. They patrol the narrow streets of Jodhpur city whole night protecting the statue of Dhinga Gavar. It is a popular belief that any unmarried man who comes near these women and is stricken by the stick gets married soon with a suitable girl. Stick is called baint in Hindi so this festival is also known as Baintmar Teej.

Teejania

The girls and women observing fast of Dhinga Gavar known as Teejania carrying sticks in their hands virtually rule the road on this night. Though enough police is deployed but little intervention is needed and crowd finds its own equilibrium of discipline. Boys to get a "lucky strike" go near girls and sometimes tease them to get beaten up by decorated sticks. This is the only festival which gives equal rights to all kinds of women. In this festival even a widow can take part.

References

{{commons category *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNlgxseDjdM *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c5MFLLQD8E Rajasthani culture