Vertigo View At Varanasi Lolark Kund (243970515)

Lolark Shasthi is a festival celebrated near the

Tulsi Ghat Tulsi Ghat is one of the ghats in Varanasi. It is named after poet Tulsidas who lived there while he wrote the Ramcharitmanas and Hanuman Chalisa. Earlier, Tulsi Ghat was known as Lolark Ghat. It was in the year 1941 that Tulsi Ghat was made p ...

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

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 ...

. It falls during the monsoon season, on the sixth day of the bright half of the month of Bhadrapada (usually in September).

Observances

Dedicated to Surya, the Sun God, Varanasi will witness the holy dip taken by thousands of female devotees in the ancient

stepwell Stepwells (also known as vavs or baori) are wells or ponds with a long corridor of steps that descend to the water level. Stepwells played a significant role in defining subterranean architecture in western India from 7th to 19th century. So ...

pond of Lolark Kund (a sacred water body) and mark the festival of Lolarak. Couples from Varanasi and its neighbouring villages will perform religious rituals and pray to Lord Lolark Aditya that they be blessed with a child. Devotees will leave their clothes and a fruit or a vegetable (from which they pledge to abstain thereafter) in the kund after taking a holy dip in the Lolark kund. Many do so with hopes for a male child/heir or offspring. As thousands come to bathe in the holy waters of the Lolark kund at sun rise, a makeshift colourful bazaar mushrooms around the kund. Families cook

puris Puri (sometimes spelled as poori) is a deep-fried bread made from unleavened whole-wheat flour that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It is eaten for breakfast or as a snack or light meal. It is usually served with a savory curry or ''b ...

on open camp fires all around the ancient kund. Steps lead down to the Kund from three sides. On the fourth side, the kund takes the shape of an enlonged, arched well, pointing into the direction of the rising sun (Ganges). Some devotees also throw considerable amounts of gold jewellery into the pond, which may later be harvested and distributed amongst the

Mahant Mahant () is a religious superior, in particular the chief of a temple or the head of a monastery in Indian religions. James Mallinson, one of the few westerners to be named as a mahant, describes the position of a mahant as a combination of a ...

and

Brahmins 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 ...

in order to finance the event and its clean-up afterwards.

References

Hindu festivals Religious festivals in India Culture of Varanasi {{Hinduism-stub

Observances

See also

References