At the arrival of the spring season, the city of Udaipur gears up for its annual Mewar festival which is celebrated with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm. Since Udaipur has been the governing city of the Mewar rulers, the festival holds importance among the locals. The city gets decorated at its best and the local shops and markets are seen beautifying their facade with impressive lightings and colours. Women are also decked up in their finest attires flaunting traditional jewellery and mehendi on their palms and feet. As a part of the tradition they all gather to dress up the idols of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. After which a procession takes place in which the women carry idols on their heads and pass through different parts of the city. The procession comes to its final halt near Lake Pichola and the idols are transported into special boats which then get immersed in the middle of the lake. Witnessing these series of traditional rituals is truly a sight to behold. After the completion of these rituals cultural activities begin with full excitement. It is enriching to watch locals perform dance and dramas, along with some fine performances by the singers and musicians. While all the locals and tourists enjoy every bit of the festival for all the three days, the Mewar Festival gets a royal closure by displaying colourful fireworks in the sky.
Dates of the festival: Mewar Festival is celebrated for three days in the month of April
Special highlights of the festival:
- Mewar Festival is considered as the second World living Heritage festival of India.
- Married women pray for marital bliss and good health of their partner while the unmarried ones pray for an ideal match.
- The traditional sweet named Ghevar is prepared as an offering to the Lord and then gets distributed among each other as Prasad.
- Professional chefs display an array of colourful presentation of food and beverages in Mewar style.
- Colourful rangolis are made which display the various aspects of Mewar region.