Gana Gour Festival of Madhya Pradesh
Name of Festival : Gana Gour Festival
Time of celebration (Month)
Gana-Gour twice a year.Once in the month of Bhadra (Auguest – September ) and the other in the month of Chaitra (March – Apirl).
Major Territory of Celebration
Gana Gour Festival is celebrated in the Madhya Pradesh state of India.
Worship in Festival
This festival is celebrated in honour of Shiva and Parvati. ‘Gana’ means Shiva and ‘Gour’ means Parvati or Rano Bai.
About Festival
Rano Bai’s parental house was in Malwa and she was married in Rajasthan.She could come home only once a year. This coming back is celebrated by these people here. On this day people made the small idols of the Gour and worship her along with her husband.
Malwa womenfolk observe Gana-Gour twice a year.Once in the month of Bhadra (Auguest – September ) and the other in the month of Chaitra (March – Apirl). But Chaitra Gana Gour is important. On the Gana-Gour day girls go to the riverside singing traditional songs, and return home with jars full of water and green leaves.This event is called Phul-Pati which means flowers and leaves.
This festival is includes offering of grown wheat or blades of rice to the idols by married women. They prayer blossoming of married life.In the festival night women dance the Karna At the end of it ,sugar-bubbles, (batasha) are distributed among the gathering by the host.
Last day of the festival, the idols are led out in procession to bid ceremonial farewell at river-banks or tanks. The Gana-Gour of the Dhakars are taken out in procession with the beating of drums and the playing of musical instruments.
