The Chitra Vichitra Fair is an annual

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

fair held in northern

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The fair is an event for families who have lost a member in the past year to mourn the departed, accompanied by festivities and

matchmaking Matchmaking is the process of pairing two or more people together, usually for the purpose of marriage, in which case the intermediary or matchmaker is also known as a marriage broker. Matchmaking may be done as a profession for a fee or it may ...

. The fair attracts around 60,000 visitors, primarily tribal populations from surrounding villages in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The fair is held in Gunbhankhari village of poshina taluka,

Sabarkantha District Sabarkantha district is one of the 33 districts of Gujarat state of India, located in the Northeast India, northeastern part of the state. The administrative headquarters of the district are located in Himatnagar and the National Highway no. 48 pa ...

, near the Gujarat-Rajasthan border. The site of the fair is on the banks of the Wakal River, and the location is considered sacred because of the confluence of three rivers in the area - Sabarmati, Wakal, and aakal The fair is held over the two days abutting the first eve of the new moon (

Amavasya Amāvásyā () is the lunar phase of the new moon in Sanskrit. Indian calendars use 30 lunar phases, called tithi in India. The dark moon tithi is when the Moon is within 12 degrees of the angular distance between the Sun and Moon before conj ...

) following the festival of

Holi Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...

, which typically falls in March or April in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

. The fair commences on the eve of the new moon, when families submerge ashes of their departed family members in the river, and mourn their death through the night. The next day, a fair takes place at the location.

References

External links

Gujarat Tourism
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503154519/https://www.gujarattourism.com/fairs-festivals/major-festivals/chitra-vichitra-fair , date=3 May 2019
Vichitra Tribal Fair Of Gujarat Part 1 - A Journey from Moksha to Maya
Festivals in Gujarat Fairs in India