Dhinga Gavar is a festival celebrated in

Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...

, in Western

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

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 ...

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

Gangaur Gangaur (, ) is a Hindu festival celebrated in the Indian states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Fazilka District of Punjab, the regions of Malwa, Nimar ( Manawar, Barwani, Khargone, Khandwa) of Madhya Pradesh and the Braj and Bundelkhand regions o ...

is the consort of

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

. 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 horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

, the humorous side of Shiva's consort

Time and Location

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

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 falls on the full-moon day of the month Phagun of the

Hindu calendar The Hindu calendar, also called Panchangam, Panchanga (), 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 ...

. 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 (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, pɑɾʋət̪iː/), also known as Uma (, , IPA: Sanskrit phonology, /ʊmɑː/) and Gauri (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, gə͡ʊɾiː/), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the Devi, ...

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

chaitra Chaitra () 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 Choitro. Chaitra or Cha ...

. 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 Tīja, , literally meaning "third"—denoting the third day after the new moon when the monsoon begins as per the Hindu calendar—is a collective term for three Hindu List of Hindu festivals, festivals primarily dedicated to the mother goddess ...

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 refer to the various Indigenous peoples, indigenous groups inhabiting western India, including parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and are also found in distant places such as Bengal and Tripura. Though they now speak the Bhili ...

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 ...

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 (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

families dress up in fancy dress costume as various

Hindu Gods Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. Deities in Hinduism are as diverse as its traditions, and a Hindu can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, even agnostic, atheistic, or humanist.Julius J. Lipne ...

and

Hindu Goddess Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. Deities in Hinduism are as diverse as its traditions, and a Hindu can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, even agnostic, atheistic, or humanist. Julius J. Lip ...

, 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 pretends to give equal rights to all kinds of women. In this festival even a widow can take part.

References

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