Festival · 2027

Gangaur 2027 — Friday, 9 April 2027

Gangaur is the spring festival of Gauri and Shiva, kept above all in Rajasthan, when women close eighteen days of worship that begin the morning after Holi.

In 2026

Saturday, 21 March 2026

Tithi: Shukla Tritiya: 21 Mar, 2:31 AM – 21 Mar, 11:56 PM
Lunar month: Chaitra
Sunrise / sunset: 6:24 AM / 6:32 PM

Rule: Chaitra Shukla Tritiya at sunrise.

In 2027

Friday, 9 April 2027

Tithi: Shukla Tritiya: 9 Apr, 3:10 AM – 10 Apr, 1:32 AM
Lunar month: Chaitra
Sunrise / sunset: 6:02 AM / 6:43 PM

Rule: Chaitra Shukla Tritiya at sunrise.

Times follow New Delhi’s sunrise and sunset. In other cities the muhurat shifts by some minutes, and occasionally the day by one. Full festival calendar

What is Gangaur?

Gangaur takes its name from Gan, a name of Shiva (often called Isar or Ishar in Rajasthan), and Gaur, Gauri or Parvati. It honours the divine couple and, above all, Gauri as the model of married devotion. The worship starts on the day after Holika Dahan, the first day of the dark half of Chaitra in the north, and runs for about eighteen days until Chaitra Shukla Tritiya, the day called Gangaur. Some families count sixteen days of the daily puja, since the number varies with local custom.

The story told with the festival is that of Parvati’s long penance to win Shiva as her husband, as it is told in the Puranas and in the songs of the season. In Rajasthani tradition, Gauri is also imagined returning to her parents’ home for these days, and on Gangaur she is sent back to her husband’s home with love and ceremony. That is why the festival mixes worship with the feeling of a daughter’s farewell, and why its songs speak of fathers, brothers and married life.

Unmarried girls take part to pray for a good husband, and married women for the long life and wellbeing of theirs. Each morning the women make or bring clay images of Isar and Gauri, water them with fresh grass and flowers, and sing Gangaur songs. Newly married women keep the full eighteen days in their parents’ home in many communities, and the first Gangaur after marriage is especially important.

Gangaur is also a public festival. In Jaipur a procession of the Gangaur image leaves the old city palace and moves through the bazaars, and in Udaipur the image is brought to Gangaur Ghat on Lake Pichola, with a boat procession in the evening. In many towns the festival continues on the following day as Budhi Gangaur. For all its colour, the heart of the day remains the women’s puja and the final farewell of Gauri at a well, a tank or a lake.

How it is observed

Starting the worship the morning after Holika Dahan, often with clay made from the ashes of the Holi fire or earth brought from outside the village.
Making or buying painted clay images of Isar and Gauri and worshipping them every morning with water, dub grass, flowers, kumkum and mehendi.
Singing traditional Gangaur songs, including the morning song in which the women ask Gauri to accept their offering.
On the day before Gangaur, the sindhara, when married daughters receive gifts, sweets and clothes from their parents’ home.
On Gangaur itself, a fast by the women, the final puja in new clothes and jewellery, and the farewell of the images at a well, tank or lake.
In Marwar, girls carrying the ghudlia, an earthen pot pierced with holes and lit from inside, from house to house in the evenings.
Watching or joining the public processions in Jaipur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Jodhpur and other towns.

How the date is fixed

Gangaur is kept on Chaitra Shukla Tritiya, the third lunar day of the bright half of Chaitra. Our calendar takes the day on which Tritiya is present at sunrise, following the common rule that a day belongs to the tithi in force when the Sun rises. The date and times above are worked out this way for your place. The eighteen days of worship are counted back to the morning after Holika Dahan, so the start of the puja is not a separate calculation; it simply begins after the Holi fire.

Where practice differs

Gangaur is above all a Rajasthani festival, and it is kept with equal warmth by Marwari families in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Assam and elsewhere. In the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh it has its own form, where the goddess is worshipped as Ranubai with Dhaniyar Raja and the songs are in the Nimadi language. In Jaipur the royal procession runs for two days, Gangaur and Budhi Gangaur, while in Udaipur the lake procession is part of the Mewar festival. The month is named Chaitra in both northern and southern reckoning here, since this is the bright half, but the start of the worship falls in the dark half that the north calls Chaitra and amanta calendars still count as Phalguna.

Dates and times are computed by our own engine (sunrise, tithi and kalas for New Delhi, Lahiri ayanamsa). In another city, or in an almanac of another tradition, the day can differ by one — follow your family’s tradition.

Questions people ask

Why is Gangaur celebrated?

Gangaur honours Gauri (Parvati) and Shiva. Unmarried girls pray for a good husband and married women for their husband’s long life and a happy marriage, remembering Parvati’s devotion. In Rajasthan it also marks Gauri’s farewell from her parents’ home after her spring visit.

How many days is Gangaur puja?

The worship begins on the morning after Holika Dahan and ends on Chaitra Shukla Tritiya, which usually makes about eighteen days. Some families speak of sixteen days of puja, depending on how they count and on local custom.

What is sindhara in Gangaur?

Sindhara is the day before Gangaur, when married women receive gifts from their parents’ home, such as clothes, bangles, mehendi and sweets. Women apply mehendi, dress up and prepare for the final day of the puja.

Is Gangaur only for women?

The worship is kept mainly by women and girls, and many songs are theirs alone. Men and whole families join the processions, the fairs and the celebrations, and in the royal processions of Jaipur and Udaipur the whole city comes out.