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Elephant Festival, Jaipur
The Elephant Festival is an
inimitable event held annually in Jaipur. Groomed flawlessly, rows of elephants
do a catwalk before an enthralled audience liked best fashion models to make this
festival an amazing one.
The elephants move with poise in pageant, run
races, play the regal game of polo, and finally participate in the spring festival
of Holi.
It is festival time with elephants typically celebrated one day
before the Holi, Indian festival of colours.
 Staged
at Jaipur Chaugan Stadium elephants put up a variety programme and the arena is
brought alive with musician and dancer.
The crowd, which includes sizable
presences of foreign and Indian tourist, electrify the atmosphere.
The
festival starts with an impressive procession of the majestic animals lovingly
painted and tastefully attired with glittering ornaments and embroidered velvets.
There are deadly and fierce elephant fights.
A ceremonial procession is
recreated with caparisoned elephants, lancers on horses, chariots, camels, cannons,
and palanquins. Elephant is the centre of attraction in the many races and beauty
pageants.
Most of the participants are female elephants. The mahouts (elephant
keepers) take great care to decorate the elephants painting their trunks, foreheads,
and feet with floral motifs and adorning them from tusk to tail with interesting
trinkets.
Female elephants wear anklets with and make music as they walk.The
game of polo forms the highlight of the festival. Dressed in saffron and red turbans,
the teams try to score goals with long sticks and a plastic football.
Finally,
the tourists are invited to mount the elephants and play Holi. Participants dance
with great vigour and the excitement rising to a crescendo.
The Rajput
kings had extraordinary implication for elephants not only during war but also
during the royal festivities-a must at royal pageant. Nishan-ka-hathi, the flag
bearer, led the procession. The king always mounted a caparisoned elephant.
Special
hunting programs and elephant fights were organized to entertain the royal guests.
Jaipur was a favourite spot with the important personalities of the British Raj
and the Maharajas always arranged for their guests of honour elephant rides up
to the Amber palace. Even today, the mahouts take tourists up to the Amber Palace
on elephant back like shuttle taxis.
Rajasthan Tourism revitalized the
ritual by including the Elephant Festival in the cultural calendar. The present-day
pageant, originated only a decade ago, was worked out especially with the tourist
in mind.
The inclusion of the game of polo is more recent, being inspired
by a cartoon in Punch magazine that showed the Indian polo team atop an elephant
after it won all the international tournaments. Every year on Holi, the old stadium
at Jaipur, the Chaugan (originally planned for elephants), makes the setting for
a stunning fete.
Elephant Festival, Jaipur, Fairs & Festivals in Rajasthan Reservation Form
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