Elephant Festival

Celebrated in March, this annual festival of Jaipur is unique in its concept. A number of beautifully bejeweled and bedecked elephants march gloriously in a grand procession that savors of royal tastes and participate in several competitions and events at the time of Holi. The giant pets run races and play polo at Chaugan in Jaipur, the venue of the Elephant Festival, with their long trunks during the festival. There are dancers, musicians and a large number of onlookers who come there to witness this majestic event. The painted elephants covered with richly embroidered velvets look grand and cute at the same time. The procession is accompanies by booming sound of trumpets and besides the elephants, there are lancers on horses, chariots, camels, cannons and palanquins lending their own grandeur to it. There are beauty pageants for the elephants in which mostly female elephants participate and are groomed industriously by their 'mahouts' (elephant keepers) for that very purpose.

Most of the participants in the Elephant Festival in Jaipur are the female elephants. The mahouts or the elephant keepers take utmost care and great enthusiasm in decoration and grooming of the elephants, as there are prizes for the Best Groomed elephant as well. The elephants are painted on foreheads, trunks, foreheads and feet with floral motifs and adorned with ornaments and jewelry from tusk to tail.

Activities:
A festival where elephants are the centre of attraction. The festival begins with a procession of elephants, camels and horses, followed by lively folk dancers. Elephant races, elephant-polo matches and a most interesting tug of war between elephants and men, are all part of this spectacular event.

Kite Festival Jaipur

Makar Sahnkranti celebrated on 14th January every year is a day of kite flying at Jaipur. People fly kites with riotous celebration. Every kite cut loose is an even accompanied by shouts of 'Woh Kata!' and sky seems nothing more than a big collage of colorful kites in all shapes and designs. In Jaipur, the Desert Kite Festival is held in every five years where expert kite makers flaunt their kites, which are sometimes huge in sizes and often carry social messages or even caricatures of famous personalities. Open to all, tourists can also participate in various kite-flying competitions.

Activities:
The three-day festival starts with an inauguration at the Polo Ground, which is the venue for some serious kite flying and fighting for the three days of the festival. The festival includes two kinds of celebrations. A massive extravaganza follows, with Air Force helicopters releasing kites from the sky, and hundreds of schoolchildren releasing balloons. Kites that look like wasps, exquisite stained glass windows, graceful mythical birds soar in the sky and the sky shimmers with magic.

Teej Festival

A festival especially for women, it is said that Teej commemorated the day when Goddess Parvati finally got married to Lord Shiva after severe penance of hundred years. Thus, women pray to Goddess for her blessings to gain marital bliss and long lives of their husbands. Women dress in all finery. Lehariya dresses are quite popular on this day and 'Ghewar' is the popular dessert of the day. Girls going to get married receive 'shrinjhara' from her in-laws on this day that consists of shringar (cosmetics), henna, lac bangles, lehariya saris (tie and dye fabric) and a sweet called ghewar. The women of the royalty can be distinguished by the special variety of laheria that they wear, known as 'Sanander', which is a pastel shade of blue.

Held during the monsoons, July-August Teej is also dedicated to Lord Shiva and Parvati and this time it is married women who pray for a happy and long married life. Though celebrations are held all over the state, it is particularly colorful in Jaipur where a procession winds its way for two days through the Old City. It is the festival of swings which are decorated with flowers and hung from trees. Young girls and women dressed in green clothes sing songs in celebration of the advent of the monsoon. The Teej idol is covered with a canopy whereas the Gangaur idol is open.

Activities:
Teej is celebrated mainly by the women folk of Rajasthan. Married women who idolize Parvati for her devotion to her husband Shiva celebrate Teej. The festivity revolves around singing and dancing in praise of Parvati. The rituals allow the women to pamper and enjoy themselves, to feast, to dress in the best of cloths, finery and jewellery, in fact to look the stunning best.