INDIALINE
Complete India Travel Guide

Elephant Festival

Location - Jaipur
Time - March - April

Elephant Festival in Jaipur Rajasthan

About Elephant Festival

Elephants have always been associated with the Rajas as a symbol of power and status. A beautifully decorated elephant carrying the raja in the war field, processions or festivals was a common sight in the earlier era. The Elephant Festival is an attempt on the part of RTDC to introduce the people of India and abroad to the royalty of the Rajputs. The Rajputs, who held control over Rajasthan for a long period of time, have become synonyms for courage, sacrifice and grandeur. Infact, the moment you think of Rajasthan, you are reminded of the way the Rajputs conducted themselves, with great self respect and royal elegance. The royal aura of the Rajput never seems to fade away and the Elephant Festival is meant to represent that royalty in a much grander way.

The Festival is celebrated a day after Holi in the month of March -April in the city of Jaipur. Since this festival is organized by the RTDC to attract tourists, the choice of Jaipur as a venue was quiet obvious. Jaipur has a whole lot of attractions within its area and it is also the base to start off an exploration of the rest of the places in Rajasthan. As such maximum number of tourists flock to Jaipur to spend an exciting vacation and the Elephant Festival adds to their enthusiasm.

Attractions of the Festivals

The Elephant procession marks the beginning of this single day festival. The elephants are all draped in finest of colourful saddle clothes and adorned with heavy ornaments. Infact, it is difficult to point out one single elephant that is looking more resplendent than the others. Along with this visual extravaganza is some musical note in form of tinkling sound of anklets that are tied to the female elephants. The elephants guided by their mahouts come out in the open and march through the admiring eyes of the spectators.

Adding more colour and liveliness to the festival are the folk dancers who enthrall the spectator with their sparkling performances. This is followed by extremely exciting and sporting elephant polo match and a tug of war competition between the elephants and the human. These competitions, it goes without saying, are the most delightful part of the festival as thousands of spectator turn up to laud for their favourites. And before you forget that the festival is celebrated just a day after Holi, the people sitting on the top of the elephant start throwing colours at each other and people standing nearby. The fun, quiet obviously, reaches its zenith at this point of time with the air filled with colours and loud cheers of the people.

Before the end of the festival, a prize distribution ceremony awards the winners of the various competitions. However, the most special prize goes to the elephant which attracts maximum appreciation for its appearance. The festival concludes with the smiling faces of the people returning to their homes and expecting another exciting event next year.