| Bikaner
>> Fair & Festivals >> Kolyat Festival |
More
Festivals in Bikaner |
|
|
- Celebrated on a full moon kartik poornima in November
every year, the Kolayat festival is a reminder of the
living traditions of ancient India. Also known as the
Kapil Muni fair, the Kolayat festival is a festive event
of great religious significance for the Hindus.
- Pilgrims and tourists congregate at the venue of the
Kolayat festival and Kapil Muni fair that is located on
the banks of the Kolayat Lake. Pilgrims bathe in the Kolayat
Lake on the day of the Kolayat festival and wash away
their sins. Fringed by thick banyan trees, the Kolayat
Lake creates an aesthetic ambience that forms the ideal
venue for the Kolayat festival celebrations.
- According to popular legend, the legendary Kapil Muni
meditated on the banks of the Kolayat Lake for the emancipation
of mankind. In fact Kolayat in Bikaner was known as Kapilayatan
after the sage Kapil Muni. The religious significance
of Kolayat and the Kolayat fair is evident from the fact
that both find a mention in the Puranas, one of the most
significant Hindu scriptures.
- All the 52 Ghats on the banks of the Kolayat Lake are
enlivened with colorful activity, religious incantations
and festivities during the Kolayat festival. Offerings
of sugar drops, sweetmeats and milk pudding are made at
the Kolayat temple that houses a marble statue of the
sage Kapil Muni.
- The Deepmala ritual lights up the Kolayat Lake at twilight
when hundreds of oil lamps are lit and left to float on
leaves over the placid waters of the Kolayat Lake.
|
|
