Vautha Fair Gujarat - Vautha No Melo - Festival Mela Gujarat Tourism
This year, “Vautha Fair 2014” will be 06th November (Thursday), 2014 to 07th November (Friday), 2014.
This fair is held every year at Vautha, where two rivers, the Sabarmati and the Vatrak meet. Vautha fair site is also known as Saptasangam as it is at the confluence of seven rivers. Vautha no melo and the legends behold the traditions.
Legends specify that Lord Kartik or Kartikeya, the son of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Kartik, popularly known as Muruga, is the commander of the army of the Devas. The fair is dedicated to Kartikeya and is held during Kartika Purnima, the full moon night of the Gujarati month of Kartik (October – November). The most important Shiva temple here is the temple of Siddhanath.
The Vautha Fair 2014 Dates - “06 - 07 November, 2014”
What is most significant about this fair is that it is the only major animal trading fair in Gujarat and is on par with the famous camel fair at Pushkar, Rajasthan. However the only animals traded here are donkeys. About 4,000 donkeys are brought every year for sale, usually by Vanjara (gypsy) traders. Donkeys are painted in different colors and decorated and this is a main highlight of the fair.
Vautha Mela in Gujarat attracts more than 500,000 people. The pilgrims who visit Vautha during the fair are from some communities and include farmers, labourers and people belonging to some castes. As a trading fair, the site is a bustling scene, with a variety of handicraft and food stalls, and active street hawkers and merchants selling everything from trinkets to machinery.
The village of Vautha is small, with only 2000 inhabitants. Yet this fair brings together more than 500,000 visitors through the five days of the fair. The fair attracts people from the Jath Vanjara communities, as well as other pastoral groups. Villagers from nearby agricultural areas of Bhal and Nalkantha in Ahmedabad district, and Charotar in Kheda district, are also seen in large numbers. It is good to see that although it was earlier a fair frequented mostly by Hindus, now even Muslims visit it in fairly large numbers.
Vautha No Melo is very famous name to call local people. The donkeys are painted in an array of colours, and decorated to suit the occasion. Camels are also well decked up and sold on the sand dunes by the river shores. In the evenings, numerous small lamps are set afloat in the river by devout pilgrims, producing a shimmering dance of faith and beauty. This fair is held during Kartika Purnima, the full moon night of the month of Kartik in the Hindu calendar, related roughly to the month of November. It lasts for five days.
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