Dhinga Gavar: the night old Jodhpur belongs to its women

Gangaur in Rajasthan is a women's festival: for about sixteen days after Holi, women and girls worship clay or wooden images of Isar (Shiva) and Gavar (Parvati) for a happy marriage, and in Jodhpur they hold the puja in groups across the neighbourhoods. The season ends on Gangaur day, and Jodhpur alone adds one more night, for Gavar in her playful form. Dhinga means fun by deception.

On the eve, women go to Padam Sagar to fetch water for the goddess. On the day, the dressing of the images begins at the auspicious midday hour (Abhijit muhurat) and goes on until after 9 pm. The jewellery is pooled by the residents of each neighbourhood, who sit up with their Gavar all night and return the gold the next day. The richest image is usually the one in Sunaron ki Ghati, the goldsmiths' lane, with about 15 kg of gold ornaments in recent years; at Ada Bazaar, near Kumhariyon ka Kuan, one image has worn 21 kg. More than a dozen images are set up in the walled city, from Jalori Gate to Chand Baori, including at Hatdiyon ka Chowk, Kabutaron ka Chowk, Navchokiya and Jalap Mohalla.

Once the images are ready, the women take the streets. Dressed as gods and goddesses, saints, police officers, bandits and tribal women, carrying sticks, they walk between the images through the night. Many of them, called teejania, are fasting. It is believed that an unmarried man struck by one of their sticks will soon marry, so young men hang about hoping for a tap; a stick is a baint, and the night is also called Baintmar Teej.

Dhinga Gavar is a folk deity, the humorous side of Gangaur. The story told in Jodhpur is a game between husband and wife: Shiva once teased Parvati by disguising himself as a cobbler, and she paid him back by appearing before him as a Bhil tribal woman. The disguises of the night, and the sticks, carry on that joke.

What sets Dhinga Gavar apart is who may take part. Gangaur is kept by brides, married women and girls praying for a good marriage. Dhinga Gavar is described as belonging to all women, and widows take part on equal terms. Most of the women in costume are from Pushkarna Brahmin families of the old city.

This is a women's religious night, and the lanes are theirs. A few rules make it easy.

Everything happens on foot inside the old city walls, so where you sleep decides what you can see.