For centuries, India has been setting examples of communal harmony and religious tolerance in the world. And even today this tradition is followed by the people of the country in their communities in their own small ways. Every year during Muharram, the Taziyas of Baroda bring to light one such tradition. A Hindu Pandit and a Tazia : As a…
Festival
Just like any other festival, the Ganesh Chaturthi is also celebrated in all pomp and colors in Baroda. Along with the royal Ganpati, idols of Ganpati are installed by almost every small “mandal”(community groups) of the city. Be it the royal Ganpati or a huge one installed in a temporary arrangement, or a small installed in someone’s house, each one of…
Shivji ki Savari is a grand chariot procession of Lord Shiva, organized by Satyam Shivam Sundaram Samiti on the occasion of Maha Shivratri. The procession carries the idols of the family of Lord Shiva on a chariot around the city. The statue has the idols of Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati & their sons Ganesha and Kartikeya seated on a huge…
Popularly known as the “Narsinhji no Varghodo” the procession that heads out from the Narsinhji Temple every year is a tradition more than 280 years old. Every year the procession is taken out on the day of Kartik Poornima or Dev-Diwali. The ritual celebrates the wedding procession of Lord Narsinhji with the plant goddess, Tulsi. In the Narsinhji Temple, Lord…
As a part of a 200 year old tradition, a procession or ‘Vithhalnathji ni Palki’ or ‘Vitthalnathji Varghodo’ as it is known in the local terms, is taken out from Vitthalnathji Temple every year on the occasion of Devpodhi (Shayani) Ekadashi (agiyaras). Significance : The procession or the occasion signifies the start of a four month long holy period of…
Since 1982 (or for 42 Years), the city of Vadodara (Baroda) annually observes Rath-Yatra, also known as the Festival of Chariots, or the Ceremonial Chariot Procession. The ISKCON Temple (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) of Vadodara organises this procession every year. According to legend, the Mahant of the temple and a small group of devotees participated in the inaugural Rath…