Gauri Pooja: Where Worship Meets Wallet

Part 1: Awaiting The Divine Sign

Imagine a group of people, assembled in front of a temple in their panchayat, bated breath, eyes fixed on the single flower before Matatji (goddess) to fall. Tradition dictates if only the flower falls on the right side of the pandit’s hands, Gauri Pooja will be held. If not then their village sees no festivities of Gauri.

The falling of a flower now starts the induction of vibrant colors and sounds to the festive mood of celebration of Guari in the village. Men predominantly get ready in clothing that depict the distinct gods and goddesses. They perform the folk tales and stories in front of a crowd in different villages.

The group of 30-40 men and few boys together traveling through villages have long performances and portrayals of the religious stories, The characters of these stories range from Radha Krishna to Shiva Parvati to Ganesh and to even their revered local deities Paabu Rathore. The dramatic portrayal invites an interesting phenomenon, which binds the faith following with a performance that leaves the urban folks in awe. But to get to that, a dive into the story of Paabu Rathore Lok Devta is necessary.

The Tale Of Lokdevta

Paabu Rathore was born in Fauluadi Jodhpur. He received his horse, Kesar Kalmi, from Devli Chaaran, who was the local guardian and horse owner. Known as a creature of remarkable beauty, Kesar Kalmi was the desire of attainment by two people: Paabu Rathore and his bairoi, husband of his younger sister. While elder sister’s husband is Jija, the younger sister’s husband is bairoi. In this case, Paabu’s bairoi, Jindrav Khichi was the opponent in attaining the horse. Following this, Devli Charan denied Jindrav Khichi and gave it to Paabu Rathore instead.

However, on a promise, that that Paabu will be present to aid her cows whenever they would be in danger. Paabu Rathore agreed but asked how would he know when cows would be in danger. Devli Charan said whenever my horse neighs, take it as a sign that my cows are in peril.

The Stolen Cows

This condition was soon tested. One day during his matrimonial ceremony, Paabu Rathore was taking his phera (traditional marriage rounds). Only after three and half round the horse started neighing. Upon noticing this, Paabu Rathore knew, the cows were in danger. He left his three and half phere, his marriage mandap and went to protect the cows. Paabu then discovered that the culprit who had stolen the cows of Devil Charan,  was none other than his bairoi, the younger sister’s husband, Jitendra khiji. To defend the cows, Paabu unsheathed his talvaar (sword), cut the hands of the thief. Since then, he was known as the protector of cows.

This scene is performed during the Gauri pooja, where a man is decked up in jewellery and ornaments stealing the cows while Paabu Rathore leaving his marriage sets out with his talvar to cut his hand. This is followed by Havan Pooja, marking the end of each episode of folk tale performance.

Maata Chaddh Jaati Hain

This pooja, captures a different sight altogether. Women sitting around this performance are encapsulated in this period. ‘Ones who have an intense divinity towards the lok devta, they start imitating the actions performed there’. In other words, ‘unko maata chaddh jaati hain’.

During this havan, a sacred ritual takes place, captivating the assembled women. Those most devoted to the Lok Devta enter a trance, as if possessed by the goddess’s spirit. They stand, dance, and cry out in sync with the beats of the ritual, seemingly unaware of their surroundings. When the trance fades, they return to their seats. They continue to watch as if nothing had happened, lost for a time in the divine rhythm of the ceremony.

Faith Becomes Trance

One’s faith transforms into a state of tranquillity wherein they seem to lose their consciousness altogether and replicate the actions performed in front of them. The idea behind one’s ardent desire to give themselves up for the share of divinity becomes an aspect of limelight here. For an urban modern girl like myself, this faith had to have an underlying logic behind it. How is it that one’s intense divinity towards a god causes an entire ripple in one’s body for them to start replicating another source of energy?

The line between this faith and the energy that drives thousands of forces together and the idea of logic and belief becomes a blurred and a smudged line. The answers are all about giving up oneself, from their physical body to their mental body submitted to an energy that would regulate them now. This energy, becoming a constant flow of faith, now also regulates their real life living conditions. A big aspect of this is money.

Part 2: Debt In Devotion

Gauri Pooja, a festival celebrated over a period of one month and seven days, experiences a mix of colours, musical rhythm, performance and a cycle of loan debt. How is it that a celebration imbibes a culture of loan debt? And if the community is aware why do such celebrations continue? For a month and seven days, the men of the decided village during Gauri celebration leave their households to perform as they chant ‘Gauri’ in different villages around. Them leaving entails an earning member of the family leaving for a period of a month and seven days, which stagnates the income flow.

Boys also sometimes leave to be a part of this performance, causing a loss of their school days and a fallback in their education. Leaving behind only women, who earn a petty or no income usually. This leads to a state of distress on matters of acquiring food for consumption.

Loans For The Goddess

This consequently makes these households to take informal loans from their neighbours or a contractor or other sources who could arrange monetary help for that period of Gauri. These loan repayments come with heavy interest rates. Being well aware of such consequences, men still venture out to this journey because if not them, as the high believers of god, then who?

Now this amount divided among each person in the group would amount to 6-7k for personal expenses. The amount of 2 lakh divided amongst the 40 people is not given according to each individual but rather according to per family. So, if there are two male members from the same family, father and son, then both together will receive the 7k and not 14k.

The Many Expenses Of The Festival

From the received amount, they now have to carry out their expenses for their Gauri journey. This includes the traveling, stay, food, cigarettes, gutkha and clothes or ornaments for themselves if and when required for the performance. The expenses don’t stop here. After the month long performing of Gauri, the family members who participate in this grandeur invite the relatives for a feast. On the last day of the celebration and feast, some families also offer alcohol for relatives.

The amount collected during their performances gets exhausted rapidly. People have to take further loans to fulfil further arrangements such as the lunch. Hence, the loan and financial burden on families becomes a continued process.

Conclusion

The vibrancy and the rhythmic performances during Gauri narrate two stories. One of divinity and spiritual energy, and the other of hidden financial burden and perpetual debt cycles. There is a revered energy of belief that makes one loose their conscious self and submit to another spiritual energy. Such a strong bond leaves the performers and the watchers both in a state of high tranquillity and persuasion of their religion. A culmination of both religious belief and social pressure make the alliance of performance during the Gauri celebration. Faith runs this channel of performance and celebration but often also becomes the coordinator of financial distress and loan cycles.

The festival reveals a clash between spiritual devotion and economic hardship. Here the need to honour faith often outweighs the worry of debt and sacrifice. This faith-driven performance reflects a powerful resilience—a dedication that keeps tradition and devotion alive at the core of their lives. Even when it means bearing the weight of unseen burdens.