KAVANTH FAIR

The Kavant Mela is a prominent tribal festival in the north-eastern part of Gujarat falling sometime in the month of April. On the way to Kavant village one can sometimes see bedecked groups of tribals trekking towards the venue.

The Kavant Festival is a catharsis of emotional splendor, a rite of passage, family liaisons and a successful harvest all amalgamated into one tremendous exposition of riot and colour.

Kavant is a harvest festival celebrated with wild abandon through dance primordial blending the rhythm wit h the shashaying of the forest and the frolicking of the animals in the undergrowth. It is a gathering of the Rathva community to extemporously recreate the joy of existence and life. Surrounded by the beating of drums, the susurrations of a variety of flutes and the stamping of feet, the Rathvas dance in a vast group keeping time to the rise and fall of the crescendo of arrhythmic music in their tryst with destiny. The men folk wear a belt attached with pebble filled gourds and a string of brass bells. As they stamp their feet and gyrate their hips the bells and the pebbled gourds add percussion metronomical beats tintinabulating in the air. Some of the men carry cane  sugar signifying the harvest and wear an  elaborate headgear which is a conical hat s tuck with small framed photos of local deities surrounded by an array of peacock feathers. Rice paste and ash are blended to make a dye painting the bodies with circles and dots in a ritualistic salutation to the jungle cat. Some men and women gather together to form a human pyramid and the surrounding atmosphere rides with the heightened ener gy and human spirit.

Disclaimer: You are requested to check the exact dates with us before finalizing your travel plans for this festival. Please note "these dates may vary according to Hindu Calendar"