The
Elephant Festival of Jaipur
is an annual event held in the month of March, one day before the
festival of Holi.
This festival highlights the importance of
the majestic animal, elephant.
Dance and music performances liven up the Elephant Festival of Jaipur
that attracts Indian and
foreign tourists. The
commencement ceremony of the festival includes elephants festooned with
beautiful glittering
ornaments and
embroidered velvets. After that, there is a series of violent elephant
fights.
A traditional procession
of the elephants is also a part of the Jaipur Elephant Festival. In this
procession, the scenes from the royal past of Rajasthan are
recreated with caparisoned
elephants, chariots, lancers
on horses, camels,
cannons, and palanquins.
A number of races, beauty pageants, etc of the elephants add to the
excitement of the festival. However, what takes the cake is the game of
elephant polo. The players who wear
saffron and red turbans,
sit on elephants and try to score goals with long sticks and a plastic
football.
Mostly female elephants participate in the
Elephant Festival
of Jaipur. These elephants present
a wonderful sight with their trunks, foreheads, and feet ornamented with
floral motifs and trinkets adorning them from tusk to tail. The
Elephant Festival
was initiated a decade ago. It was conceptualized keeping in mind the
tourists coming to the city, so as to familiarize them with the royal
past of the state.





