| Jambheswar Fair
The Jambheswar fair is in honour of Jambheswari who is the founder of
the Bishnoi sect. Every year two fairs are held in his honour on Phalgun
Budi Amavasya and Ashivan Budi Amavasya in Mukm village in Bikaner district.
Phalgun Budi Amavasya is the biggest fair.
The Bishnois form a separate sect and do not mix with
other Hindus and worship Vishnu in his Jambhaji incarnation. The Bishnois
believe that the city of Viskramaditya, with its throne of gold, is buried
beneath the sand dune where the saint died. Jambheshwarji was the thirty-second
descendant of Vikramaditya. According to legend, he was found under a
tree and tended cows till the age of twelve. He is supposed to have been
dumb in childhood but wrought a self-miracle which gave him speech.
He later gave up the occupation of cowherd and settled down on the top
of a hill where he gave the Bishnois the twenty-nine articles of their
religion. The word 'Bisnoi' is a combination of 'bees' (twenty) and 'noi'
(nine)- The followers of the twenty-nine articles of faith laid down by
Jambeshwarji. |
