ISAN1. Colonel Tod describes a lofty three peaked mountain, on which is a temple dedicated to Aya - Mata, also called Isani, the tutelary divinity of the Kol. This and the effigy of the horse are there the only objects of adoration among this aboriginal race. This was the first time he had seen a personification of mother earth, for such is Isani, from Isa, goddess, and Anani, earth, the universal nurse-mother (Aya-Mata). In their worship of the horse they resemble the other forest tribes, the Bhil, the Gond, and the Surya. Among the many remarkable festivals of Rajasthan kept with peculiar brilliancy at Udaipur, is that called Gangore, in honour of Gouri or Isani, the goddess of abundance, the Isis of Egypt, the Ceres of Greece. Like the Rajput saturnalia, which it follows, it belongs to the vernal equinox, when nature in these regions proximate to the tropic is in the full expanse of her charms, and the matronly Gauri casts her golden mantle over the beauties of the verdant Vassanti. Then the fruits exhibit their promise to the eye, the koil fills the ear with melody, the air is impregnated with aroma, and the crimson poppy contrasts with the spikes of golden grain to form a wreath for the beneficent Gauri. Gauri is one of the names of Isa or Par vati, wife of Siva, Mahadeva, or Iswara, who is conjoined with her in these rites, which almost exclusively appertain to the women. The mean ing of Gauri is yellow, emblematic of the ripened harvest, when the votaries of the goddess adore her effigies, which are those of a matron painted the colour of ripe corn ; and though her image is represented with only two hands, in one of which she holds the lotus, which the Egyptians regarded as emblematic of reproduction, yet not unfre quently they equip her with the warlike conch, the discus, and the club, to denote that the god dess, whose gifts sustain life, is likewise accessary to the loss of it ; uniting, as Gauri and Kali, the characters of life and death, like the Isis and Cybele of the Egyptians. But in the Gangore festival she is only seen as Anna-puma, the food filler, benefactress of mankind. The rites com mence when the sun enters Aries (the opening of the Hindu year), by a deputation to a spot beyond the city, `to bring earth for the image of Gauri.' When this is formed, a smaller one of Iswara is made, and they are placed together ; a small trench is then excavated, in which barley is sown; the ground is irrigated and artificial heat supplied till the grain germinates. By rites known only to the initiated, having been performed for several days within doors, they decorate the images, and prepare to cmuy them in procession to the lake. During these days of preparation, nothing is talked of but Gauri's departure from the — whether she will be as sumptuously apparelled as in the year gone by ; whether an additional boat will be launched on the occasion, though not a few forget the goddess altogether in the recollec tion of the gazelle eyes (mirg-aeni) and serpentine locks (nagni zoolf) of the beauteous handmaids who are selected to attend her. At length the
hour arrives, the martial naltara give the signal to the cannonier without, and the guns on the summit of the Castle of Ekling-garh announce that Gauri .has commenced her excursion to the lake. The cavalcade assembles on the magnificent terrace, and the rana, surrounded by his nobles, leads the way to the boats, of a form as primitive as that which conveyed the Argonauts to Colchis. The scenery is admirably adapted for these fetes, the ascent being gradual from the margin of the lake.
At length the procession is seen winding down the steep, and in the midst, borne on a path or throne, gorgeously arrayed in yellow robes, and blazing with barbaric pearl and gold,' the god dess appears, on either side two beauties wave the silver chamra over her head, while the more favoured damsels act as harbingers, preceding her with wands of silver, the whole chanting hymns. On her approach, the rana, his chiefs and ministers, rise and remain standing till the goddess is seated on her throne, close to the water's edge, when all bow, and the prince and court take their seats in the boats. The females then form a circle around the goddess, unite hands, and with a measured step and various graceful inclinations of the body, keeping time by beating the palms at particular cadences, move around the image singing hymns, some in honour of the goddess of abundance, others on love and chivalry, and embodying little episodes of national achievements, occasionally sprinkled with double entendre, which excite a smile and significant nod from the chiefs, and an inclination of the head of the fair choristers. The festival being entirely female, not a single male mixes in the immense groups, and even Iswara himself, the husband of Gauri, attracts no atten tion, as appears from his ascetic or mendicant form begging his dole from the bounteous and universal mother. It is taken for granted that the goddess is occupied in bathing all the time she remains, and ancient tradition says death was the penalty of any male intruding on these solemnities ; but a late prince deemed them so fitted for amusement, that he even instituted a second Gangore. Some hours are thus consumed, while easy and good humoured conversation is carried on. At length, the ablutions over, the goddess is taken up and conveyed to the palace with the same forms and state. The rana and his chiefs then unmoor their boats, and are rowed round the margin of the lake, to visit in succession the other images of the goddess, around which female groups are chanting and worshipping, as already described, with which ceremonies the evening closes, when the whole terminates with a grand display of fireworks, the finale of each of the three days dedicated to Gatni.