SSC
The famous Elephant Festival, held on the day of Holi, was traditionally celebrated in which city?
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Answer: Option B — Jaipur
Detailed Solution
The Elephant Festival was a famous annual festival held in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, on the day of Holika Dahan, in the month of Phalguna (March). It was organised by Rajasthan Tourism at the Chaugan Stadium in the old city.
The festival celebrated the long association of elephants with the royal culture of Rajasthan, where elephants were used in royal processions, wars and ceremonies. During the festival, elephants were beautifully decorated by their mahouts (keepers) with colourful paintings in natural colours, embroidered velvet cloths, jewellery, anklets and headpieces. Female elephants were often decorated with special ornaments. The highlights of the festival included:
A procession of decorated elephants, camels and horses, accompanied by folk dancers and musicians.
Elephant beauty contests, in which the best-decorated elephant was given a prize.
Elephant races, elephant polo matches, and a tug-of-war between elephants and people.
Playing Holi with colours from the backs of elephants.
Folk dances and music performances.
The festival attracted many foreign and Indian tourists. However, since 2012, the Elephant Festival has not been held in its traditional form, mainly because of concerns raised by animal welfare organisations about the treatment of elephants and the stress caused to them by crowds, noise and colours. Rajasthan Tourism now holds other events around Holi instead.
Jaipur, known as the "Pink City", was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II. Its famous monuments include the Hawa Mahal, the City Palace, the Jantar Mantar (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and the Amber Fort. The Walled City of Jaipur was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Thrissur (Kerala) is famous for the elephants of the Thrissur Pooram.
- ✗Mysuru (Karnataka) is famous for the elephants of the Dasara Jamboo Savari.
- ✗Guwahati (Assam) is not the traditional home of the Elephant Festival.
Quick tip
Remember: The Elephant Festival = Jaipur, Holi and the Chaugan Stadium. Remember that it has not been held in its traditional form since 2012.
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Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.