Gangaur Festival has its own unique rituals with women worshipping Goddess Gauri and Lord Shiva. The festival begins is celebrated for 18 days and starts after the Holi. It is observed both by married as well as unmarried women.
While married women pray for the long life and well being of their husband, the unmarried girls seek the blessings of Goddess Gauri and Lord Shiva to get a good husband. Apart from this, the Gangaur festival also signifies the arrival of the spring season. The women fast during these 18 days and eat only one meal a day.
The most important ritual of the Gangaur festival is the collection of ashes from the Holi fire and burying of wheat and barley seeds in it. These seeds are then regularly watered everyday till it germinates. This process continues for the entire 18 days period.
Also people make colourful images of Gauri made of clay or wood. Women carry an earthern pot with holes and a lamp inside while singing traditional folk songs . The women parade in groups during the festival and young girls are gifted with sweets and money by the elders.
This continues throughout the festival and during the last three days, the women decorate the images of Gauri and on the last day, it is taken to a nearby waterbody like a lake or pond or well and immersed after offering puja.