A delta of rivers in the green south
Drive south from Udaipur and the Rajasthan of the posters disappears. The hills turn low and round, the fields turn to maize, and the rivers, for once, are wide.
For most of the year Baneshwar is quiet: a few temples, the rivers, farmers crossing on foot and herons standing in the shallows. Once a year, in the month of Magh, it becomes one of the largest gatherings in western India.
Vagad: the old name for the country of Dungarpur and Banswara, the southernmost corner of Rajasthan where it meets Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
The land: rain-fed hills and broad valleys, drained by the Mahi and its tributaries, the Som and the Jakham.
Facts to know
- When
- Bright half of Magh, usually late January or February
- Where
- Som, Mahi and Jakham confluence, Dungarpur district
- Lasts
- Several days, building to the full moon
- Best day
- Magh Purnima, the full moon
- Book by
- Ideally three months ahead
- Good for
- Repeat visitors, the curious, patient photographers
- The delta: where the Som and the Jakham join the Mahi, the rivers spread into a wide, sandy delta with low islands between the channels. Baneshwar stands on that ground.
- The name: local people explain it as the lord of the delta, a title of Shiva, whose temple is the oldest shrine here.
- The language: Vagdi, of the Bhili family, blending Rajasthani, Gujarati and the speech of Malwa.
- The Bhils: most people here are Bhils, one of the largest Adivasi, or indigenous, communities in India, spread across the hills where four states meet.
- Before the kings: the founding stories of Dungarpur and Banswara both name Bhil chiefs, Dungaria and Bansiya, who held the land before the Rajput rulers.
- Archers of Mewar: Bhil archers fought for the Rajput rulers for centuries, and a Bhil figure still stands on the royal coat of arms of Mewar.
- The majority: in Vagad the Bhils are not a symbol but most of the people, and their lives, faith and festivals shape the whole region.
Shiva, Mavji and the meaning of the fair
Baneshwar is holy to two traditions at once: an old Shiva shrine by the water and the devotion to an eighteenth-century saint whose words are still read with awe.
For a community that has often been pushed to the margins of Indian history, Baneshwar is a place where the Bhils are at the centre, and where their gods, songs and customs are the ones that matter.
Baneshwar Mahadev: Shiva as lord of the place, whose temple stands on the delta near the meeting of the rivers.
A sacred confluence: as at the meeting of the Ganga and the Yamuna at Prayagraj, people come to bathe, pray for the dead and wash away the burdens of the year.
Facts to know
- Oldest shrine
- Baneshwar Mahadev
- The saint
- Mavji, eighteenth century
- Mavji's town
- Sabla, near Baneshwar
- Why sacred
- A confluence of rivers
- Called
- The Kumbh of the tribes
- Ashes of the dead: many Bhil families bring relatives' ashes to immerse at the confluence. For them Baneshwar plays the role the Ganga plays for so many other Indians, one reason it is called the Kumbh of the tribes.
- Mavji: temples connected to this eighteenth-century saint of Vagad stand beside the Shiva shrine. Many people in the region revere him as an incarnation of Vishnu.
- Teacher and prophet: he lived at Sabla, a small town near Baneshwar, and is remembered as a teacher, a poet and a prophet.
- His books: followers keep books of his sayings and prophecies, treated with great reverence. Many in Vagad believe they foretold events of the centuries after his death.
- His sect today: still led from Sabla, and its head priest plays the central role in the fair.
- Two strands meet: the ancient worship of Shiva at the confluence and the devotion to Mavji come together in the fair.
- What it is for families: a pilgrimage, a time to honour the dead, a meeting of relatives scattered across three states, a market and a celebration all at once.
- A statement of identity: the fair is that too.
When the fair is held
The fair follows the moon of Magh, the month of cold clear nights and the first green of the winter wheat.
The timing: the fair builds over several days in the bright half of Magh to its great day at the full moon, Magh Purnima, usually in late January or February.
It moves: because the dates follow the lunar calendar, they shift by two or three weeks from one year to the next.
Facts to know
- Lunar month
- Bright half of Magh
- Great day
- Magh Purnima, the full moon
- Usual window
- Late January or February
- Moves
- Two or three weeks a year
- Days
- Mid to high twenties Celsius
- Dates
- We confirm them each year
- Our promise: we confirm the dates each year with people we know in Vagad, and plan your visit for the days that matter most to you.
- The weather: days are warm and dry, and nights are cool rather than cold.
- The rivers: they have fallen since the monsoon, so the delta is wide and sandy, with clear channels running between the islands.
- The fields: green with wheat and mustard, and the light is soft in the mornings and evenings.
- Read more: our guide to Rajasthan in February covers the season, including the Nagaur Cattle Fair and the Desert Festival, which fall in the same lunar month far to the north and west.
Local tip
Choose your day deliberately. The build-up days are calmer and easier for conversation. The full moon brings the great bathe and procession, and the biggest crowds.
What happens at Baneshwar
The fair has no stage and no programme for visitors. It has a river, a saint and a few hundred thousand people who know exactly what they have come to do.
The arrival
From three states: in the days before the full moon, families arrive from across Vagad and the Bhil country of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
- How they come: on foot, in tractor trailers, on crowded buses and in hired jeeps.
- The camps: on the delta and the riverbanks, in family groups, with cooking pots, blankets and bundles of food. By the full moon the banks are covered with people.
Worship at the temples
- Offerings: pilgrims queue at the temples of Baneshwar Mahadev and of Mavji with coconut, flowers, grain and incense.
- The sound: women sing as they wait, and the temple bells ring almost without pause.
The saint's procession
- The head priest: on the main day, the head of Mavji's sect arrives from Sabla in a large procession, with music, banners and great crowds of devotees.
- The bathe: he bathes in the river and devotees bathe with him, believing the confluence brings special blessing at that moment.
The bathe and the rites for the dead
At the full moon: people bathe at the confluence through the day.
- For the dead: families who have lost someone in the past year perform rites by the water and immerse ashes, often with a priest's help.
- A solemn moment: in the middle of the festivity, and it should be treated as such.
The market
- What is sold: silver jewellery of the kind Bhil women wear, glass and lac bangles, cloth, blankets, cooking pots, farm tools, bows and arrows, toys, sweets and fried snacks.
- Why it matters: for families from remote villages, this is one of the great shopping days of the year.
Songs, dances and fires at night
The fires: as night falls, families light small fires on the riverbank and sing.
- The dances: groups of men and women dance in circles to drums and flutes, with songs in Vagdi and other Bhil languages carrying across the water.
- The stages: some state cultural programmes have brought performances to the fair in recent years, but the most beautiful music is the unplanned kind, around the fires.
Silver, colour and maize bread
Stand on the riverbank for an hour and you will see more silver than in any jeweller's shop in Jaipur, all of it being worn.
Women's dress: skirts and wraps of red, saffron, green and pink, often printed or tie-dyed, with blouses of mirror work or embroidery.
The silver: heavy and beautiful, worn on ankles, wrists, neck and arms, and in the ears and nose, much of it made by local smiths in old designs.
Savings you can wear: jewellery is a family's savings as well as its ornament, which is why the silver stalls are always busy.
- Men's dress: white dhotis and shirts, often with bright turbans.
- The bow: some men carry one, still a mark of pride among the Bhils of these hills.
- A living culture: young people mix all of this with jeans, sunglasses and mobile phones.
- Maize country: the bread is yellow, made from maize flour and eaten hot from the griddle with a pat of white butter, sometimes with jaggery or a spicy chutney.
- At the fair: families cook over their own fires, and stalls sell maize bread, dal, fried snacks, sweets and endless glasses of sweet milky tea.
- Read more: our Rajasthani food guide describes the regional cooking of the south.
Local tip
If you would like to try the food of Vagad properly, ask us for a meal of regional dishes at Udai Bilas Palace, or a lunch with a family we know.
A day at the fair, the way we plan it
We visit Baneshwar in small groups, with a guide who knows the families and the rituals, and we spend most of our time listening rather than photographing.
Facts to know
- From Dungarpur
- About an hour and a half
- Arrive
- While the light is soft
- Gentlest hour
- Morning on the riverbank
- Leave
- Usually early afternoon
- Stay at Baneshwar
- No comfortable rooms
Early morning, the drive
- The road: about an hour and a half from Udai Bilas Palace in Dungarpur.
- When to leave: after an early breakfast, with a flask of tea, so you reach the river while the light is soft and the crowd is still waking up.
Morning, the riverbank
- Walk slowly: with your guide, past families cooking, bathing and preparing their offerings.
- Why now: the gentlest hour, when people have time to talk and your guide can explain what you are seeing.
Late morning, the temples
- Visit both: Baneshwar Mahadev and the Mavji temples, joining the queues if you wish, with shoes off and head covered.
- Step aside: stay to the side during the most sacred moments.
Midday, the market
- Shop: buy something from the silver sellers or the bangle stalls.
- Lunch: maize bread and dal from a clean stall, or a picnic we bring from your hotel.
Afternoon, the return
- Leave early: usually in the early afternoon, before the evening crowds peak and the roads fill with tractors.
- Back at the palace: time for a rest and tea on the terrace over Gaib Sagar.
If you stay for the night
- The fires and songs: for guests who want them, we arrange a longer day and a late return with an experienced driver.
- Plan carefully: there is no comfortable accommodation at Baneshwar itself, so we plan the night drive with care.
Visiting with respect
Baneshwar is not a tourist festival, and it does not need visitors. When we go, we go as guests, and we try to leave no mark.
We say this plainly because it matters. The Bhils have a long history of being looked at, studied, photographed and described by outsiders, and too rarely listened to. We don't run tribal village tours, and we never ask families to perform.
A hard history: the Bhils have lived through long struggles over land and forest rights.
Mangarh: the killing of Bhil followers of the reformer Govind Guru at Mangarh hill, in Banswara district, in 1913, is remembered in the region with great sorrow.
- Our way at the fair: we keep to the edges during the most sacred moments, and come with guides from the region who are known and trusted.
- Ask and listen: our guides will talk for as long as you like about the history of the Bhils, their faith, their songs and the changes of the last fifty years.
- Photographs: ask before photographing anyone, and accept a no. Never photograph rites for the dead or people bathing.
- Dress: modestly, head covered at the temples, shoes off where others remove theirs.
- No handouts: do not give money, sweets or pens. It turns people into recipients rather than hosts.
- The procession: keep a respectful distance from the head priest and do not push for a view.
- Buy something: in the market. It is the simplest way to give back fairly.
- No drones: flying over a crowd at a sacred gathering is unsafe and disrespectful.
- Travel light: carry water and very little else, and keep your bag closed in the crowds.
Local tip
The respectful way to meet Bhil life outside the fair is a weekly village market, a haat, where you can buy, eat and talk as a customer rather than a spectator.
Where to stay for the Baneshwar fair
There is no luxury hotel at Baneshwar or in Banswara, and we would rather tell you that now. There is one wonderful palace within reach.
- Book early: Udai Bilas has a limited number of rooms, and Magh is a busy season in the south, with weddings and winter visitors. Ideally three months ahead.
Udai Bilas Palace, Dungarpur
The palace: Udai Bilas Palace, built in the mid-nineteenth century on the shore of Gaib Sagar, home of the former royal family of Dungarpur and a heritage hotel for many years.
- Its beauty: one wing of blue-grey stone rises straight from the lake, and the carved Ek Thambiya Mahal, the palace of a single pillar, sits at its heart.
- For the fair: about an hour and a half from Baneshwar, and our first choice. Ask for a lake-facing room in the old wing.
A night in Banswara
- What there is: simple, clean town hotels and a few guesthouses, none in the class of a palace hotel.
- When it makes sense: to be close to the fair, or to the Tripura Sundari temple at dawn. We will tell you honestly what to expect.
From Udaipur
- A very long day: three hours or more each way from Udaipur.
- Our view: we only suggest it if you cannot spend a night in the south.
Vagad around the fair
The fair is the reason to come. The country around it is the reason to stay a few days longer.
Juna Mahal, Dungarpur
The old palace: seven storeys, with murals and glass inlay among the best preserved in Rajasthan.
- Why so well kept: the royal family moved to Udai Bilas and nobody ever turned it into a hotel.
- Visiting: arranged through Udai Bilas Palace. See our page on the palaces of Dungarpur.
Deo Somnath
- The temple: an old Shiva temple of pale stone, usually dated to around the twelfth century, over the Som river less than an hour from Dungarpur.
- When: golden hour, with tea on the bank, one of the quiet joys of the south.
Galiakot
- The shrine: of Syedi Fakhruddin, on the bank of the Mahi, one of the most important places of pilgrimage for the Dawoodi Bohra community.
- Its lesson: how many faiths share this country.
Banswara and Tripura Sundari
The city of a hundred islands: Banswara, about two hours east of Dungarpur, named for the islands in the Mahi and the backwaters of the Mahi Bajaj Sagar dam.
- Tripura Sundari: near Talwara, the most important shrine of Vagad.
- Read more: our journal on Banswara, the city of islands.
A weekly haat
- The market: Bhil families buy and sell grain, vegetables, livestock, silver jewellery and cloth.
- How to go: ask us to time your visit for one, go with a local guide, buy something and eat at a stall.
Journeys that pass through Vagad
Dungarpur sits on the road between Udaipur and Gujarat, which makes the fair easy to fold into a longer route.
Offbeat Rajasthan
- The route: our offbeat Rajasthan journey travels through Bundi, Chittorgarh and Dungarpur.
- In Magh: a day at Baneshwar becomes its most memorable moment.
Mount Abu and Gujarat
- Halfway: Dungarpur breaks the drive between Udaipur and Ahmedabad almost exactly in half.
- The journey: our Mount Abu and Gujarat route can pass through Vagad in fair season.
Rajasthan and Kutch
- A bridge: on a longer journey to Kutch, whose Rann Utsav runs through the winter, Vagad links the Mewar lakes and the salt desert.
- The journey: see our Rajasthan and Kutch route.
Udaipur and Mewar
- A short detour: from Udaipur, two nights at Udai Bilas with a day at the fair is an unforgettable break from the classic Mewar route.
Who will love Baneshwar, and who should not go
This is one of the most rewarding days we can offer in Rajasthan. It is also one of the most demanding.
Beyond the palaces: you will love it if you are curious about India beyond the palaces and have travelled in Rajasthan before.
A quiet guest: you need to be content to be one at someone else's sacred day.
Facts to know
- Loves it
- Repeat visitors, the quietly curious
- Also
- Those drawn to Adivasi culture and folk music
- Think twice
- Comfort seekers, crowd-averse, limited mobility
- Alternative
- Vagad in another season, with a haat
- Deeply moving for: travellers interested in Adivasi cultures, folk music, faith and rural life.
- Photographers: patient, respectful ones come home with portraits they treasure, taken with permission and with a conversation behind each one.
- The hard parts: the fair is crowded, dusty and hot at midday, with very basic facilities and no seating or shade.
- No luxury close by: and the drive from Dungarpur is long on country roads.
- The alternative: if you need comfort at every turn, are uneasy in crowds or have limited mobility, visit Vagad at another time, with Juna Mahal, Deo Somnath, the lakes and a weekly haat. You will still meet the green south at its best.
What we tell friends before Baneshwar
A few small things make the day easier and kinder.
Go early: and plan to leave by early afternoon, unless you have arranged to stay for the night.
Shoes: comfortable ones you can slip off, with socks for the temple floors.
- Shade: bring a scarf for your head, sunglasses and a hat. There is little shade on the delta.
- Small notes: for offerings and the market.
- Basic facilities: use the bathroom at your hotel before you leave.
- Dates: ask us as early as you can. The full moon moves every year.
Local tip
Learn one word of greeting from your guide. A Ram Ram returned with a smile opens many conversations.