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Jambheswar
Fair
The Jambheswar Fair is held in the village Mukam of tehsil Nokha,
Bikaner District, twice a year on Phalgun Budi Amavasya and Ashvin
Budi Amavasya, in memory of the founder of the Bishnoi sect -Jambheswarji.
His teachings are condensed into 120 sayings which propagate the
cardinal virtues of self-control, truth and non-violence.
He taught 29 articles of religion and hence the term Bishnoi from
Bees (twenty) and Nau (nine). The Bishnois consider him to be an
incarnation of Vishnu. Near the Nokha Town, there are two temples
of Jambheswarji, one in the village Mukam (mukam literally means
abode) and the other on the sand dune of Samarthal.
The temple at Mukam has the samadhi of Jambheswarji and a life-size
portrait adorns the central hall. On the ground floor, there are
five rooms, one of which is used to store grain offered by the visitors
and the rest serve as a guest house. The grain which is offered
at the temple is used to feed pigeons, peacocks and birds throughout
the year beside the temple, built specifically for this purpose.
A large fair is held in February-March on Phagun Budi Amavasya
every year. It is attended by people from Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan
and Uttar Pradesh, apart from the local visitors. The second fair
which is a smaller, localised affair, is attended by people coming
in from neighbouring villages on camels, bullock carts and even
on foot.
The number of shops is lesser and comprises mostly of sellers from
Nokha, Himmatsar and Bikaner. The visitors go to the temple at Mukam
and the sand dune at Samarthal (where Jambhaji used to preach) and
take part in the worship and rituals. It is customary to take some
sand from the tank called Talai at Mukam and deposit it at the foot
of the dune at Samarthal.
The village Mukam is 15 kms. away from Nokha. Regular buses plying
from Bikaner to Jaipur, Bikaner to Salasar and Nokha to Sujangarh
stop by at the Mukam bus stand. Nokha is 60 kms. from Bikaner on
the Bikaner-Jodhpur road. It is also a rail head of the Northern
Railway. |
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