|  Summer
Festival:
About the Fair |
| Activities |
Tribals and villagers from
Rajasthan and Gujarat come to sing, dance and exhibit their
love for life in the month of June. Folk dances and a general
atmosphere of gaiety prevails in this tiny hill resort and
the tourist has ample time to relax and enjoy. |
History |
| The history of Mount Abu is as diverse
as the city itself. It was once a part of the Chauhan kingdom
of Rajasthan and served as a summer resort for the Rajput
kings of the region. After that, it was leased by the British
government from the then Maharaja of Sirohi for use as the
headquarter of the resident to Rajputana (i.e. Rajasthan).
During the British rule in India, it was the favorite summer
destination of the British, who came here to escape the dusty,
dry heat of the plains particularly Rajasthan. It also served
as a sanatorium for the troops. The small huts and cottages
here tell stories of those times even today.
Mount Abu was the home of many saints and sages in the old
days. Legend has it that all the 330 million gods and goddesses
of the Hindu pantheon used to visit this holy mountain. It
is also the place where the great saint Vashishth lived and
performed a yagna (sacrificial worship on a fire pit)
to create four Agnikula (four clans of fire) to protect
the earth from demons. The yagna was supposed to have
been performed near a natural spring, which emerged from a
rock shaped like a cow's head.
According to another legend, once sage Vashishth's cow Nandini
was trapped in a deep gorge and could not free herself. The
sage appealed to Lord Shiva for assistance. The Lord sent
Saraswati, the divine stream, to help flood the gorge so that
the cow could float up. Vashishth then decided to ensure that
such mishaps did not occur in future. He asked the youngest
son of Himalaya, the king of mountains to fill the chasm permanently.
This he did with the assistance of Arbud, the mighty snake.
This spot came to be known as Mount Arbud and was later
changed to its present form - Mount Abu.
This place is held in reverence by Jains as well since Jain
scriptures record that Lord Mahavira, the 24th Jain Tirthankar
(spiritual leader), also visited Mount Abu and blessed the
city. |
| Places to see |
There are a number of sites
to visit in and around this small city. Besides being a hill
station, Mount Abu is also regarded as an important pilgrimage
site, with the Dilwara Jain temples, ashrams of saints and
some Hindu temples within its boundaries. The landscapes,
mountains and the holy Nakki Lake are some of the sites that
would make the trip to this place a delight. |
Getting there |
| By air |
Udaipur is the nearest airport
to Mount Abu, 185 km away. Tourists can easily opt for various
road transport facilities available at the airport for reaching
Mount Abu. A number of domestic airlines have their scheduled
flight to Udaipur, which connect the city to the major cities
in the country. |
|
By road |
Mount Abu is well-connected
by roads, as it is in close proximity to National Highway
No 8 and 14. A small roadway connects the city to National
Highway no 8, which in turn connects it to major cities like
Jodhpur and Delhi. There is also a good network of roads making
it accessible to other important places in the state. With
good road conditions you can also travel by private car/taxi. |
By
rail |
The railway station at Abu
Road is a two-hour drive from Mount Abu and is well-connected
to the rest of the country through a number of trains. It
is a major stoppage for a number of important long-distance
trains of the Western and Northern Railways. |
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