As the name suggests, it is a festival where the elephants are the centre of attraction. This festival is celebrated on the day of Holi, the Indian festival of colours. They stride majestically parading their decorated trunks and tusks.

Every year on the day after Holi, the old stadium at Jaipur, the Chaugan (originally planned for elephants), forms the venue for a spectacular jamboree and is brought alive with elephants, dancers, musicians, and onlookers from the entire globe. The festival begins with an impressive procession of the majestic animals lovingly painted and tastefully attired with glittering ornaments and embroidered velvets. Then follows the camels and horses, followed by lively folk dancers at their entertaining best.

Most of the participants are female elephants. The mahouts (elephant keepers) take great care to decorate the elephants, painting their trunks, foreheads, and feet with floral motifs and adorning them from tusk to tail with interesting trinkets. The game of polo forms one of the highlights of the festival. Dressed in saffron and red turbans, the teams try to score goals with long sticks and a plastic football. The most interesting event of the day is a tug of war between the elephants and men are some of the attractions.

Finally, the tourists are invited to mount the elephants and play Holi. Participants dance with great vigor-the excitement rising to a crescendo.

Rajasthan Tourism revived the tradition of the Rajput Maharaja’s by including the Elephant Festival in the cultural calendar. The present-day pageant, originated only a decade ago, was devised especially with the tourist in mind. The inclusion of the game of polo is more recent, being inspired by a cartoon in Punch magazine that showed the Indian polo team atop an elephant after it won all the international tournaments.

A program of Dhaph and Gair dance to demonstrate the spirit of Holi and a dazzling display of fireworks complete the day leaving unforgettable memories.