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Matsya Festival

The Matsya Festival is one of the most popular and important festivals of Rajasthan and is held in Alwar and is known for showcasing the rich social and cultural heritage of the region. The two day festival celebrated in the month of October every year offers a variety of competitions, exhibitions, sports, traditional songs and dances, folk music and more. The Matsya Festival is attended by thousands of people including locals, national and international tourists.

Alwar – A Key Tourist Destination of Rajasthan

Alwar is an important district of Rajasthan and an exciting tourist destination. Abundantly blessed with nature, wild life and water bodies, this place has a rich history and cultural heritage that stretches back to 1500 BC. Known as Mewat earlier, the region developed a great reputation for its stunning art and cultural forms under the reign of the brave warrior, Maharana Pratap. Alwar was known as Matsya Desh or the Land of Fish was not a desert region then unlike its surrounding districts. The inhabitants were called Matsyas and threw their support behind the Pandava brothers in their battle against the Kauravas when they spent the 13th year of their exile in this ancient kingdom.

Matsya Festival – The Pride of Alwar

The two-day Matsya festival includes many adventure sports such as parasailing, hot air ballooning and zorbelling ball. An exciting and adventure-filled army exhibition is part of the festivities and is usually held at the Company Bagh venue. Health enthusiasts can take advantage of the yoga camp which is a part of the festival and organized in the morning hours at the same venue as Army exhibition.

The Festival’s Entertainment Factors

Matsya Festival also offers scintillating displays of local games and events.

Traditional Games Are Played with Gusto by Locals

Rumal Jhappatta’ is a sport in which players have to show their speed skills in grabbing a handkerchief or ‘rumal’ kept on the ground before the other team does. Rassa Kassi is the local version of the popular game tug-of-war and played by women in their colorful traditional attire. Teer Andazi is archery and one of the popular games at the festival that’s played by locals with bows and arrows made with native materials.

Other Salient Features

The Matsya Festival also includes Alwar Darshan of local sightseeing which helps tourists get a closer look at the lifestyles and customs of the local populace and the popular tourist destinations of Alwar. An archeology exhibition called Dharohar is also held at the festival destination. Children can take part in the drawing and essay competitions held on the occasion. This year children enjoyed some of the best movies made especially for them at the Children’s film festival held on the 2nd day of the Matsya Festival. Shehnai-wadan or flute recital by eminent artists is one of the highlights of the festival. There are many other types of competition and contests involving native folk dances, songs and music that keep the audiences enthralled for two whole days.

How to Reach Alwar


By Air

The nearest airport is the Jaipur’s Sanganer Airport which is 162 km from Alwar city.

By Road

Alwar is 151 km away from Jaipur by road and 158 km from New Delhi. It is well connected to other major cities of Rajasthan by road.

By Train

Alwar Railway Station is right in the center of the city. Express, Super fact and Mail trains run from Delhi to Alwar at fairly regular frequencies.

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