FairGujarati · Hindu
Shamlaji Mela
Kartik Purnima Mela
Next date
Tuesday, 24 November 2026
- Tithi at sunrise
- Full Moonuntil 20:23
- Nakshatra
- Krittikauntil 23:25
- Lunar month
- Kartik
- Sunrise
- 06:57Sunset 17:54
In short
A fortnight on the Meshwo at Shamlaji, and the largest Adivasi gathering in north Gujarat.
The story
Shamlaji is Krishna as Shamalio, dark-faced, in a temple above the Meshwo in the Aravalli hills. The fair runs about a fortnight around Kartik Purnima and is attended above all by Bhil and Garasia families from the hills either side of the Rajasthan border, for whom the journey is the observance. They come on foot and by cart, camp on the riverbank, bathe in the Meshwo and take darshan.
Why it matters
A Vaishnav temple whose fair belongs to the Adivasi communities around it more than to the town, which is unusual and is why the fair is larger than the shrine.
What people do
The bathe in the Meshwo comes before darshan, and the camp on the bank is part of it rather than a convenience.
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