The Kvant fair offers an unrivalled opportunity to know-how the culture of tribal groups like Rathvas who come in large numbers from within Gujarat from Dahod and Godhra Districts and Alirajpur in adjoining Madhya Pradesh District. Kvant is a harvest festival celebrated with wild abandon through dance primordial blending the rhythm with the sashaying of the forest and the frolicking of the animals in the undergrowth. The fair is surrounded by the beating of drums, the susurrations of a variety of flutes and the stamping of feet, the Rathvas dance in a vast group keeping
time to the rise and fall of the crescendo of arrhythmic music in their tryst with destiny.

It is a celebration & gathering of the Rathva community to the joy of life. It is a completely enjoyment to watch the excitement of Rathva men and women dressed in their characteristic best clothes, meet to sing and dance. At the fair site, the atmosphere is festive. Women dressed in colour full clothes and bedecked in attractive jewellery, Man with painted bodies’ peacock feathers adorning their turbans, and masks can be seen dancing, playing musical instruments and forming human pyramids.

The dances are vibrant and enlivened by music, with gourds hung on the belts of the dancers rattling to the rhythm of the dance. A variety of tribal rituals can be witnessed during the fair. Jeep, buses and trucks are jam packed with people at their festive best heading towards the site of the fair. We can see the group of men playing the flute and women playing cymbals (manjeera) on the way to Kvant. Some men and women gather together to form a human pyramid and the surrounding atmosphere rides with the heightened energy and human spirit. Kvant is a harvest festival celebrated with wild abandon through dance primordial blending the rhythm with the sashaying of the forest and the frolicking of the animals in the undergrowth.

The fair is surrounded by the beating of drums, the susurrations of a variety of flutes and the stamping of feet, the Rathvas dance in a vast group keeping time to the rise and fall of the
crescendo of arrhythmic music in their tryst with destiny.

WHERE

The village of Kavant is located in the heart of the Rathva homeland near the town of Chhota Udepur about a 100 kms from Vadodara which has an air port, a rail link and is a major city. There are two interesting heritage properties which are ideal to stay in near Kavant, the royal palaces at Chhota Udepur and Jambughoda.

WHEN

The Rathva Festival at Kavant is a pagan ululation to the harvest and the link between man and nature celebrated since time immemorial. It is a gathering of the Rathva community from as far off as Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It usually begins on the third day after Holi.