Gopal-Mochan Fair

In Ambala, the most famous fair is held at Gopal-Mochan near Bilaspur in Jagadhari tehsil. There is a sacred tank of the same name in the place. The legend is that once Lord Shiva while rescuing Saraswati, who was being pursued by Brahma, struck off the latter's head. A lock of hair was left in Shiva's hand and his body was blackened. For a long time Shiva was unable to cleanse himself. One night, when he was resting at a cow shed he overheard the conversation between a cow and her calf. The calf said he was going to kill his master, a Brahmin, to avoid being castrated. The cow tried to dissuade the calf from the sin, but the calf said, it knew of a tank where it could cleanse itself from the sin of killing a Brahmin. Shiva followed the calf the next day and saw it kill its master. The bodies of the cow and the calf where then blackened until they cleansed themselves by bathing in Gopal Mochan tank. Shiva followed their example and was like wise cleansed. Since then the water of Gopal-Mochan have retained their virtue. It is considered by many to be more efficacious than the waters of the Ganges at Hardwar. The Rin Mochan is another water tank situated close to the Gopal-Mochan. A big fair is held in the village in the month of Kartik.

Masani Fair

Haryana's most famous fair is held in honour of the goddess of small-pox, Masani whose temple is in Gurgaon village. There is a legend about this temple.

There was a shrine, sacred to the goddess Devi, locally known as Masani at the village of Kesopur in the Delhi district. Some two hundred and fifty years ago according to tradition, the Goddess appeared in a dream to one Singha, a Jat of some influence and a resident at the village of Gurgaon. The Devi communicated to Singha that she wished to leave Kesopur and directed him to construct a shrine for her in his village. At the same time, she authorised the fortunate Singha to appropriate all the offerings at her shrine. The orders of the goddess were promptly carried out. The shrine was built and flourished, its fame spreading far and wide .

A visit to the shrine is an antidote for small-pox and women from great distances flock to it with their children to obtain this benefit. The greatest crowd is in April-May but all the year around steady stream of people flows, Monday being the favourite day. Singha and his heirs enjoyed the offerings for two hundred years.

Basdoda Fair

At the village of Basdoda in Rewari tehsil there is an ancient temple of Bhaironji. A fair is held on Chatsudi 11th, and the two following days. For this, people come from as far as Delhi and Agra.

The Kartik Fair

The Kartik Cultural Festival of Haryana is the result of the consolidated effort of Haryana Tourism working with a number of allied agencies. The Kartik Cultural Festival was planned with the express view of promoting fort ambience, martial arts and the rich repertoire of both classical Indian music and dance, matching it with an equally rich variety of folk theatre. The festival had given new life to dying folk arts, martial arts and worked to bring traditional folk dances and music to the national stage. The Kartik Cultural Festival was held at the Nahar Singh Mahal that lies in Ballabgarh town. The fort, the venue of the festival was built by the forefathers of Raja Nahar Singh around 1739 A.D. Raja Nahar Singh after whom the palace is named ascended the throne in 1829 A.D. The Raja was a young king of the empire of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zaffar. He gave up his life fighting for the cause of the ruler in the country's First War of Independence in 1847. The Palace of Nahar Singh was identified for beautification by the Government of Haryana and restored to its original glory by a well known team of experts of Francis Nacziarg and Aman Nath who worked on many such restoration projects. The Mahal is an out-standing specimen of architectural design. The Palace was decorated with an elaborate cupola and minars. In pattern, the palace carries a reflection of the finesse of the mahals of Bharatpur.