Gangaur Katha
Once, on Chaitra Shukla Tritiya, Lord Shankar, Mata Parvati and Narad Muni set out to wander the earth. When they reached a village, the news spread.
The women of the village's ordinary homes quickly came for the puja with turmeric, akshat and whatever they had at home on a thali. Seeing their true devotion, Mata Parvati sprinkled all the suhag-water on them and blessed them with unbroken good fortune.
A little later, women from rich homes came with many dishes on gold and silver thalis. Shiva ji asked, 'Parvati, all the suhag-water has been given away; what will you give them?'
Parvati ji said, 'I will give them suhag with my own blood.' She cut her finger and sprinkled drops of blood on them. Each received good fortune according to the drops that fell on her.
After this Parvati ji bathed by the river, made an image of Shiva ji from sand, worshipped it and offered sand as bhog. In this memory, Isar (Shiva) and Gaur (Parvati) are worshipped on Gangaur.
The tradition of Gangaur
In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, from the day after Holi for 16–18 days, unmarried girls and married women worship clay Isar-Gaur, sprinkle water with durva grass and sing folk songs like 'Gor Gor Gomti'. On Chaitra Shukla Tritiya, the Gangaur procession goes out with great festivity.
This is OmKiran Bhakti's retelling of the traditional katha in simple English; details of the katha vary slightly from region to region.