Bamboo poles dressed as a bride and groom sway above the crowd each January as the Nandidhwaj procession heads for Siddheshwar Temple, an island in its lake. Legend says the saint Siddharama offered his yoga staff to a young woman who wished to marry him, and the city still celebrates the wedding while the Gadda fair fills the shore with stalls.
Beyond the festival, Bhuikot Fort's double walls rise beside the same water, and shops stack Solapuri chaddars woven on local looms. Summers are hot and dry, the monsoon is modest, and winters turn mild and clear. A Local Friend can open a door you would not have knocked on, like a family workshop full of jacquard looms.
