CATEGORIES
Festivals and Fairs
The Indian calendar is
a long procession of festivals; if you can find yourself in the right place at
the right time, it is possible to go through your visit with a festival each
day. The harvest festivals of the south, the immersion of Ganesh in Bombay, the
car Festival of Puri, snake-boat races in Kerala, Republic Day in Delhi...
every region, every religion has something to celebrate. Below is a selection
of the major ones, but there are countless others; enquire at local Government
of India Tourist Offices for details.
JANUARY / FEBRUARY
|
Sankranti / Pongal: Mainly Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. 3 days
and colourful: Tamil harvest festival. Republic Day:National: establishment
of Republic 1950. 26th January. Grand Military Parade and Procession of
dancers etc. Delhi. Vasant Panchami:National (Mainly in the
Eastern region): Hindu – dedicated to Saraswati the beautiful
Goddess of Learning. Women wear yellow saris. Floating Festival: Madurai: Birthday
of local 17th century ruler; elaborately illuminated barge carrying decorated
temple deities at the Mariamman Teppakulam Pool amids chanting hymns.
|
FEBRUARY / MARCH
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Shivaratri: National: Solemn worship of Hindu deity, Lord
Shiva. Fasting and chanting. Special celebrations at Chidambarum, Kalahasti,
Khajuraho, Varanasi and Bombay. Holi: Mainly northern,
popularly called the festival of colors. Advent of Spring. Lively and much
throwing of coloured water and powders. Public Holiday. Mardi Gras: Goa: Mainly
three days during lent. Unique celebrations at this carnival. Ramnavami: National: Birth
of Rama, incarnation of Vishnu. No processions. Plays and folk theaters. Mahavir
Jayanti: National:Jain festival; birth of Mahavira, the 24th
and last Tirthankara. Easter:Good Friday / Easter Sunday National.
|
MARCH / APRIL
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Kumbh Mela: The oldest and most important of the Hindu festivals. It
takes place every three years, at one of the four great holy cities; Nasik in
Maharashtra, Ujjain (MP), Prayag (Allahabad) and Hardwar (both in UP). It is
attended by millions of pilgrims who take a holy dip in the sacred Ganges
River.
|
APRIL / MAY
|
Baisakhi: Northern India, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu; Hindu
Solar New Year. Bhangra dancing. Women wear yellow saris. Pooram:Trichur: New
Moon. Spectactular sight of large number of elephantscarrying ceremonial
umbrellas going round the temple; midnight fireworks display.
Id-Ul-Zuha: (Bakrid): Muslim, National: The most celebrated
Islamic festival in India, commemorating the sacrifice of Abraham. Id-Ul-Fitr(Ramzan
Id): Muslim, National: Celebration to mark the end of
the month of Ramadan. Meenakshi Kalyanam: Madurai. Marriage
of Meenakshi with Lord Shiva. Colourful temple festival. Deities borne by
colossal chariot. Ten day festival. Fair: Rajasthan: Urs
Ajmer Sharif.Ajmer, 6 days. Religious cultural and commercial
extravaganza dedicated to the Sufi. Music; no procession.
|
JUNE / JULY
|
Rath Yatra: Mainly Orissa. Greatest temple festival in honour of Lord
Jagannath (Lord of the Universe). Three colossal chariots drawn from Puri
temple by thousands of pilgrims. Similar festivals, on a smaller scale, take
place at Ramnagar (near Varanasi), Serampore (near Calcutta) and Jagannathpur
(near Ranchi).
|
JULY / AUGUST
|
Teej: Rajasthan- Particularly Jaipur: Procession of
the Goddess Parvati to welcome monsoon; elephants, camels, dancers etc. Women
wear green saris. Colourful.
Raksha Bandhan: Northern and Western India. Legendary reenactment,
girls tie rakhis or talismen to men’s wrists. Colourful build up. Naag
Panchami: Mainly Jodphur, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Dedicated to
the green thousand-headed mythical serpent called Sesha. The day is also
observed in many other parts of Western and Eastern India. Amarnath
Yatra: Hindu: Lidder Valley, Kashmir at full moon.
Pilgrims visit the place where Lord Shiva explained the secret of salvation
to his consort Parvati.
|
AUGUST / SEPTEMBER
|
Independence Day: (15th August). National: Independence Day.
Prime Minister delivers address from Delhi’s Red Fort.
Janmashtami: National, particularly Agra, Bombay and Mathura; Lord Krishna’s birthday. Onam: Kerala’s Harvest Festival; spectacular snake boat races in many parts of Kerala. Ganesh Chaturthi: Mainly Pune, Orissa, Bombay, Madras, dedicated to elephant-headed God Ganesh. Giant models of the deity processed and immersed in water. Colourful, and a particularly worth visiting on the Day of immersion at Bombay. |
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER
|
Dussehra: National: The most popular festival in
the country, celebrated in different ways in different parts of the country.
In the north and particularly in Delhi (where it is known as Ram Lila), plays
and music recall the life of Rama; in Kulu, the festival is also very
colourful celebrated. In Bengal and many parts of Eastern India it is known
as Durga Puja, and in the South as Navaratri.
Fair, Himachal Pradesh: Kulu Valley to coincide with Dussehra (10 days). Gandhi Jayanti: National: Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. No processions. Diwali: National: One of the most lively and colourful festivals in India. In some parts, it marks the start of the Hindu New Year. In Eastern India, the goddess Kali is particularly worshipped; elsewhere, it is Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, who is venerated. Everywhere there are magnificent illuminations and fireworks. Gurpurab: Mainly in northern India. Anniversaries of ten gurus, spiritual teachers or preceptors of Sikhism. No procession. |
NOVEMBER
|
Muharram: Muslim. Commemoration of Imam Hussain’s martyrdom.
Tiger dancers lead processions of colourful replicas of martyr’s tomb.
Colourful, particularly at Lucknow.
Bihar: Largest cattle fair in the world; 1 month Sonepur, Patna; on banks of the Ganges. Pushkar Mela: Pushkar, near Ajmer, Rajasthan. Important and colourful. Camel and cattle fair, attended by Rajputs from miles around. Camel races and acrobatics etc. |
DECEMBER
|
Christmas Day: National: Most exuberantly celebrated in
Goa, Bombay and Tamil Nadu.
|
Note: Besides the above festivals there are hundreds
of festivals and fairs which are of regional significance, celebrated with
equal pomp and colour. The most authentic of these are the following:
(1) The Temple
Festival in South India, a list of which if often available at Govt. of India
Tourist Offices,
(2) The many festivals
at Ladakh in Kashmir.
(3) The many festivals
in Rajasthan at a time when a festival of some kind is not either in Progress or
about to take place.
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