India is the epitome of fairs, festivals and cultures which sets up the stage for geographical and cultural diversities to be enjoyed by people from every corner of the globe. Undoubtedly, India is one of the most prominent destinations for all kinds of traditional, religious, cultural fairs and festivals held in various months of every year and decided according to the Hindu calendar legends and significance. India is recognized as one of the country wherein every hundred kilometers one finds a different cultural identity to embrace and enjoy diverse backgrounds, heritage, and beliefs. These festivals and fairs are part of natural, cultural fabric of our society which is considered to be as a continuation of our culture. Here we bring some of the fascinating, vibrant, most beautiful festivals and fairs in India that are enthusiastically celebrated across the country.
Exploring India is one of the best examples of“Unity in Diversity,” as people from more than one religion, native languages, cultures resides here in peace. This versatility helps in enjoying the multiple cultures and varied tastes of exploring the country.
Let’s know about different festivals and fairs organized in Delhi all around the year:
Holi:
Celebrated as the festival of colors, Holi falls on the full night of Phalgun month, that spans from the end of February to the mid of March. Holi starts with the lighting of the bonfire on Holi eve. The festival promotes the social harmony among various classes and societies in India.
Persuaded by putting colors on every others face, Indian citizen loves to play with gulal and abeer. Children’s enjoys the festival at their best with their color filled pichkaris and balloons pouring color filled water to the passerby, crowd and their friends.
Uttar Pradesh is the best place for the people to experience Holi in their favorite colors. If you want to dig in-depth visit Varanasi and Mathura famous for Holi celebrations from years. Braj Bhoomi is one of the places that can be visited for experiencing the true essence of Holi festivities. The site is famous for its Lath Mar Holi and starts the celebrations a week before the holi day.
Dussehra:
Commonly called as Vijayadashami and celebrated for glorious victory of Lord Rama over Ravana. Festivities start with Navratri and Dussehra is conducted on the 10th day of Navratri, and people celebrate Dussehra with lots of energy and enthusiasm.
The rituals in Dussehra are conducted by burning Ravana’s puppet to show the world the victory of truth over evil. People have sweets and meet their near and dear ones in the evening.
Diwali:
Diwali is one of the most celebrated festivals celebrated with lights all over the country. The day marks the new year in Hindu calendar. Festival is celebrated with firecrackers, sweets, and diyas. People like to celebrate Diwali with their family and pay homage to Goddess Lakshmi. Diwali is a festival that is known to bring wealth and fortunate and has an old take attached too. The tale of Lord Rama who returned to his home after a victorious war over the demon Ravana with his wife and their Ayodhya celebrated their arrival with lights. Diwali usually spans in October or November.
The festival ends for five days, and the preparation of Diwali starts with the cleaning of the house. Painting, buying new household items, decorating your abode with various ways, making rangoli at the entrance. People worship in the night for Lord Ganesha and Goddess Laxmi to bless them with health, wealth and prosperity. Diwali is celebrated post completed of 20 days after Dussehra.
Pushkar Fair
Pushkar fair is also known as “Pushkar Mela” is famous for being the World’s largest camel fair too. The fair remains for two weeks and is held at “Kartik Purnima” also known as the full moon. This fair is well known for thousands of people visiting the fair and also known as largest traditional fair in India. The fair witnesses massive gathering of more than 11,000 cattle, camels and horses. The gathering of animals and other events attract more than 400,000 people for nine days to enjoy traditional Pushkar Mela. Competition like “longest mustache,” “bridal competition” and “ Matka Phod” are held and draws the attention of a large number of people. Recently a cricket match is also added as a similar one was conducted between local Pushkar team against foreign tourists.
Puri Rath Yatra Orissa
“Rath Yatra” is world famous and is conducted in Jagannath Puri, Orissa as one of the most awaited festivals in the country. Celebrated in June and July months, Puri Rath Yatra is a profound display for grandeur and extravagance. The festival involves the huge chariots having large statues of deities of Lord Jagannath along with his sister, Subhadra and elder brother, Balabhadra. The chariots are supposed to be carried with the help of strings and crowd of people gathering from various parts of the world. People gather on the streets to seek blessings of lord Jagannath. Puri Rath Yatra ends when the chariots reaches ‘Shri Gundicha Temple’ which is a temple dedicated to the aunt of Lord Jagannath. The three deities are kept in the temple and are fed with Chappan Bhog ( 56 dishes) and sweets for nine days. On the 9th day, they are carried back to Jagannath temple with the same pomp. Thereafter the vent is called as Bahuda Jatra. Millions of spectators and pilgrims gather during the festival to have a look and seek blessings.
Nanda Devi fair in Uttarakhand:
Organized in September, in Almora district, Ma Nanda Devi Temple always see a massive gathering of pilgrims from Uttarakhand and other far-flung areas. Dedicated to Goddess Sunanda and Nanda carries uniqueness as the process is said to be carried out in one of the well decorated Dola and taken through the streets of Almora. The fair is organized in temple premises during the process where many local craftsman and artisans sell their hand weaved handicraft items. Goddess Nanda is said to guard the Almora city and various other Kumaun regions, as an obeisance to the goddess the festival is celebrated with great zeal and pomp. Dances and folk songs are the major highlights of the grand celebrations.
Ambubasi Mela, Assam:
Kamakhya Devi Temple in Assam is one of the dedicated temples to the mother earth represented by Goddess Kamakhya. The temple is also famous for being a “ Siddha Shaktipeeth,” where the “yoni” of the Goddess Sati was believed to have fallen when Lord Shiva carried her dead body when she immolated herself. Annually a three days fair is organized in June month and is found that Goddess of the temple goes through the menstruation cycle in that particular period. The crowd puller fair faces a massive gathering of tantriks, pilgrims, saints, and various others curious travelers from multiple parts of the globe.
Tantriks can be seen performing rituals and attracting the media and international crowd. For these three days, the temple remains closed, and on the final days, temple priests washes the goddesses. The fourth day is marked by the hordes of spectates entering the temple and trying to get a divine glimpse of the Goddess.
Buddha Purnima, Bodh Gaya:
Budh Purnima is celebrated as a birthday of Lord Buddha in Bodhgaya at ‘Mahabodhi Temple.’ The city of Bodhgaya holds a great significance for the devotees of Buddha present all over the world as it the place where the Lord Buddha attained the enlightenment. Lakhs of devotees, tourists, and Buddhists Monks visit the temple and attend the celebrations and special prayers conducted on the very day. A festival of Budh Purnima proceeds with the chanting of Buddhist prayers and hymns throughout the day in the Mahabodhi temple complex, which is beautifully decorated with colorful buntings and prayer flags. Being a part of this divine celebrations will help you in having a lifetime experience at once.
Nagaur Fair:
The second biggest fair of the country is also known as Cattle fair of Nagpur. There are about 70,0000 bullocks, horses and camels are said to be traded by their owners. They are decorated well in various kinds of imaginative ways, and their owners look forward to flaunting their colorful turbans and long mustaches. Other traditional attractions are “Mirchi Bazaar” one of the largest red chili markets of India. The market also surface sale of iron-crafts, wooden items, and other camel leather accessories. Sports ranging from tug-of-war, Bullock and camel races also attract the considerable number of participants towards them.
Rann Utsav
Organized annually in Dhodro village, in Kutch district, the Utsav showcases colors of Gujarat and folk culture of the state. Also known as the white salt desert, Rann of Kutch is marked by several events to keep the visitors entertained. From sightseeing, entertainment, and adventure the festival has everything to offer to the participants. There are many options like hot balloon ride to keep a check on lovely folk dances to enjoying the aerial view of the full proceedings, and Rann Utsav offers everything to its visitors. Intricate kutch embroidery, handcrafted articles, and silverware are the best souvenirs to take back home.
Summer Festival:
Hosted by Mount Abu, the only hill station in Rajasthan will make you feel calm in sizzling hot weather and will add a glimpse of the culture of Rajasthan to your memories. The two days festival starts with the Buddha Purnima, filled with soulful ballads, a romantic spirit is sung followed by the folk dances like Ghoomar, Daph, and Gair. The beautiful attraction of the festival is Sham-e-Qawwali, where visitors are allowed to enjoy the incredible performances of traditional folk singers. Nakki lake boat races, tug of war, skating are some of the events gracefully hosted by the festival stakeholders.
Float Festival Madurai:
Held every year at the end of January or the first week of February, the float festival is one of the oldest one celebrated in the country. The idols of goddess and god established in Madurai temple are taken for a boat ride in the city lake and the tradition. Before starting the journey, the deities are placed on the bank of the river so that devotees can offer prayers to them. Later they proceed for a boat ride across the lake side.
Kumbh Mela:
Kumbh Mela attracts million of visitors in every three years. Kumbh Mela is considered to be one of the most significant religious events in the country, it faces considerable gathering of quite a high proportion to perform rituals and take a bath in magical water of Kumbh. Nagas are attraction in Kumbh Mela as they travel from miles with their Akhadas to the Kumbh Mela site.
The festival happens in the fixed venue in any of the four cities of the country known as Ujjain, Banaras, Haridwar, and Allahabad. Hindus from various parts of the world visit Kumbh to listen to the sermons recited by Sadhus at the site.It is one of the enlightening festivals in the world which is a must visit. Next Kumbh known as Ardh Kumbh is said to be organized in Sangam City Allahabad.
Kila Raipur Festival:
One of the quirkiest festivals across India, Kila Raipur, is one of the sports festival well known as Rural Olympics. Scheduled every year in the first week of February Kila Raipur near Jalandhar, the festival draws a crowd of thousands of men who travel to Punjab for enjoying Ox racing, kabaddi, wrestling, etc.
Poush Mela Shantiniketan:
The festival portrays the end of harvesting season in Bengal and is celebrated by farmers throughout the state as Poush Mela symbolizing the success of farmers life. It is celebrated at Shantiniketan at the behest of saint Devendranath Tagore. The mela also celebrates the Bengali culture through folk music like Boul sangeet as well as other folk dances for love and peace. Various rural artists gather from multiple states with their art work and put it on sale. By being here, the cultural diversity can indeed be experienced.
Boat Race Nehru Trophy, Kerala
A boat race is one of the events of Kerala’s cultural identity, celebrated on second Saturday of August in Kerala. The festival is celebrated in Punnamada lake at the backwater Alappuzha town. The festival showcases the crafted boats of different sizes and shapes that competes among themselves, and the primary attraction is the snake boat race and the winner is said to receive the Nehru Trophy.
Jaisalmer Desert festival, Rajasthan:
Celebrated in February at the Sandstone city named as Jaisalmer is one of the fascinating festivals of Rajasthan held for three days. The festival brings the life of Rajasthan the music, folk culture, the tradition and culture of the nomadic life of the desert of India. The three days festival showcases music, dance and folk tales performances. Camel being one of the critical animals in desert and main attraction of the festival.
Tarnetar Mela, Gujarat:
Tribal fairs are quite popular in India and one such fair is held in Tarnetar village in Gujarat. The festival is also found to be one of the marriage marts or swamvars in the country. The show allows tribal men to dress eloquently carrying the beautiful umbrella. This is one of the cultural events with folk dance and music performances for entertainment.
Konark Dance Festival, Odisha:
India’s one of the most significant festival known as Konark dance is considered to be one of the epitome and the dancing heritage of our country. The celebration is held in Sun Temple which is also a UNESCO world heritage site. Organized in February, it is considered one of the most significant cultural festival held throughout the country.
Modhera Desert festival Gujarat
The dance festival celebrated in the backdrop of the Modhera Sun Temple is the effort made by the tourism department of Gujarat and bring back the life of the medieval period. The festival is held in January every year and said to have the most beautiful competition for the dancing talent in the country celebrating the art.
Hornbill Festival, Nagaland
The festival is unique and is celebrated in the north-eastern part of the country, known as Nagaland. The region showcases quite rich tribal traditions and heritage, and the festival is an effort as a part of the tourism industry of Nagaland. Celebrated every year for seven days starting from 1st to 7th December also depicts the Naga way of life which is the principal attraction for the tourists.
Hemis Festival Ladakh:
The northernmost corner of India is comprised of the cold desert of Ladakh. Hemis is one of the festivals known for beauty, worship and color. It commemorates the death of saint Padmasambhava, is visited for understanding the culture of Ladakh and knowledge about Buddhism too. Festival scheduled in June or July is held at the famed monastery in Leh. The highlights of the festival are said to be masked dance performed by Lamas and dressing in various colorful dragon masks and costumes.
Jaipur Literature Festival:
One of Asia’s literary event the festival also found to be bringing the bright names together for the world of literature and is said to converge at famous Diggi Palace in Jaipur city for about three days for enjoyment and intellectual bliss. The Festival is renowned for bringing famous authors under one roof for reciting and discussing the most exceptional work of art. It is held in the last week of January and is an opportunity to visit the Pink city and delighting your literary senses.
Sonpur Mela, Bihar
One of the largest cattle fairs in whole Asia is a festival continued for more than two thousand years since the ruling of Mauryan Empire. The fair is meant for purchase and sale of livestock like dogs, birds, buffaloes, goats, horses, and donkeys. The main attraction of the fair is the elephant market which finds hundreds of elephants lined up at the shore of river Ganga. The festival brings back the memories of traveling back in time and shows how the ancient people use to trade.
Elephant Festival, Jaipur
A big royal festival, held at the occasion of Holi in the pink city, Jaipur and is loved by people all over the world. Elephants decorated lavishly from head to toe are allowed to showcase their beauty. The elephant decorated most beautifully gets the award. The festival is comprised of elephant racing, dance, and tug of war between the elephant and humans.
These are a few festivals that speak about the diversified culture of India, and how it is different in creating its unique place in the universe and showcasing their culture. Believe us there are lot many festivals and fairs in the corners of the country which are remaining and being discussed in our upcoming posts.
We, at Travelastu, look forward to your queries and can customize travel tours especially for you. Travelastu has Itineraries for most of the fairs and festivals and allows the people from all over the world to visit and see various flavors and cultures of INDIA.
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