Festivals

The Indian calendar is one long procession of festivals. These are as varied in origin as they are large in number. There are innumerable national, regional, local, religious, seasonal and social festivities. This is not surprising considering the fact that India is the land of gods, goddesses, saints, gurus and prophets.

Festivals here are characterised by colour, gaiety, enthusiasm, feasts and a variety of prayers and rituals. Travellers are struck by the scale and multiplicity of the festivities that populate the cultural scene of this land.

Some of the popular festivals are

Pongal is celebrated on the same day as Bihu, Lohri and Bhogi. But Pongal stretches over four days. The word Pongal literally means "boiling over" and celebrates the bounteous crops in the fields. This festival is the biggest event of the year for the Tamils as well as for the people of Andhra Pradesh.

Holi is a festival to celebrate good harvests and fertility of the land. Each year, without fail, the old and the young alike, gather into groups and indulge in a riot of colours. One could get away with almost anything on this day; squirting coloured water on passers-by and dunking friends in the mud pool saying "buraa na maano, Holee hai" (don't feel offended, it's Holi). Click here for a song from film 'Silsila' sung in the spirit of Holi.

Baisakhi, celebrated with joyous music and dancing, is New Year'sDay in Punjab. It falls on April 13, though once in 36 years it occurs on 14th April. It was on this day that the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa (the Sikh brotherhood) in 1699. The Sikhs, therefore, celebrate this festival as a collective birthday.

Eid The sizeable Muslim communities have their Ids in common with Muslims across the world. Idu'l Fitr, Idu'l Zuha and Id-i-Milad are the three festive occasions widely celebrated by Muslims in India.

Car Festival of Puri. At the temple town of Puri in Orissa, the image of the god Krishna (known as Jagannath in the State) is taken out with great ceremony in June-July each year. The chariots are 45 feet high and have 6 wheels. The procession or rath yatra draws huge crowds from all over the country. An atmosphere of almost hysterical devotion prevails on this day and in earlier years, devotees were known to have thrown themselves under the wheels of the rath in the hope of obtaining instant salvation.

Raksha Bandhan celebrates the love of a brother for his sister. On this day, sisters tie rakhi on the wrists of their brothers to protect them against evil influences.

Onam, the principal festival of Kerala, is celebrated against a setting of lush green vegetation. This picturesque harvest festival brings ten days of colour feasting, boat races, song and dance to the state.

Janmashtami celebrates incarnation of Lord Vishnu as Krishna on his birth anniversary. The temples of Vrindavan witness an extravagant and colourful celebration on this occasion. Raslila is performed to recreate incidents from the life of Krishna and to commemorate his love for Radha.

Muharram is not a festival in the celebratory sense as it mourns the Karbala tragedy when Imam Husain, grandson of Prophet Muhammad, was martyred in the early days of Islamic history. Wrestlers and dancers enact scenes depicting the battle at Karbala and at each step young men beat their breasts crying "Husain! Husain!" in collective sorrow.

Dussehra marks the triumph of Lord Rama over the demon king, Ravana, the victory of good over evil. Colossal effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhkarna and son Meghnath are placed in vast open spaces. Rama, accompanied by his consort Sita and his brother Lakshmana, arrive and shoot arrows of fire at these effigies, which are stuffed with explosive material. The result is a deafening blast, enhanced by the shouts of merriment and triumph from the spectators.

The festival is also celebrated with intense fervour and zest, in West Bengal and Bengalis nationwide, in the form of Durga Puja. The festivities commence on the first night in the month of Ashwin (September-October). The vibrant festivities last for ten days, of which nine nights are spent in worship, 'Navaratri'. The tenth day is devoted to the worship of goddess Durga, who occupies a special position in the Hindu pantheon of gods and goddesses. She is 'Shakti', the cosmic energy which animates all beings.

Deepawali the festival of lights is the most important Hindu festival, symbolising the victory of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness. The word `Deepawali' literally means rows of diyas (clay lamps). A family festival, it is celebrated 20 days after Dussehra, on the 13th day of the dark fortnight of the month of Asvin (October-November). This festival commemorates Lord Rama's return to his kingdom Ayodhya after completing his 14-year exile. Twinkling oil lamps light up every home and firework displays are common all across the country.

Gurpurva (festivals) are associated with the lives and birthday celebrations of the Sikh Gurus. Of these the important ones are the birthdays of Guru Nanak and Guru Govind Singh and the martyrdom days of Guru Arjun Dev and Guru Teg Bahadur. Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, was born in a Punjabi village in 1469. His birth anniversary, or Guru Nanak's jayanti, which falls in the months of October-November, is enthusiastically celebrated by Sikhs as gurpurva.

Christmas is celebrated in India broadly on the patterns adopted worldwide in which Hindus and Muslims join their Christian friends in night long festivities. Christmas is a major event in all Indian Christian households and one can see Catholic Goa come to life at this time of the year. The Carnival, preceding the Lenten period of penance is the most important event at Goa. Similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, it is an extravagantly colourful occasion. A carnival parade, full of colour and zest, it is virtually a celebration of life itself.

Here is a full calendar of Indian festivals: