Indian Festivals
Celebrations of fairs and festivals form a wondrous and joyful events for people in India. These are celebrated with great enthusiasm and devotion here. These are the times when people gather together, linked by ties of social and religious beliefs. Witnessing the popular fairs and festivals here will prove to be a memorable experience for you. These are best means of understanding the lifestyle, beliefs and culture of Indian people.
Tourists love the way in which the festivals are celebrated in India. Some of them intentionally plan their trip as per the schedule of the fair and festivals of India.
The following are few of the popular Indian festivals.
Holi
Holi is festival of colors, falling usually in the month of March. It celebrates the victory of good over evil. The celebration of the festival takes place for two days. On the first days spiritual prayers and activities takes place on Holika dahan. While on the second day people play by sprinkling colored water, rub colored powder on each other faces and have parties, and dance under water splash/shower. The most fascinating part of the festival is the drink called Bhang (God Shiva’s blessing drink). The festival is also known for spreading love and affection among people. It is a very carefree festival that's great fun to participate in if you do not mind getting wet and dirty.
Tourists find this Holi festival very fascinating seeing people dance on the streets with colored faces. They like to participate in such colorful festivals and come from far off places.
Deepawali
Deepawali or Diwali is a festival of lights. This is celebrated in all Indian states as well by Indians all over the world. This is celebrated to mark the return of Lord Rama, his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, to their kingdom Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. To celebrate their return, the people of Ayodhya are believed to have lit up their houses and streets with lamps and the tradition is followed till date. People also conduct Lakshmi Puja to please the Goddess of Wealth.
Deepawali also represents the start of the Hindu New Year. It is known as the "Festival of Lights" for all the fireworks, small clay lamps, and candles that are lit during the celebrations. These lights are said to represent the victory of good over evil, and brightness over darkness. The candle-light makes Diwali a very warm and atmospheric festival, and it's observed with much joy and happiness.
Pushkar Camel Fair
During the Pushkar Mela (Camel Fair), an astonishing amount of 50000 camels come together on the tiny desert town of Pushkar, Rajasthan. The fair is organized every November for five days. It is thr World's largest camel fair wherein the camels are dressed up, paraded, shaved, entered into beauty contests, raced, and of course traded. It is a unique experience witnessing this this old, traditional style Indian festival.
Every ingredient that makes Rajasthan a distinct place can be spotted in the fair including men dressed in colorful traditional clothes, women in mirrored skirts and vivid shawls, embroidered clothes, exquisitely designed jewelry, pots and ornaments. The fair falls on the full moon of Kartik Purnima and offers a unique opportunity for rajasthani shopping as well. The acrobats, jugglers, snake charmers and fire-eaters will leave you mesmerized with their skilled performances. On top this you can also have fun cruising on a camel safari.
Kerala Temple Festivals
The Kerala state of India is home to a large number of temples that are an intrinsic part of the culture of Kerala. These temples are renowned for their exotic temple festivals conducted during different auspicious times of year. Each festival has a different set of legends and myths behind it, depending on the temple god. The main attraction at these festivals is the elephants, decorated with ornaments. The elephant processions are accompanied by colorful floats, drummers and other musicians.
The Kerala Temple Festivals attract devotes from all over the state as well as the neighboring south Indian states too. Recently, these temple festivals have become so popular that they have become a major tourist attraction. Witnessing a temple festival of Kerala will leave you overwhelmed with their exotic customs and the huge scale of celebrations.
Goa Carnival
During February, the whole of Goa celebrates the much famous Goa carnival festival. It remains alive with music and color for three days and nights on the Goan streets. The 'Carnival’ is exclusive and unique to Goa, and was introduced by the Portuguese who ruled Goa for over five hundred years. The festival has been celebrated since the 18th Century.
Although, Christians primarily celebrate the three-day festival, it has also absorbed the Hindus here. Though it started as a celebration enjoyed only by the local population, it has today crossed the state frontiers and attracts thousands of people from all over the country as well as tourists from around the world.
The carnival is meant to be a feasting-drinking-merrymaking orgy. Huge parades are organized throughout the state with bands, dances and floats out all night on the streets, and grand balls held in the evenings. The carnival concludes with the famous red-and-black dance held by the Club National in Panajim on the final day. Hotel bookings must be done in advance for carnival as the festival attracts thousands of tourists.
Boat Race
Khajurao Dance festival
The Khajurao dance festival is held every year from 25th February to 2nd March. It is conducted at the open-air auditorium in front of the Chitragupta Temple dedicated to the Sun God and the Vishwanatha Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. This is among the largest, well maintained and most easily accessible temple group of Khajuraho. Khajuraho temples present sculptures depicting various skills and arts of courtly love including dance and music in stone. The festival was started in 2002, to present the Indian classical dance performances to the world. Some of the best artists and performers from the dance field gather here from various states of India to participate in the festival and perform. Dances performed here include Kathak, Bharathanatyam, Odissi, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Kathakali etc. Recently, modern Indian dances have also found their place in the Khajuraho Dance festival. Along with the dance performances one can also see a number of craftsman trading off their indigenous arts and crafts to the visitors.
Festivals Calendar 2009
Indians follow either the Indian lunar calendar or the Islamic calendar, and therefore festival dates changes from year to year according to the calendar. For year 2009 the Indian fairs and festival calendar is located below.
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