India is a very spiritual country, so it is no surprise that there is a festival for almost everything. The festivals are rooted deep in their heart and are a big part of the life and existence of the people of India. There are plenty of festivals held at various times of the year. These festivals are a unique opportunity for foreigners and visitors or tourists to see the rich culture of the Indian people.
Holi
The Holi festival is one that is called the “Festival of Colors.” It is undoubtedly one of India’s most popular festivals and the best known for people outside of India. The basis of the festival of colors is the destruction and burning of demoness Holika, which became a possibility through intense devotion to Lord Vishnu. The festival’s real fun is people using water guns to squirt on each other and throwing colored powder at themselves. This practice is one that they associate with Lord Krishna (who is said to be Lord Vishnu’s reincarnate). He would typically prank the girls in his village by drenching them in colors and water. This festival also sees the traditional consumption of bhang (a paste made out of the cannabis plant). The Holi festival is fun and is also very carefree. You can participate in if you don’t care too much about getting your cloth stained and wet. This festival holds around March if you’re interested in traveling for it.
Ganesh Festival
The Ganesh festival runs for a period of 11 days and is a time when the birth of Lord Ganesha, the Hindu elephant-headed god, is honored. The Ganesh festival always starts with an elaborate, well-crafted, and beautifully decorated statues of Ganesh placed in public podiums and people’s homes. These statutes are worshipped every day for the duration of the festival. And at the end of the festival, the statutes are paraded down the streets with plenty of singing and dancing before they’re submerged in the ocean—one of the best places in India to experience this festival in Mumbai. For people looking to travel for this, it’s between late August and early September.
Navaratri, Durga Puja, and Dussehra
The Navaratri festival holds for ten days, and they use the first nine days to honor and celebrate mother goddess Durga in every one of her incarnations. On the tenth day, which is called the Dussehra, Ravan’s defeat, the demon king by Lord Ram and Hanuman (the monkey god), is celebrated. This day also coincides with the mother goddess Durga’s victory over Mahishasura (the evil buffalo demon).
According to researchers at uk.bestessays.com, in the eastern part of India, this festival is held mainly as Durga Puja and is the biggest festival in Kolkata throughout the year. They usually create huge statutes of the mother goddess Durga which are immersed in the river. In Delhi, they hold nightly Ramlila plays while surrounding the Red Fort, and they recount the episodes from Lord Ram’s life. This holds around October.
Diwali
The Diwali festival is held in celebration of the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. This festival celebrates and honors Lord Ram and Sita, his wife, on their return to the kingdom of Ayodhya after Lord Ram defeated Ravan and rescued his wife, Sita, on Dussehra. There are usually plenty of fireworks, candles, and small clay lamps in display and is therefore referred to as the “Festival of Lights.” For many families in India, the Diwali festival is the one they anticipate the most in the year. You could attend this festival at the eleventh hour around November.
Onam
In Kerala, a state in India’s southern part, the Onam festival is the year’s premium festival and is the most anticipated. This is a very lengthy harvest festival which is used to mark the mythical King Mahabali’s homecoming. The festival showcases the heritage and culture of this state. The grounds at the front of people’s houses are decorated with beautifully arranged flowers and patterned to celebrate the king’s return and welcome him. They also wear new clothes, play games, sports, dance, and feast from banana leaves for celebrating this festival. They celebrate Onam between August and September for those looking to travel down for it.
Krishna Janmashtami (Govinda)
The Krishna Janmashtami festival is also referred to as Govinda and is used to commemorate Lord Krishna’s birthday. There is a part of the festival that is extremely fun, and that’s the part that has a couple of people climbing on top of themselves so that they can form a human pyramid and try to get to the point where they can break some open clay pots that were strung high up from buildings and are full of curd. This activity is known as the Dahi handi and is usually done on day two of the festival. Mumbai is the place to be if you want to get the best experience at this Indian festival. It holds around November if you’re looking to travel down.
Pushkar Camel Fair
The Pushkar Camel Fair sees quite a number of camels meet up at Pushkar, a small desert town in Rajasthan (an Indian state). These camels are usually shaved, paraded, and dressed up to take part in this beauty contest, raced, and then sold. If you really want to catch a glimpse of this festival, you should be there on time as it starts and ends very early.
Justin is a blogger from Leicester, England, UK. When not teaching his little students and rooting for Leicester FC, he loves to share his thoughts and opinions about education, writing for paper writing service, and uk.bestessays.com.
