India is a country of different traditions, cultures and religions. The most amazing facts about India and Indians is that it has unity in diversity, which means surely India has diversity in nature, culture and customs, but we celebrate festivals together with love and Happiness. No matter which part of the country we live in, we will celebrate the festivals in every corner of the country. In India, we have different religions and the amazing part is the number of religions we have the more festivals we have. Festivals are the way of celebrating our happiness with our relatives and loved ones. Festivals are the reasons for recalling the bond and love with each other. Today we make a list of some amazing and most popular festivals of India. Through which we can explain briefly about the same. Let’s look at the 11 awesome festivals of India.
1. Diwali
Diwali, or Deepavali, or you can say Deepo wali Diwali because it is the festival of Lights which significance the lights of happiness. Diwali is one of the largest festivals of India, in which we celebrate the triumph of lights over the darkness and look at the brighter sides. Diwali is generally celebrated in October and November. On Diwali, we will decorate our house with lights and diyas along with fireworks. Diwali is a 5-day celebrating festival. The day is devoted to Lord Ganesh and God Laxmi. Diwali is a time of family gatherings, a gift-giving period and a festival of welcoming happiness and brightness in our lives.
2. Holi
Holi is a festival of colours and enjoyment. It is a Hindu festival but it is celebrated all over India with grace and happiness. The Holi festival is celebrated to celebrate the victory of positive over negative or good over evil. It is celebrated in March every year. It was believed that Holi begins with the demon Holika who was defeated by Prahlada the devotee of Lord Vishnu. Holi is celebrated with colour fights, dance, music and many activities. It is one of the most favourite festivals of all Indians as well as foreign travellers.
3. Navarati
Navarati is a great Indian Festival. This festival is devoted to the Goddess Durga and nine “avtar” of Durga Mata. Navarati simply means nine nights where the devotee celebrates all the nine nights with dandiya and dance. We devoted all nine days to Durga Mata and prayed to them for our betterment, wealth, health and happiness. We celebrate Navarati twice a year in April and October mostly. Navarati is celebrated all over India, but Navarati is celebrated in West Bengal as Durga Pooja with a lot of excitement and happiness. Gujarati love this festival because of the Dandiya Nights and Garba, which is Gujarat folk dance. This festival is a symbol of the power of females or girls.
4. Raksha Bandhan
Raksha Bandhan is one of the most amazing festivals and the concept of celebrating the festival is two pure. Raksha Bandhan is a festival of love and care between brother and sister. The festival celebrates the bond of brother-sister relation. Raksha Bandhan is a promise of every brother to protect her sister. All the sisters tie a rakhi on their brother’s hand, this rakhi is the symbol of Raksha. This day is very special for every brother and sister. Girls get gifts and wishes from their brothers. This festival is celebrated in every place in the country. This festival usually comes in August every year.
5. Janmashtami
Janmashtami is one of the most amazing festivals which is celebrated in India, in honour of the Birthday of Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna’s birthday is one of the most favourite festivals of Indians, they celebrate the day with a lot of rituals and prayers. Devotees will fast on Janmashtami day. The Festival is celebrated for two days. In Mumbai, this day is also celebrated with a Dahi Handi ceremony. Thousands of people will go to temples and pray. The devotees also decorate their homes and temples, at noon they celebrate Krishna’s birthday and decorate them with new clothes and pray to God for wellness and positivity. In Mathura and Vrindavan, which is Krishna’s birthplace, Janmashtami is celebrated with a lot of excitement.
6. Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival that is celebrated throughout India but it is specially celebrated in the State of Maharashtra. The festival lasts for 10 days. It is believed that Lord Ganesha was born on this day. Devotees of Lord Ganesha place a brand new Lord Ganesha statue in their home and worship them for nine days. In many places, stalls and Pandals are installed with Huge Statues of Lord Ganesha along with different themes of Social and Religious values. On the 10th day with a huge celebration, dancing, singing the statue is immersed in various water bodies such as the ocean, river, and/or lake.
7. Pongal
Pongal is a festival that is widely celebrated in the southern states of India but especially in the states of Tamil Nadu. Tamilians celebrate Pongal on the 10th month Thai of their Tamil calendar. Apart from India, the festival is celebrated by Tamil People in the Countries of Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore. Pongal is very similar to the festival of Makar Sankranti (mentioned below) as the festival is devoted to Lord Surya and also falls on the same day or the previous day i.e. 13th or 14th of January each year. Kolam artwork is used to decorate houses on this occasion.
8. Dussehra
Dussehra is celebrated to show the power of positivity over negativity. Dussehra symbolises that evil power can never win. According to Ramayana, Lord Rama defeated Ravana. On Dussehra, devotees burn the statue of Ravana to show the Triumph of good over evil. Dussehra is celebrated in October every year. It is celebrated on the 10th day of Navaratri, the festival is celebrated for 10 days. Devotees celebrate it in full enjoyment. Ramlila which means the play of Ramayana is enacted every year and also beautiful fairs.
9. Makar Sankranti
Makar Sankranti is celebrated each year on the 14th of January. This festival is devoted to Lord Surya (the Sun) as the sun proceeds into the Makar (Capricorn) Rashi and yellow clothes are widely worn. The festival is closely related to the festival of Pongal (mentioned above) which is also observed on the 13th or 14th of January in the southern states of the country. At the festival, the main attraction is kite flying. Hundreds of thousands of Kites could be seen in the north throughout India. Many kite flying competitions are organised at this festival and til ke ladoos are also distributed.
10. Maha Shivratri
Maha Shivratri is celebrated at the wedding of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. The day is devoted to Lord Shiva, who creates and protects the universe. The day is very special for Lord Shiva’s devotees, they celebrate the festival with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. Devotees bring will chanting Lord Shiva’s name. On Shivratri, devotees decorate Shiv Temple and sing, play bhajan and pray to God. Haridwar and Varanasi are the two places where Maha Shivratri is celebrated at a huge level, thousands of people visit there to celebrate Maha Shivratri. Devotees do Kanwar Yatra to show their devotion to Lord Shiva.
11. Gurpurab
Gurpurab is celebrated on the occasion of the Guru’s birthday. Gurpurab is the day of birth of Guru Nanak Dev, who was the first guru of the Sikhism religion. Gurpurab is Sikh’s most important festival but Gurpurab is also celebrated all over India. The Devotees of Guru do Nagar Kirtans, the day before Gurpurab. Devotees go to Gurdwara on the day of Gurpurab in the early morning to perform rituals and do “Seva” at Gurudwara. They also sing hymns and this day is also celebrated to show the devotion towards the Guru and teachers. Gurpurab is celebrated usually in November and December every year.
