Fairs & Festivals

India celebrates innumerable fairs & festivals throughout the year. Some of the major festival are :

January :
» Republic Day - 26th January (national holiday)
» Makar Sankranti - Both Makar Sankranti and Pongal falls in the same. Makar Sankranti is a harvest festival and generally celebrated in almost all the parts of India in various ways with various names. In Tamil Nadu it is known as Pongal and celebrated for 4 days continuously. Makar Sankranti is celebrated on the 14th & 15th of January every year.


February :
» Goa Carnival - One of the most popular festivals of India, the Goa carnival is a three-day fest. This festival of Goa usually starts off on Sabado Gordo (Fat Saturday) and concludes on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday)-the eve of Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of the season of Lent. Mid feb


March :
Holi & Mahashivratri is generally celebrated in the month of Falgun of the Hindu Calendar, that from mid February to mid March of English Calendar.
» Holi - Holi is the festival of colours, in which people all over India play with abir (colours) and throw colours at each other and also apply some on each others face. This is one of the major festivals in India
» Mahashivaratri - In Mahashivaratri people celebrates Lord Shiva's marriage with Goddess Parvati. This festival is celebrated throughout India, mostly north, east and west.


April :
» Baishakhi - Baishakhi is celebrated all over India, but in different ways. Basically, Baisakhi is a harvest festival and at some parts of India it is also celebrated as a New Year.


May :
» Buddha Purnima - Ladakh celebrates numerous festivals in its various monasteries and gompas throughout the year. But Buddha Purnima is celebrated in the month of May every year here. As this was the Day of Lord Buddha's Birth, Enlightenment and Mahaparinirvana, it is the most auspicious day for the Buddhists and is celebrated all over the world. Buddha Purnima is also very auspicious day for the Hindus, as Lord Buddha is also believed to be the reincarnation of one of the Hindu trinities - Lord Vishnu.


June :
» Hemis Tse-chu and Lamayuru Kab-gyat Festivals - 14 days - June - July, both are celebrated in Ladakh.


July :
» Hemis Tse-chu and Lamayuru Kab-gyat Festivals in Ladakh - 14 days - June - July
» Karsha Gu-stor Festivals in Ladakh - 15 days - July
» Korzok Gu-stor Festival in Ladakh - 15 days - July - August
» Rath Yatra - Rath Yatra or Car Festival though celebrated all over India, it originated in Jagannath Puri on the eastern coast. of India. Every year the deities of Jagannath Mandir - Lord Krishna, Balaram and Subhadra - are traditionally installed on huge and heavily decorated chariots. Devotees in large numbers from all the parts of the globe come here to pull the chariots in a yatra (procession) through the streets to the Gundicha Temple, known as the home of Lord Krishna's aunt.


August :
» Independence Day - 15th August
» Korzok Gu-stor Festival in Ladakh - for 15 days - July or August at Ladakh
» Amarnath Yatra - Continues for one month in the month of Sravan (mid July to mid August) of the Hindu Calendar. The trip (yatra) starts from Delhi to Amarnath Caves and then back to Delhi. Devotees take this yatra to pay obeisance at the Ice Shiva Linga in the Caves of Amarnath.
» Teej - Teej is celebrated in many part of India and specially in north India, but it is best celebrated in Rajasthan. The festival is celebrated in the first week of August.


September :
» Ladakh Festival - 17 days - September
» Onam - Onam is the most important harvest festival of Kerala. It is celebrated in the Malayalam month Chingam (ending of August and beginning of September).
» Ganesh Chatturthi - Ganesh Chatturthi is the birthday of Lord Ganesh, the son of Shiva & Parvati. Mostly celebrated in the state of Maharashtra.


October :
» Durga Puja - Durga Puja is generally celebrated in the eastern part of India. This festival is celebrated by the Bengalis all over India, and largely celebrated in the state of West Bengal. Durga Puja is continuously celebrated for 9 days and the last five days are celebrated with much fun and fair. All the nine days are observed as Navratra all over India and the last day or the 10th day is celebrated as Vijaya Dashmi in West Bengal and as Dussera in the rest of India.


November :
» Deepawali - This is the festival of lights and celebrated all over the country, when people decorate their houses with lights and burst crackers all throughout the night.
» Pushkar Fair - This is the largest cattle fair in the world celebrated in the Pushkar in Rajasthan during the full moon day of the month of November. This festival is celebrated for a week and numerous cultural and regional events takes place to entertain the visitors. Hindu devotees visit Pushkar to take a holy dip in the sacred Pushkar lake and also to pay obeisance at the only temple of Lord Brahma in the world located at Pushkar.
» Guru Nanak Jayanti - The Sikhs commemorate the birth of the founder of their religion, Guru Nanak, according to the Indian lunar calendar. The celebrations last three days, with processions, music and long prayer sessions in the Gurdwaras, the Sikh temples.


December :
» Xmas - During the Xmas or Christmas, Christians all over the country commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, who was born on this day.
» New Year Eve - The New Year's Eve is celebrated with fun and frolic on the night of 31st December every year, which continues till the arrival of the 1st day of the next year.