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Eternal India
encyclopedia
FESTIVALS AND FAIRS
(Three Kings) celebrated on Epiphany (January 6) and the feasts
dedicated to Our Lady on December 8 and February 2. On Monday
after the fifth Sunday in Lent, the Franciscan Third Order holds a
very colourful procession in Old Goa with more than 40 statues of
saints taken out for the occasion. The most animated of all holi-
days,
Carnival,
lasts during the three days before Lent begins, and
at Carnival time everyone seems to be playing a guitar or dancing in
fancy dress - sometimes both at once.
SOUTH
The two big all-India festivals,
Dussehra
(September-October)
and
Diwali
(October-November) are celebrated in the south in differ-
ent contexts.
Dussehra
in the north is celebrated as the triumph of
Rama over Ravana but in Karnataka where it is a 10-day affair, the
victory of good over evil is seen as the goddess Chamundeswari's
triumph over the demon Mahisashura.
Dasara
, as the festival is called
in Karnataka, can be seen at its best in the royal city of Mysore where
10 days of pageantry come to a climax on
Vijayadasami
day with a
spectacular parade of caparisoned elephants, horses and tableaux. The
parade ends with fireworks. A cultural programme of
Yakshagana
dance-drama,
Bharatanatyam
classical dance and Carnatic and Hin-
dustani music is held at the same time.
In the north,
Diwali
(October, November) is celebrated to mark the
return of Rama to Ayodhya. In the south
Deepavali,
as it is known, is
the triumph of Krishna over the demon Narakasura. The celebrations
begin at dawn when the demon was slain. Fireworks are set off, lights
are lit, oil baths taken, new clothes donned and sweet meats ex-
changed between relations, friends and neighbours.
KARNATAKA
Dasara
(or
Dussehra
as it is called in the North) comes from a
Sanskrit word meaning "ten nights". The Mysore
Dussehra
is rightly
famous for its pomp and pageantry handed down by the 16th century
rulers of the Vijayariagar Empire. The ten-day festival, dependent on
the lunar calendar, begins sometime in October with the Maharajah's
palace in Mysore being lit up by countless electric bulbs. Festivities
culminate on the 10th day when camel corps, cavalry and infantry
parade in the most brilliant, gala uniforms.
The Kodavas of the Coorg District have their own colourful folk
dances, like the Huthri and Bilakat (dance round the light).
Suggi,
popular in North Coorg and associated with the harvest, comes in April.
The Banjaras in the mountainous regions and valleys and forest areas
of the state have their own dances. One of the earliest forms of folk art
in Karnataka State is the rustic play (dance-drama) known as
Yakshagana
which dates back to the 12th or 13th century. The texts have been
handed down from father to son for hundreds of years.
Karaga
(April) a spectacular festival at Bangalore. The Veer
Kumars (devotees) go in procession as an incarnation of primordial
power with swords.
Feast of St. Philomena
(August 11th) - a decorated
image of St. Philomena is taken out in a procession through Mysore
City.
Hazrat Khwaja Bande Nawaz Chisti Urs,
Sufi saint: a religious and
cultural celebration of Muslims at Gulbarga (October/November)
KERALA
Kerala has a host of festivals that are as varied and interesting
as its landscape.
Onam
is a picturesque harvest festival lasting 3
days (August/September). Caparisoned elephants take part in
processions and there is a good deal of feasting, singing and
dancing. Held around the same time are the
Vallomkali
(snake)
boat races at Alleppey on the second Saturday of August every
year and the mammoth snake boat processions forming a part of the
temple festivals at Aranamula and Papiyad. The most spectacular
Kerala temple festival is the
Pooram
at Trichur (April-May) when
two goddesses Paramikkavu and Thiruvambady, and eight other
deities are honoured. Thirty elephants take part in a morning
procession dressed up in nattipatams (gold-plated chain mail) with
priests seated on them holding the deity, silk parasols and peacock
feather fans. This is repeated in the evening after sunset. Flaming
torches light up the route of the procession. There is a fireworks
display which goes on till dawn. The following morning the
elephants assemble again, there are three hours of drumming and
then more fireworks.
Kerala is the home of Kathakali, one of India's classical dance
forms which are described in more detail in our chapter on Indian
dancing. Lavish costumes and exotic masks heighten the artistic effect
of this pantomime which depicts stories from the Hindu epics. Tullal
is a gay stage dance of quick movements in which the performer
elucidates the verses and sings.
The best performances of Kathakali, in a traditional setting and
with clear English explanations, are given every evening at the See
India Foundation in Ernakulam.
TAMIL NADU
The harvest festival,
Pongal
(called
Sankranti
in Karnataka) is
celebrated with great pomp in Tamil Nadu where it is a three-day affair.
The first day is
Bhogi,
on the eve of Pongal, when evil spirits are
driven out of homes by removing old pots and clothes and throwing
them into a bonfire. Houses are cleaned up and whitewashed.
On Pongal day families have baths and put on new clothes. The
newly - harvested rice, sugarcane, turmeric, and other ingredients are
cooked in new pots. This sweet dish is known as
pongal,
after which
the festival is named.
The third day is
Mattu
(cattle) Pongal, devoted to the animals on
whom the farmer depends to carry out his farming tasks. The horns of
the cows and bullocks are polished and painted and flowers are hung
around their necks.
The night of the full moon in November/December is the festival
of lights (
Karthikai
). Thiruvannamalai is the venue of some of the most
impressive celebrations. There is a three-day arts festival around
December 20th.
The Tamil New Year is generally celebrated in mid-April when at
Kanchipuram and other temple towns a colourful car festival is held.
In April/May on the day of the full moon the temple goddess of
Madurai, Meenakshi (incarnation of Parvati), is given away in great
pomp by Alagar (incarnation of Vishnu) to the god Sundareswarar (in-
carnation of Shiva) amid great rejoicing.
The
Teppam
(float) festival (January-February) in Madurai cele-
brates the birthday of the 17th century ruler, Tirumalai Nayak. The
temple gods are taken in a procession to the temple tank where they are
placed on a huge barge. There is music and chanting. The tank is lit
by thousands of oil lamps in built - in niches.
Velanganni
festival (September): thousands of pilgrims flock
to the 'Lourdes of the East’ to be cured of their infirmities.