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FESTIVALS AND FAIRS
Eternal India
encyclopedia
Mahavir Jayanti.
Jain festival dedicated to Mahavira, 24th Tir-
tankara (Saint). Best seen at Jain centres in Gujarat.
Ramanavami
: On the 9th day in
Chaitra
the birth of Rama is
celebrated. Rama's temples are decorated, religious discourses and his
life from
Ramayana
are recited. Devotees fast that day and visit
shrines. The Varadaraja Perumal temple at Pondicherry celebrates the
festival for 20 days with a grand Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman
chariot processions at major parts of the city.
Easter:
The Christian festival commemorating the ressurection of
Jesus Christ.
April/May
Pooram.
Trichur.
Meenakshi Kalyanam. Madurai. Spring Fes-
tival.
Celebrations in the almond orchards at Srinagar in Kashmir.
Baisakhi.
Celebrating the Hindu solar New Year. Best seen in
Punjab where Sikhs celebrate Guru Gobind Singh's formation of the
Khalsa brotherhood on this day in 1689.
May/June
Buddha Poornima.
Buddha had his birth, enlightenment and
attained
nirvana
on full moon night. Celebrated at all Buddhist
centres. Best at Sarnath, Bodhgaya.
June/July
Rath Yatra.
Puri (Orissa). Three gigantic temple chariots,
containing the deities Jagannath, Balabhadra (his brother) and
Subhadra are pulled through a sea of devotees.
Car festival:
Serempore (W. Bengal).
July/August
Teej.
Rajasthan. Especially Jaipur.
Nag Panchami.
Jodhpur. In honour of Naga, the serpent King.
Amarnath
yatra on full moon night, at Amarnath, near Phalgam.
Raksha Bandhan.
Northern and Western India. A sister ties
rakhi (tinsel and silk armlets) round the wrists ensuring honour and
protection of his fortune and seeking his security and blessings.
The sister gives him sweets and receives gifts from him. Rakhis
are also tied round wrists of close friends and neighbours.
August
Vishnu Digamber Music Festival.
Delhi.
Independence Day.
August 15. All over India but best in Delhi.
Nagapanchami :
Krishna's victory over the Serpent Kaliya is
celebrated by bathing, fasting, drawing figures of snakes on floors
and wooden boards and are worshipped offering rice flour and milk
at the snake pits. Ploughing of fields and killing snakes is avoided
and if killed by accident, snake figures are bathed in water.
August/September
Janmashtami..
(Krishna's birthday). All over India but best in
Mathura, Dwaraka, Agra, Delhi and Bombay.
Onam.
Kerala's harvest festival. The people of Kerala believe
that Bali visits them that day and so floral decorations are made to
welcome him. Games are organised, the Vallumkali (snake boat
race) is held at different places with about 100 oarsmen to the beat
and rhythm of cymbals, drums and songs. The day ends with girls
dancing around the brass lit lamps.
Id-ul-Fitr :
The festival when fast of the Ramzan ends, after
the new moon has been seen.
September
Ganesh Chaturthi.
Bombay. The birthday of Ganesha, or Gana-
pathi, the elephant - headed deity. Celebrations last 10 days. On the
10th day the images of Ganesha are taken to the Chowpatty beach and
ceremonially immersed.
Feast of Blessed Virgin Mary :
September 8th. A nine- day Novena
followed by a grand celebration ending with the benediction. Thou-
sands of people flock and participate in the occasion.
Pitra Paksh
: Observed to pacify the souls of deceased ancestors.
Observed over a fortnight.
Ram Lila:
Cities and villages of North India, a dramatic festival
portraying events from
Ramayana.
September/October
Navratri.
Ahmedabad.
Dussehra.
Called Ram Lila in Delhi and Varanasi, DurgaPujain
Calcutta and Dussera in Mysore.
October
Sadarang Music Festival.
Calcutta
Gandhi Jayanti
(Mahatma Gandhi's birthday) October 2.
Muharram
The period of mourning in remembrance of the death
of Hussain. The mourners move in a circle beating their breasts with
cries of
"YaHasan! YaHussain!”
or
"Ya-Ali”.
October/November
Diwali.
All over India but best in Bombay, Delhi and the north.'
Festival of Lights' dedicated to worship of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth.
The houses are decorated with lit earthen pots, children and elders let
off crackers and fireworks; men have meals with their sisters and other
women relatives who apply sandalwood paste or red mark (tika) on the
forehead and receive gifts.
November
Sonepur Fair.
Largest cattle fair in the world lasting a month.
Sonepur is in Bihar on the banks of the Ganga.
Sangeet Sammelan Music Festival.
Delhi.
Sir-SingarMusic Festival.
Bombay.
Guru Nanak Jayanti.
Birthday of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh
religion. Best seen at Amritsar and Patna.
Children's Day.
November 14. Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday is
celebrated all over India.
November/December
Pushkar Cattle Fair.
10 - day cattle fair in Pushkar, Rajasthan to
trade cattle, camels, goats, sheep, jewellery etc. Held beside the sacred
lake. There are camel races and Rajasthani melodies played on the
stringed ek-tara.
December
Lalit Sangeet Parishad Music Festival.
Varanasi.
Feast of St. Francis Xavier.
December 3. Goa.
Tansen Music Festival.
Gwalior.
Paus Mela Arts Festival.,
Santiniketan, Bengal
Christmas .
December 25: Birthday of Jesus Christ. Midnight
services, Carol singing and feasting.
Shanmukananda Arts Festival
: Bombay.