India is well known all over the world as a country of cultural and traditional festivals as it has many cultures and religions. One can enjoy the festival celebration in India every month. As it is a secular country full of diversity in the religions, languages, cultures and castes, it is always crowded with the people involved in the fairs and festivals celebration. People from each religion have their own cultural and traditional festivals. Some of the festivals are celebrated by the people of all religions in the entire nation. Each and every festival is celebrated uniquely in different ways according to the rituals, beliefs and its significant history behind. Each festival has its own history, legend and significance of celebration. Indian origin people in the abroad also celebrate their cultural festival with the immense passion.
India is a country with example of unity in diversity as it contains people of various religions like Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Jain, Christian and etc. Some of the festivals are celebrated at national level whereas some of are at regional level. According to the religions and rituals, festivals have been categorized into following categories:
Hindu Festivals
There are lots of cultural and traditional festivals celebrated by the people of Hindu religion all over the world. Hinduism is considered as the oldest organized religion of the world as well as counted as the third largest religion of the world. Each Hindu festival celebration has a special ritual to be celebrated in that way by the act of worship, offerings to deities, offering Ganga Jal, fasting, bathing in Ganga jal in early morning, feasting, Dan, Dakshina, Puja, Katha, Hoom, aarti and so many. All the people of Hindu religion celebrate their festivals by uniting together in community without any distinction of age, caste and gender.
The dates of the Hindu festivals are fixed according to the dates of the Hindu calendar, lunar calendar which depends on the sun and moon movements throughout the year. Some of the festivals of Hindu are celebrated as the historical mythology, some for seasonal changes and some for cleaning and keeping the environment safe. Some of the festivals celebrations are limited to the specific sects or Indian subcontinent regions.
There are many believes in the Hinduism because of various historical sculptures (Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata and Ramayana), ancient and sacred religious text (Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda), Hindus deities and etc. The birth and death anniversaries of the god and goddess are also celebrated in the Hinduism with lots of fun and frolic activities such as music, dance and etc. Below is the list of all the Hindu festivals:
Festivals in 2017
| Hindu Festivals | Date – 2017 |
| Lohri | 13th January, Friday |
| Makar Sankranti | 14th January, Saturday |
| Pongal | 15th January, Sunday |
| Vasant Panchami | 1st February, Wednesday |
| Thaipusam | 9th February, Thursday |
| Maha Shivaratri | 25th February, Saturday |
| Holika Dahan | 12th March, Sunday |
| Holi | 13th March, Monday |
| Chaitra Navratri | 28th March, Tuesday to 5th April, Wednesday |
| Ugadi/Telugu New Year | 28th March, Tuesday |
| Gangaur Festival | 30th March, Thursday |
| Mewar Festival | 29th March, Wednesday – 31st March, Friday |
| Ram Navami | 5th April, Wednesday |
| Mahavir Jayanti | 9th April, Sunday |
| Hanuman Jayanti | 11th April, Tuesday |
| Rath Yatra | 25th June, Sunday |
| Guru Purnima | 9th July, Sunday |
| Onam | 4th September, Monday |
| Raksha Bandhan | 7th August, Monday |
| Kumbh Mela | 29th August, Tuesday to 18th September, Monday |
| Janmashtami | 14th August, Monday |
| Ramlila | 08th September, Friday to 08 October, Sunday |
| Ganesh Chaturthi | 25th August, Friday |
| Brahmotsavam | 22nd September, Friday to 1st October, Sunday |
| Pitr Paksh | 5th September, Tuesday to 19th September, Tuesday |
| Rambarat | 8th October, Sunday |
| Navratra | 21st September, Thursday to 30th September, Saturday |
| Dussehra | 30th September, Saturday |
| Maharishi Valmiki jayanti | 5th October, Thursday |
| Karva Chauth | 8th October, Sunday |
| Dev Uthani Ekadashi | 31st October, Tuesday |
| Dhanteras | 17th October, Tuesday |
| Diwali | 19th October, Thursday |
| Govardhan Puja | 20th October, Friday |
| Bhai Dooj | 21st October, Saturday |
Muslim Festivals
All the people of Muslim religion enthusiastically celebrate their all the Islamic festivals all over the world. There are many religious festivals which they celebrate with great passion and dedication by following the date of their Islamic calendar. Some of the very important Islam festivals are Ramzan (Ramadan), Id-e-Milad, Muharram, Bakr-Id and etc which they celebrate in special ways by offering prayers in the mosques, feasting, fasting and wishing to each other.
They decorate their homes with colored lights and other things in the evening and celebrate throughout the night by getting together. Some of the Islamic festivals have been declared as the public holiday in the educational institutions, government offices and other working place. Islam was founded by the spiritualist Muhammad around the 7th century which has become the 2nd largest religion worldwide. The Islam has five most significant Pillars such as “Shahadah (Faith), Salah (Prayer), Zakah (Donate), Sawm (Fasting) and Hajj (Pilgrimage)”. Below is the list of all Muslim festivals:
| Muslim Festivals | Date – 2017 |
| Barawafat | 11th December, Monday |
| Milad-Un-Nabi | 2nd December, Saturday |
| Giaravahin Sharif | 22nd January, Sunday |
| Hazarat Ali’s Birthday | 11th April, Tuesday |
| Shab E Miraj | 24th April, Monday |
| Shab-e-Barat | 5th May, Friday |
| Jamat-Ul-Vida | 23rd June, Friday |
| Id-ul-Fitr (Ramzan Eid) | 26th June, Monday |
| Id-ul-Zuha (Bakrid or Eid Ul-Adha) | 2nd September, Saturday |
| Muharram | 20th September (Evening of Wednesday) to 20th October (Evening of Friday) |
Sikh Festivals
As India is considered as the country of numerous religions, cultures and traditions that’s why it is known as having unity in diversity. People of Sikh religion have lots of unique and ritual festivals which they celebrate with full courage and enjoyment. They commemorate the lives of their 10 Sikh gurus including their teachings. Some Hindu festivals are also celebrated by the people of Sikh religion having different reasons of celebration.
All the worship at the festival in Sikhism is directed towards the holy book called “the Guru Granth Sahib” which was first compiled by the Sikh guru, Guru Nanak and later edited by the Sikh Guru, Arjan. The Guru Granth of the Sikh religion has the place of deity among people and taken out on a palanquin in the public processions while celebrating any Sikh festival. They involve lots of music and religious songs, readings from the holy book, holy songs, singing of gurbani while celebrating their festivals in order to attach with God. Below is the list of all Sikh festivals:
| Sikh Festivals | Date – 2017 |
| Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti | 5th January, Thursday |
| Lohri | 13th January, Friday |
| Holla Mohalla | 13th March, Monday to 15th March, Wednesday |
| Sodal mela | 27th of September, Wednesday |
| Guru Ramdassji Birthday | 9th October, Monday |
| Guru Nanak Jayanti | 4th November, Saturday |
| Guru Purab | 4th November, Saturday |
| Installation of Guru Granth Sahibji |
Jain Festivals
People from Jain religion have lots of rituals and religious ceremonies to be celebrated as the festival. Their rituals belong to the idol worships in various ways and festivals belong to the life events of Tirthankara which involves the purification of the soul. Their rituals are divided in two parts named Karya and Kriya. According to the Jain Svetambara there are six obligatory duties called Six Avashyakas which are “Chaturvishnati-stava: praising Tirthankaras, Kayotsarga: meditation, Pratikramana: expiation of past sins, Pratyakhyana: renunciation of anything, Samyika: practising serenity and meditation and Vandan: respecting teachers and ascetics”.
According to the Jain Digambara there are six duties which are “Dana: charity, Devapuja: worship of Tirthankaras, Guru-upashti: respecting teachers and ascetics, Sanyam: controlling self by following different rules, Swadhyaya: studying spiritual texts and Tapa: austerities” which has been involved as a fundamental ritual activities of the Jains. Below is the list of all Jain festivals:
| Jain Festivals | Date – 2017 |
| Deep Diwali | 3rd November, Friday |
| Mahamastak Abhishek | |
| Mahavir Jayanti | 9th April, Sunday |
| Paryushan | 18th August, Friday |
Christian Festivals
As India is a land of variety of cultures and ethnicity because of celebrating lots of colorful festivals by the people of different religions. People of the Christian religion celebrate their festivals like Christmas, Easter, Good Friday and etc with big enthusiasm and fun filled activities. People from other religions also become involve in the Christmas celebrations which proves the unity in diversity of India.
There are various famous places in India where the Christian festivals are celebrated such as Goa as most of the oldest and beautiful churches are there. They do feast, prayers and processions while celebrating their festivals. Below is the list of all Christian festivals:
| Christian Festivals | Date – 2017 |
| Good Friday | 14th April, Friday |
| Easter | 16th April, Sunday |
| Christmas | 25th December, Monday |
Buddhist Festivals
People from Buddhist religion celebrate their festivals well connected to their Lord Buddha and the Bodhisattvas. It is considered that the Buddhist festivals were first started by the lord Buddha and He advised his followers to be in touch with each other to strengthen their bond. Buddhist has their own beliefs and rituals of celebrating historical festivals. The do worship of the historical objects while celebrating their festivals.
Their festivals become more religious, spiritual and intellectual which are not restricted to any service of the community. Below is the list of all the Buddhist festivals:
| Buddhist Festivals | Date – 2017 |
| Losar | 27th February, Monday |
| Buddha Purnima | 10th May, Wednesday |
| Hemis Gompa | 3rd July, Monday to 4th July, Tuesday |
| Ullambana | 5th September, Tuesday |
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