What kind of picture triggers in your mind when it comes to India? Most of the people would think of multiple cultures, food, and festivals in India. I would totally agree with this. India is home to diverse people and their varied cultures. When I mention culture, a lot of things can be related to it, especially their lifestyle, eating patterns, food, and festival. Wherever you travel in India, you can definitely find culture embedded with the soil and that is clearly reflected in the forms of the festival. Hence you can say, India is the land of the festivals.
Irrespective of their religion, caste, and creed people celebrate the festival and make most of the joy out of it. Another reason the festival brings people together and unites them. No matter what the festival is they just celebrate it with all the enthusiasm. There are approx. 300 festivals in India considering the big and the small fairs. Almost every month is decorated with one or the other festivals. If you are visiting India then do witness these festivals.
National festivals of India reflect the shades of patriotism towards the country. On the Independence Day and Republic day, you can find children are dressed neatly having a tricolour flag in hand or a badge on the shirt. If you are in Delhi, then definitely experience the ceremonial Parades at Rajpath, Delhi here you can witness unity and cultural richness as well as the power of the country.
So if you are planning to book festival tour packages in India, it is important to know some of the popular festivals that are actually eye-striking.
Here’s a List of Top Festivals Celebrated in India:
1. Goa Carnival
Goa is considered the beach state of India. The Goan Carnival is the cherry on the cake if you are planning to visit Goa in India in the month of February. The whole tour starts at Mumbai passing through Goa, Cochin, and ends at Mumbai. The carnival is celebrated since the 18th century, it was introduced by the Portuguese.
The highlight of the carnival is a colourful theme decoration on roads, the dance, and music performed by a local artist are mesmerizing. The Goa has its beauty decorated with beaches and Churches. During the tour, you can do sightseeing in Mumbai accompanied by a romantic cruise on the Cochin Backwaters. In Cochin, Jew town and Dutch Palace are the best places to visit.
2. Puri RathYatra (Orissa)
Orissa is full of temples and sacred places. What you can find the best here is the spectacular ‘RathYatra’- the Chariot Festival. It is celebrated for 8 days at the Jagannath temple of Puri in the month of July. You can witness thousands of people coming from different parts of the country and participating in the procession.
The holy ritual of ChheraPahar is done by the royal family of Orissa. And the Chariortis is 45.6 feet in height with 18 wheels to it. The other places to visit are Puri beach, Konark temple, Chilikalake, and Raghurajpur artist village. With this tour, you could also do the sightseeing of Kolkata.
3. Arattupuzha Pooram or Pooram Gajamela
This festival is all about elephants. It is one of the mammoth festivals celebrated at Vadakkumnathan temple in Thrissur, Kerala. It is celebrated in the month of April every year where thousands of people participate and can witness dozens of elephants decorated in yellow and red silk.
The 10 day festival at Thirunakara Temple dotes the procession of 22 elephants on each day of the festival. Trivandrum - Kovalam - Alleppey - Periyar - Munnar - Kumarakom - Thrissur makes one of the best strings to experience in India. You can visit and trace the rich culture of Kerala by visiting Kovalam beach, Alleppey backwaters, Munnar hill station, and Periyar Wildlife sanctuary.
4. Janmashtami
It has many names such as Gokulashtami, DahiHandi, Kanudo and many more. It is celebrated to mark the birthday of Lord Krishna in the month of August. Though it is celebrated all over the country, in North India it is celebrated at its best.
In Mathura, in the birthplace of Lord Krishna, this festival is celebrated with a lot of religious. The temples here witness the flamboyant and the aesthetic celebration on this day. If you are planning to visit India and want to experience this festival then choose the Mathura- Vrindavan- Agra package.
Here, you can watch Raslila, a drama which showcases the love story of Radha- Krishna. Then in Dahi handi, human pyramids are made to break the Matki (pot) which is tied on a great height. Such activity is performed all over India. The other spots that can be visited are Madan Mohan Temple, ISKCON temple, Gita Mandir, RadhaKund, and PremMandir. In Agra, TajMahal is the best place to visit one along with, Agra fort and Fatehpur Sikri.
5. Durga Puja
During the Durga Puja, you can see here the humongous pandals and idols of Goddess Durga. The way the idols have been sculpted and the minor works are done on it are mesmerizing. Here you can also see the rangoli designs and paintings on the roads which are sometimes over a kilometre long.
Kolkata has major Durga Puja attractions; you can find colourful aesthetics of Indian culture and traditions. To make a trip more interesting visit Dakshineswar Kali Temple in Kolkata, Batasia Loop, and Ghoom Monastery at Darjeeling, Rumtek Monastery and ChortenStupa, Gangtok. When you fly to India, make sure to visit west Bengal and taste the scenic beauty of it.
6. Kumbh Mela
Ujjain is also known as the city of gods. It is famous for its Kumbh Mela that begins in the month of April and end in May. Kumbh Mela is a fair where the largest gathering in the world happens. It is the holiest congregation of Hindus. Along with Kumbh Mela, you can visit the beautifully carved temples of Omkareshwar, Maheshwar temple, Rajarajeshwara Temple, Akhileshwara Temple, and Vithaleshwara Temple. The tour captures the glimpses of Ujjain – Indore – Omkareshwar -- Khargaon.
7. Hemis festival
Leh Ladakh is one of the dreams to come true destinations for many. The scenic beauty of this place is mesmerizing. But you can make your travel experience amazing and unforgettable by visiting Leh in the month of June. June is the month when Ladakhi’s celebrate their cultural festival known as Hemis. Hemis festival tour packages are one of the popular packages that enable you to experience the place as well as the culture of Ladakhi’s.
The list doesn’t end here, a festival such as Navratri, Dusshera, Ganesh Chaturthi, Brahmotsavam, and many more are celebrated at the mass level. Besides this, there are harvest festivals in India, which highlights people grateful towards newly harvested crops. Different region marks harvest festivals in different time periods due to the diversity in climate. No matter in which part of India you may wonder, you will definitely enjoy the taste and goodness of the festivals celebrated here.