Festivals

Festivals of the Year

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October

Navaratri

There are four seasonal Navaratri. However, in practice, it is the post-monsoon autumn festival called Sharada Navaratri that is the most observed in the honour of the divine feminine Devi (Durga). The festival is celebrated in the bright half of the Hindu calendar month Ashvin, which typically falls in the Gregorian months of September and October.

Festival	Difference	Common
Navratri- Gujarat	9 Nights of Garbha, and Atman (soul, self) is prayed to in the form of clay pot.	Fasting, Social gatherings, Exchange of sweets, 9 nights of celebrations.
Golu	These displays are typically thematic, narrating a legend from a Hindu text or a secular cultural issue.
Durga Puja	The victory of goddess Durga in her battle against the shape-shifting buffalo asura Mahishasura.  Pandals are made and idols of Goddess Durga is put up and people go and visit them.

Durga Puja

The victory of goddess Durga in her battle against the shape-shifting buffalo asura Mahishasura.  Thus, the festival epitomises the victory of good over evil, though it is also in part a harvest festival celebrating the goddess as the motherly power behind all of life and creation.

Though the primary goddess revered during Durga puja is Durga, the celebrations also include other major deities of Hinduism such as Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth, prosperity), Saraswati (the goddess of knowledge and music), Ganesha (the god of good beginnings), and Kartikeya (the god of war). In Bengali traditions, these deities are considered to be Durga's children and Durga puja is believed to commemorate Durga's visit to her natal home with her children.

Durga puja is a ten-day event, of which the last five days involve certain rituals and practices. The festival begins with Mahalaya, a day on which Hindus perform tarpaṇa by offering water and food to their dead ancestors. The day also marks the advent of Durga from her mythological marital home in Kailash. The next significant day of the festival is the sixth day (Sashthi), on which devotees welcomes the goddess and festive celebrations are inaugurated. On the seventh day (Saptami), eighth (Ashtami) and ninth (Navami) days, the goddess along with Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha, and Kartikeya are revered and these days mark the main days of worship with recitation of scriptures, puja, legends of Durga in Devi Mahatmya, social visits to elaborately decorated and illuminated pandals (temporary structures meant for hosting the puja), among others.

Each day of the festival stands for an auspicious colour, which is dedicated to all the avatars of the Goddess. You can make the festive days more special by wearing the corresponding colour.

9 Colors of Navratri.

Day	Color	Significance
1	Yellow	This day is dedicated to Shailputri, which symbolises nature and the special colour for this day is yellow. This hue is a symbol of joy and happiness.
2	Green	The second day honours Brahmacharni and is dedicated to spiritual knowledge. On this day, one should wear the green colour.
3	Grey	On the third day, you should wear grey colour. This day is dedicated to Devi Chandraghanta, who carries the half-moon on her forehead.
4	Orange	The fourth day is dedicated to Goddess Khushmanda. To represent brightness, happiness and energy, one should wear orange colour on this day.
5	White	This day is dedicated to Goddess Skandamata. The day represents purity and one should wear white colour
6	Red	The day is dedicated to Devi Katyayani and the colour for this day is red. The hue represents the anger of the Goddess towards the enemies.
7	Dark blue	This day honours Devi Kaalratri. The Goddess' immense power is represented by the dark blue colour.
8	Pink	The eight day is dedicated to Goddess Mahagauri. On this day you should wear pink colour, which represents hope, self-refinement and social upliftment.
9	Violet	The last day of Navratri is dedicated to Devi Siddhidatri. The Goddess blesses knowledge and fulfils one's expectation. The colour for this day is violet, which represents aspiration and power.

 

Gujarat

Navaratri in Gujarat is one of the state's main festivals. The traditional celebrations includes fasting for a day, or partially each of the nine days such as by not eating grains or just taking liquid foods, in remembrance of one of nine aspects of Shakti goddess. The prayers are dedicated to a symbolic clay pot called garbo, as a remembrance of womb of the family and universe. The clay pot is lit, and this is believed to represent the one Atman (soul, self). In Gujarat and nearby Hindu communities such as in Malwa, the garbo significance is celebrated through performance arts on all nine days. The most visible is group dances from villages to towns called Garba accompanied by live orchestra, seasonal raga or devotional songs. It is a folk dance, where people of different background and skills join and form concentric circles.

North India: RAM LILA

In North India, Navaratri is marked by the numerous Ramlila events, where episodes from the story of Rama and Ravana are enacted by teams of artists in rural and urban centers, inside temples or in temporarily constructed stages. 

The festival and dramatic enactment of the virtues versus vices filled story is organized by communities in hundreds of small villages and towns, attracting a mix of audience from different social, gender and economic backgrounds. In many parts, the audience and villagers join in and participate spontaneously, some helping the artists, others helping with stage set up, create make-up, effigies and lights.

On the 10^th day there is an effigy of Ravan burnt and thus Dussehra is celebrated.

Kolu or Golu

These displays are typically thematic, narrating a legend from a Hindu text or a secular cultural issue. They are also known as Kolu, Gombe Habba, Bommai Kolu or Bommala Koluvu.

During the golu display season, families visit each other with gifts to view and chit-chat over the golu display, share festive foods, and sometimes play music or sing devotional songs together.

The Kolu is predominantly displayed with depictions from Hindu mythological Puranas text, court life, royal procession, ratha yatra, weddings, everyday scenes, miniature kitchen utensils, anything a little girl would have played with. It is a traditional practice to have wooden figurines of the bride and groom together, called 'Marapacchi Bommai' or 'Pattada Gombe', usually made of sandalwood, teak or rosewood and decorated with new clothes each year before being displayed on the Kolu.  The bride is presented with 'Marapacchi Bommai' during the wedding by her parents as part of wedding trousseau to initiate the yearly tradition of 'Navaratri Golu' in her new home with her husband. These dolls come as couples dressed in their wedding attire, depicting husband and wife symbolizing prosperity and fertility and the start of the bride's Gollu collection. Display figurines are passed on from one generation to another as heirloom.

On the 9th day Saraswati Puja, special pujas are offered to goddess Saraswati, the divine source of wisdom and enlightenment. Books and musical instruments are placed in the puja and worshipped as a source of knowledge. The 10th day, Vijayadasami, is the most auspicious day of all. It was the day on which evil was finally destroyed by good. It marks a new and prosperous beginning. Later, on the evening of Vijayadasami, one of the doll from the display is symbolically put to sleep, and the Kalasa is moved a bit towards North to mark the end of that year's Navaratri golu. Prayers are offered to thank the Lord for the successful completion of that year's Kolu and with hope of a successful one the next year. Then the Kolu is dismantled and packed up for the next year.

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September

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Onam

 

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Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated as a birth anniversary of the Lord Ganesha. Ganesha is a son of Mata Parvati and God Shiva. Lord Ganesha is a most favourite God of everyone especially children. He is the God of wisdom and prosperity so people in Hindu religion worship him to get the same. 

People bring a clay statue of the Ganesha and keep in home on Chaturthi and do worship for 10 days and perform Ganesh Visarjan on 11th day which means on Anant Chaturdashi.




Devotees bring Lord Ganesha to their home and perform idol stapna or placed with full devotion. It is believed in the Hindu religion that when Ganesha come to home brings lots of wisdom, prosperity and happiness to the home however when go back after 10 days take away all the problems and obstacles with him. Lord Ganesha loves children too much and called as friend Ganesha by them. Group of people prepare pandal to worship Ganesha. They decorate pandal with flowers and lightings to make attractive. Many people from the nearby areas come daily to the pandal to offer prayer and offerings to the God. They offer many things and especially Modak as He loves it too much.

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August

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Krishna Janmashthami

Krishna Janmashtami is the festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. 

This day is celebrated on the 8^th day of the the Hindu month of Shravan. It is said that Sri Krishna was born at midnight and it was a dark and stormy night. This is why the festivities at temples reach the peak during midnight, with singing of bhajans, dancing and performing of aarti.  Some people keep fasts on this day.

  

The idol of Lord Krishna is bathed with panchamrit- which is made of panch or 5 ingredients- Milk, ghee, oil, honey and water of the holy river Ganga. The panchamrit is later distributed as Prasad or blessed food. People enjoy this day by dancing the raaslila, which is also called the dance of Krishna and Radha.

 

Dahi Handi is celebrated the day after Krishna Janmashtami.

The term means "earthen pot of yoghurt". The festival gets this popular name from legend of baby Krishna. According to it, he would seek and steal milk products such as yoghurt and butter and people would hide their supplies high up out of the baby's reach. Krishna would try all sorts of creative ideas in his pursuit, such as making human pyramids with his friends to break these high hanging pots.

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February

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Basant Panchami

Basant Panchami is celebrated in honor of Goddess Saraswati.

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Basant Panchami Significance of Ma Saraswati’s form

The four arms of Goddess Saraswati represent the four aspects of human personality in learning: mind, intellect, alertness, and ego. She rides on a white goose (swan). The swan is known for its peculiar characteristic of separating water from milk, indicating that one should possess clear vision and knowledge to discriminate between good and evil.

Basant Panchami festival for students

It is believed that Goddess Saraswati was born on this day. Students worship the goddess on this day. Children are taught reading and writing their first words on this day - as it is considered an auspicious day to begin a child's education on Basant Panchami. Students keep their notebooks, pens and educational items near the statue of Goddess Saraswati and chant Ma Saraswati slokas to get her blessings. They distribute sweets among the devotees and share their joy of winning Ma Saraswati’s blessings.  

Nature is at its best during Basant Panchami

The god of love Kamadeva is also worshipped on this day. Basant Panchami falls in the spring season and the nature is at its best during this season. All around us we find flowers blooming and birds chirping. The nature is permeated by a cheerful mood and a lovely spirit. Yellow is the predominant color of the flowers blooming during the spring season. 

The celebration of Basant Panchami and yellow color

'Yellow' is the dominant color of this festival as it signifies the ripening of fruits and crops. The mustard fields in North India blooms during this season giving a yellow coat to nature. People wear yellow clothes, offer yellow flowers to Goddess and put a yellow, turmeric tilak on their forehead. They visit temples and offer prayers to various gods. New clothes are purchased for this festival and many delicious dishes are especially prepared for this particular occasion.

Colour yellow is associated with the concept of Guru or Teacher

Colour yellow is deeply associated with teachers, wisdom and also auspiciousness. The other gods who are shown wearing yellow attire in Hinduism are Lord Dakshinamurti, Lord Dattatreya and Brihaspati or Guru (Jupiter). Notably, all these god forms are associated with imparting wisdom. Hence we find that associating yellow color with Mother Saraswati has got a deep significance of portraying Mother Saraswati as the Goddess of wisdom.

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