Festivals — Diwali, Holi & more

In India, there are so many festivals that supposedly something is celebrated somewhere in the country every third day. For travelers, the major national festivals are the most impressive experiences.

The Most Important Festivals

• Diwali (October/November): The "Festival of Lights" and the most important Hindu festival. For five days, oil lamps (Diyas) and candles are lit, houses decorated, fireworks set off, and sweets given away. Symbols: the victory of light over darkness, good over evil. Most spectacular in Varanasi, Jaipur, and Delhi — but the whole country lights up.
• Holi (March): The "Festival of Colors" — the most exuberant day of the Indian calendar. Colored powder (Gulal) is thrown, water guns and balloons fly, and social barriers fall for a day. Bhang (cannabis lassi) flows abundantly. Wildest in Mathura and Vrindavan (Krishna's birthplace, 150 km from Delhi). Wear old white clothes — the colors won't come out!
• Ganesh Chaturthi (August/September): For ten days, the elephant-headed god Ganesh is celebrated — with huge, colorfully painted Ganesh statues, carried in processions to the sea or river and immersed on the last day. Most grandiose in Mumbai.
• Navratri & Durga Puja (September/October): Nine nights of dance and worship of the goddess Durga. In Gujarat: Garba dance (thousands dance in circles). In Kolkata: opulent Durga Puja pandals (temporary art installations).
• Eid ul-Fitr & Eid ul-Adha: The Muslim festivals are celebrated with particular intensity — feasts, new clothes, and communal prayers. The Jama Masjid in Delhi is an impressive place for this.
• Pongal (January, Tamil Nadu): Harvest festival — rice is cooked in new clay pots until it overflows (symbol of abundance). Cows are decorated and revered.