Festivals of North India 
India
is a land of myriad festivals, in rhythm with the cycle of the seasons, with sowings
and harvesting. and around them have grown legends, most depicting the victory
of good over evil. These fairs and festivals lend color and gaiety to life and
Indian calendar is marked by plethora of such big and small occasions. Some festivals
are of religious nature, others are related more to, change of season and harvesting.
They have a long past and many have undergone major modifications. Though the
enthusiasm for some also seems to be fading, nevertheless they do bring about
a change in the lifestyle of the people. Some festivals and fasts are religion
specific protocols aiming towards communication with the divine. The liveliness
of the people is reflected in the colorful vibrancy of the fairs and festivals.
Processions, prayers, new attires, dance, music etc. are elements related to any
such celebration.
The Puri-Rath Yatra, Allahabad-Kumbha, Alleppey-Boat
Race, Pushkar-Camel Fair, Goa-Carnival so on and so forth all reflect the diversity
of the land and its people but common emotion of revived vigour, joy and sharing.
Vasant beckons spring. Scattered amongst the ripening wheat are
the bright yellow flowers of mustard. Tender blossoms appear on the mango tree
and 'song is bestowed upon the bird'. On that day everyone wears a special shade
of yellow. The festival is dedicated to Saraswati, goddess of learning and the
arts.
After about two months comes
Holi, the very end of our
cool season. It is a festival of colour, truly democratic and egalitarian. All
barriers are down, all inhibitions shed. Boys and girls, men and women of all
ages, all castes, and all classes participate. None is high and none is low. Anyhow,
when a person is plastered with colour he is not easy to identify. On the eve
of Holi bonfires are lit and Holi itself is celebrated by the throwing of colour,
by gaiety and noise, one could even say, by wild abandon. In time the festival
has also become associated with the 'Lila' of Radha and Krishna and has inspired
some of our most sensuous poetry.
Of all the seasons
it is the
Sawan (Monsoon) which has evoked the largest number of songs.
This is not strange, for summer in the plains of North India is long and hot.
As months go by anxious eyes scan the sky. It is a time for renewal. Swings are
hung at all likely places and women and children are seen swinging high into the
branches overhead accompanied by joyous singing.
Raksha Bandhan - the bracelet of protection - is a festival belonging to
the old days of chivalry. If the gift of a bracelet sent by a girl was accepted
by a man, he henceforth became her adopted brother, pledged to support her in
times of stress or war. Today it is just a ritual, though a charming one.
Close on its heels comes
Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna,
and the most beloved of all gods. The Krishna legend has caught the imagination
of our own people and now of many abroad. Krishna is intensely human. He's everybody's
child, full of mischief. Stories of his pranks are recounted as recent happenings.
As an ardent lover, he inspires our poets and artists, our music and dance.
Ganesh is the god of wisdom as well as of good fortune. As a granter of boons
he is worshipped at the beginning of every prayer and auspicious occasion.
Ganesh's
birthday (Chaturthy) falls at the end of the monsoon and is marked by special
festivities after which is image is immersed in the nearest river or the sea.
Every year in autumn, at the time of the full moon the Rajputs gather
to honour Lord Brahma, the god of creation at
the temple of Pushkar. This
is the only temple dedicated to the god in the country.
The female as
Shakti (Perennial Energy) has a central place in Indian tradition and Durga is
its militant form. She is the Mother and at the same time the destroyer of evil
forces. Her festival
Dussehra heralds the new planting season and also
celebrates her victory over the demon buffalo Mahishasura. These are also the
days of the Ram Lila, an enactment of the story of Lord Rama, an incarnation of
Lord Vishnu and the hero of the epic Ramayana. It is extraordinary how this ancient
story written in Sanskrit by Sage Valmiki and the people's spoken Hindi by poet
Tulsidas and in other languages by renowned poets has permeated the hearts of
our people and is relived year after year. On the day of Dussehra effigies of
Ravana the king of Lanka are burnt at nightfall marking the celebration of the
victory of Rama over Ravana symbolizing the victory of good over evil. 20 days
later comes
Diwali, the most beautiful of all festivals. It is dedicated
to Lakshmi the goddess of prosperity. All buildings from the palatial to the humblest
are illumined with millions of twinkling oil lamps, now being replaced by electricity,
which though cleaner is not half-pretty. At dusk the sky is lit up and air reverberates
with fireworks.
States have special harvest festivals such as
Bihu in Assam,
Onam
in Kerala and
Pongal in Tamil Nadu. The main attraction of Onam is a boat
race on rivers swollen by the monsoon. At Arnamulla the long boats compete in
speed on the Pamba River where water jousts are held. Each boat painted in the
colors of its proprietor or village is manned by a hundred oarsmen, who chant
in rhythm to speed up the beat of the paddles.
Kerala is a land of strange
beliefs and of all of India it is here that pre Aryan customs have best been preserved.
North of Malabar, the feasts of
Therayattam are held from January to March.
Masked dancers execute what seems to be a synthesis of all the different cults
rendered to Devi the Great Goddess and to the ancestors. From daybreak to dusk
masked divinities dance without ceasing. At Trichur,
Pooram the feast of
the Shaivite temples is enthusiastically celebrated in April or early May. The
festival attracts millions of spectators to watch the celebrated procession of
elephants in battle formation. Musicians play all day. Beating their drums in
frantic rhythm, clashing their cymbals or blowing their bugles.
The
Muslims celebrate
Eid twice a year and is an occasion for functions of
communal harmony. There is also the Prophet's birthday.
Ramzan is a month
of prayer and fasting.
The Sikhs observe the birthdays and days of martyrdom
of their Gurus. The birthdays of Buddha and Mahavira are similarly observed.
For official and work purposes we follow the Gregorian calendar, but Hindu
and Muslim festivals are calculated according to the Lunar calendar, so the dates
change every year. Different groups of observe different New Years. For the Gujaratis
Diwali marks the eve of the New Year. The Parsis celebrate Nauroz on 21 March,
the same as in Iran. The Kashmiri Hindus New Year is the same as the 'Gudi Padwa'
of Maharashtra, the Ugadhi of Karnataka and Andhra. Everyone has a different type
of celebration. The Punjabis have Baisakhi, which falls on 13 April. Bengal and
Assam observe the 1st of Baisakhi, which falls around the same time.
