FrançaisIndia has many religions, and hundreds of customs and festivals. Here are the main one that you should not miss!
The Puskhar camel fair Festival. Pushkar becomes particularly alive during the annual Camel Fair in which hundreds of camel dealers from Rajasthan go to Pushkar to deal their trade. Visitors can see these sights,join in the fun, making for a week of immense sights, smells and culture which seems only possible in India. For five days, the camels are dressed up, paraded, shaved, raced, and traded. It’s a great opportunity to witness a traditional Indian festival.
Diwali is a five day festival for the beginning of the Hindu New Year, in October or November, according to the year. The Diwali festival is also called the Festival of Lights: during the festival there are many fireworks, many candles and small lamps are lit everywhere. It represents the victory of good over evil. This festival creates a very warm atmosphere, it creates joy and happiness.
Holi festival: the Festival of Colors. It is a Hindu religious festival, it celebrates the victory of good over evil, and the beginning of Spring. It lasts two days. People throw colored powder and water at each other everywhere, have parties, and dance under water sprinklers. Wear clothes that you can throw away after as you will get dirty with all theses colors. It is an amazing festival as everyone can have fun and participate.
The Sufi Music Festival in Jodhpur: In February, the festival has a mix of music traditions from many parts of the world. Performers from Egypt, Turkey, France, Pakistan, Mongolia and Afghanistan come in Jodhpur to show their talent and celebrate. From India, musicians from Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan participate the festival.
Ganesha Chaturthi: this Festival is celebrated for the birthday of Lord Ganesha (also called Ganpati), one of the most popular gods in the Hindu religion (but even Buddhists and Jains have faith in Ganpati). In this festival, people buy idols of Lord Ganesha and put them in their houses. After eleven days, they take the idols in the streets for huge ceremonial processions. This festival is mostly in Maharashtra, and then they put the idols into the river, sea or well.
Krishna Janmashtami: The birth of Lord Krishna (a re-incarnation of Vishnu) is celebrated in August-September. Lord Krishna loved milk, butter and ghee, so women fast and make milk sweets and offer it to the Lord. During the festival, people climb on each other and create a human pyramid to try and reach and break the open clay pots filled with curd, that have been strung up from buildings.
