Public holidays in India

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India, being a multicultural and multireligious society, celebrates holidays and festivals of various faiths and special interest groups. There are three national holidays: Independence Day, Republic Day and Gandhi Jayanti. Hindu festivals of Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Ugadi, Dussehra, Sankranthi/Pongal are most popular religious festivals in India. A number of festivals are common to most parts of India. In addition, many states and regions have local festivals depending on prevalent religious and linguistic demographics.


The following is a List of Festivals in India:

Contents

[edit] Hinduism

Main article: Hindu festivals
People celebrating Holi.
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People celebrating Holi.
The largest religious gathering on Earth. Around 70 million Hindus from around the world participated in Kumbh Mela at one of the Hindu Holy city Prayag (India).
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The largest religious gathering on Earth. Around 70 million Hindus from around the world participated in Kumbh Mela at one of the Hindu Holy city Prayag (India).

Hindus celebrate a number of Festivals all through the year. From celebrating the advent of spring to celebrating the win of good over evil, Hindu religion and culture provide its followers endless reasons to celebrate. Given below is the list of just a few of these festivals that are celebrated with great zest and fervour.

[edit] Islamic

[edit] Christian

[edit] Sikhism

[edit] Zoroastrian

The Traditional Haft Seen for Navroz
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The Traditional Haft Seen for Navroz

The Parsis account for less than 0.007% of the Indian population, but as Mahatma Gandhi said, they are "in number beneath contempt, but in contribution, beyond compare." The same could be said of their festivals. Unfortunately, like the Parsis themselves, these are private and celebrated primarily within the community. The Parsis use the Shahenshahi ("Imperial") version of the Zoroastrian calendar, which differs significantly from the Qadimi ("Ancient") version that their Iranian co-religionists use. For example, New Year is celebrated in the spring by Iranians but falls in late summer for Parsis. In addition to seasonal festivals, called Gahambars, the most eminent celebratory occasions are listed below.

  • Maidyozarem Gahambar - Mid-Spring Festival. Early October.
  • Maidyoshahem Gahambar - Mid-Summer Festival. Early December
  • Paitishahem Gahambar - Festival of bringing in the harvest. Mid February.
  • Ayathrem Gahambar - Festival if bringing home the herds. Mid March.
  • Maidyarem Gahambar - Mid-Winter Festival. Lit. 'Mid-Year'. Early June.
  • Hamaspathmaidyem or Muktad - All Souls Festival. Cf. Día de los Meurtos
  • Pateti - New Year's Day Eve. August-September.
  • Jamshed-e Navroz - New Year's Day, (Norouz). August-September.
  • Jashan-e Sadeh - Festival of Fire. Lit. the 100th day (before Navroz).
  • Jashan-e Mehragan - Festival of Mihr. A day of thanksgiving dedicated to the highest Angel, Mithra (c.f. Metatron).
  • Jashan-e Tirigan - Festival of Tir. A day dedicated to Tishtrya, Angel of the star Sirius and rain.
  • Farvardigan - Festival of the Farohars ('guardian angels').
  • Khordad Sal - Birthday of the Prophet Zarathushtra.
  • Zartosht No-Diso - Anniversary commemorating the death of the Prophet Zarathushtra.

See also: Zoroastrian calendar

[edit] Jain

[edit] Others

[edit] Unofficial

[edit] External links

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