India - Fairs and Festivals

The sub-continent of Indian is one long pageant of colorful fairs and festivals. As the days peel off the lunar calendar, the people of this country who come from widely different racial stocks and profess widely different faiths happily go about celebrating events that live in the collective memory. And that sure makes for an impressive list of fairs and festivals, which are more than the number of days in a year! Here are some of the major Indian fairs and festivals that are extravaganzas in themselves and attract tourists from all over the world every year.

The major festivals that are celebrated in India includes Diwali, the festivals of lights and fire crackers; Holi, the festival of colors; Christmas; Eid-Ul-Fitr; Pongal, the harvest festival; Baisakhi; and the national holidays of the Independence Day and Republic Day etc, that are celebrated with great enthusiasm and fervor in India. Apart from all these - the Kumbh Mela has exerted a mesmeric influence over the mind and the imagination of the ordinary Indian since time immemorial. It is when millions of devout congregate on the banks of the holy river Ganges, for a dip in the sacred waters that is believed to bring spiritual salvation and contentment.

The famous Goa Carnival is an event that should not be missed. It is an energetic, no holds barred spring festival that is celebrated with great enthusiasm and revelry throughout the state of Goa before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent which is a 40 day period of penance and abstinence preceding Easter Sunday. Than five day long popular and charismatic Pushkar Fair of Rajasthan has more than one lakh visitors every year! It is a period of relaxation and merry-making for the villagers, and corresponds with the largest cattle fair in the country. Animals, mainly camels, are brought from miles around. Trading is brisk as several thousand heads of cattle exchange hands.

Kumbh Mela

Goa Carnival

Diwali

Pushkar Fair

 Indian Festival Calendar

Recommended Tours
» Golden Triangle Tour Duration : 04 Nights 05 Nights 06 Nights Destination Covered : Delhi - Jaipur - Agra - Delhi	» Classical North India Tour Duration : 10 Nights Destination Covered : Delhi - Jaipur - Agra - Khajuraho - Varanasi
» Exotic South India Tour with Backwaters of Kerala Duration : 14 Nights Destination Covered : Mumbai - Bangalore - Mysore - Bandipur - Coorg - Ooty - Cochin - Munnar - Thekkady - Kumarakom - Alleppey - Quilon - Kovalam - Kanyakumari - Kovalam - Trivandrum