Maharashtra Temple Festivals are celebrated all across the state with gaiety and fervor. The Maharashtrians are a vibrant, vivacious people who love celebrations at any occasions. Any religious ritual is manifested in form of festivals in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra temple festivals are celebrated with abundant fervour and enthusiasm. The temple festivals of Maharashtra are a true reflection of Maharashtrian culture, with all its colourful customs, rituals and religious traditions. The song, music and dance accompany almost every festive occasion in the temples and add joy and excitement to the lives of the people from every walk of life. The Maharashtra temple festivals are a compliment to the state`s rich culture and legacy.
The Maharashtrian calendar is dotted with religious festivals all round the year. The love for celebration is deeply rooted in their culture and it finds expression through various occasions. Maharashtra`s temple festivals are extravagant and the mother of all events is Ganesh Chaturthi. Ganesh Chaturthi is the worship of Lord Ganesh, the patron deity of Maharashtra and the God of wisdom. The temples dedicated to Lord Ganesh are decorated lavishly and elaborate offerings are done to the deity. Ganesh Chaturthi is held in August, when Lord Ganesh was born. The Ganesh idols are worshipped with families and friends. Many cultural events are organised and people of all ages participate with keen interest. After ten exciting days of celebration, people take Ganesh idols in procession to the sea or nearby river or lake, accompanied with music and dance and finally immerse.
Deepawali is the most beautiful of all Maharashtra temple festivals. All the temples are decorated with lights of different colours and innumerable diyas. Streets are also illuminated with rows of clay lamps and homes are decorated with rangoli and aakash kandils. People offer Puja in temples with deities like Ganesh and Lakshmi; they rise at dawn, massage their bodies and hair with scented oil and aromatic powders-uttana and take a holy bath. Diwali is celebrated with spectacular firecrackers and exchange of a variety of sweets in the company of family and friends.
Makar Sankranti is another Maharashtra Temple Festival, where people exchange greeting and good wishes on this day. Sweet and crunchy ladoos are made of sesame and jaggery called "TilGul". Nag Panchami is performed as a Maharashtra Temple Festival in different sacred sites of the state. This festival is celebrated in the honour of the Snake God Shesha Nag. Snake worship is an essential ritual of the Maharashtrians, and on the festival of Nag Panchami, clay icons of cobras are venerated in temples and homes. People offer sweets and milk to the snake deity and the snake charmers carry cobras in baskets and collect offerings from the public in the streets. Women apply mehendi on their hands and the day is celebrated with dances and songs.
Gudhi Padwa is a religious ritual in Maharashtra that marks the victory symbol-characterized by a bamboo stick with a coloured silk cloth and garlanded with flowers and sweets atop. This festival is celebrated during the New Year and the people welcome the year by worshipping the gudhi and distribute prasad comprising tender neem leaves, gram-pulse and jaggery. Narali Pournima festival is held on full moon day of the month of Shravan. This day is also famous in Maharashtra as Raksha Bandhan. People make offerings of coconuts to the sea-god on this day, thus marking the advent of the new fishing season and fishermen appease the sea-god before sailing out in their gaily-decorated boats. Singing and dancing make the day. Sisters tie `rakhis` or beautifully decorated threads on their brothers` wrists and thus renew the bond of affection between siblings.
Gokul Ashtami on the birth of Lord Krishna, Dussehra worshipping Lord Rama, Vasant Panchami are some more temples festivals of Maharashtra. Today, Maharashtra has developed many modern festivals that are sometimes celebrated within the temple premises. The Banganga Festival, Elephant Festival, Ellora Festival are some of such Maharashtra Temple Festivals.
