Basant Panchami
Basant Panchami is the festival of colours. Colours drape the ambiance, mood and life at large. People usually put on yellow clothes, cook yellow rice and other sweat preparations. This festivals bids farewell to winter and welcomes the spring.
Shivaratri
Shivratri is generally observed by Hindus in every household. Lord Shiva is worshiped in various temples by offering water mixed with milk on the shivlingas.
Holi
Holi is a festival of colours and merry making that traces the myth of Radha and Krishna and the significance of colour in the saga of love and youth. The usual time is in March and announces the oncoming of spring season. The young boys form small parties and go about the streets singing and dancing. They throw coloured water on one another. Children also go around merry making. They have Pichkari (syringe) and buckets full of coloured water. They throw coloured water on people with their Pichkari. The elder people use abir and gulal. They rub them on the foreheads of the people.
Haryali
Haryali is a fair of greenery and verdure and is celebrated on the first of Sawana i.e. mid July.
Janmashtami
Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna is celebrated in the month of August and September every year. People worship in the temples for long hours and religious songs are sung and mostly elderly men and ladies fast on this day.
Dussehra
Dussehra is one of the great festivals of Hindus. They celebrate it with gaiety in honour of Lord Rama`s victory over Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. It falls on Shukla Vijaya Dashami in the month of Asauj. The Ramayana is staged in the form of a drama commonly called Ram Lila and the whole of Roma`s life is depicted in leela. On the 10th day i.e. Vijay Dashami huge effigies of Ravana, Kumbkarana and Meghnath are raised in the ground and towards the sun set they are set on fire. It emphasises that the good always triumphs over the evil.
Diwali
Diwali is another festival that is celebrated to commemorate the victory of Rama over Ravana and return of Rama to Ayodhya, Diwali the festivals of illumination is celebrated in the month of October / November. Diwali, the festival of lights takes place on the Amavasya of Krishan Paksh. Diwali is celebrated with great pomp and show. People whitewash their houses and shops. Every place in the house is cleaned, decorated with pictures, toys and paper flowers. On the night of Diwali houses and shops are illuminated, shopkeepers close their old accounts. They open new ones for the New Year. It is believed that goddess Lakshmi visit their houses on this day.
