Festivals of North India
India is a land of myriad festivals, in rhythm with the cycle of the
seasons, with sowings and harvesting. and around them have grown legends,
most depicting the victory of good over evil. These fairs and festivals lend
color and gaiety to life and Indian calendar is marked by plethora of such
big and small occasions. Some festivals are of religious nature, others are
related more to, change of season and harvesting. They have a long past and
many have undergone major modifications. Though the enthusiasm for some also
seems to be fading, nevertheless they do bring about a change in the
lifestyle of the people. Some festivals and fasts are religion specific
protocols aiming towards communication with the divine. The liveliness of
the people is reflected in the colorful vibrancy of the fairs and festivals.
Processions, prayers, new attires, dance, music etc. are elements related to
any such celebration.
The Puri-Rath Yatra, Allahabad-Kumbha,
Alleppey-Boat Race, Pushkar-Camel Fair, Goa-Carnival so on and so forth all
reflect the diversity of the land and its people but common emotion of
revived vigour, joy and sharing.
Vasant beckons spring.
Scattered amongst the ripening wheat are the bright yellow flowers of
mustard. Tender blossoms appear on the mango tree and 'song is bestowed upon
the bird'. On that day everyone wears a special shade of yellow. The
festival is dedicated to Saraswati, goddess of learning and the arts.
After about two months comes
Holi, the very end of our cool
season. It is a festival of colour, truly democratic and egalitarian. All
barriers are down, all inhibitions shed. Boys and girls, men and women of
all ages, all castes, and all classes participate. None is high and none is
low. Anyhow, when a person is plastered with colour he is not easy to
identify. On the eve of Holi bonfires are lit and Holi itself is celebrated
by the throwing of colour, by gaiety and noise, one could even say, by wild
abandon. In time the festival has also become associated with the 'Lila' of
Radha and Krishna and has inspired some of our most sensuous poetry.
Of all the seasons it is the
Sawan
(Monsoon) which has evoked the largest number of songs. This is not
strange, for summer in the plains of North India is long and hot. As months
go by anxious eyes scan the sky. It is a time for renewal. Swings are hung
at all likely places and women and children are seen swinging high into the
branches overhead accompanied by joyous singing.
Raksha
Bandhan - the bracelet of protection - is a festival belonging to the
old days of chivalry. If the gift of a bracelet sent by a girl was accepted
by a man, he henceforth became her adopted brother, pledged to support her
in times of stress or war. Today it is just a ritual, though a charming one.
Close on its heels comes
Janmashtami, the birthday of
Lord Krishna, and the most beloved of all gods. The Krishna legend has
caught the imagination of our own people and now of many abroad. Krishna is
intensely human. He's everybody's child, full of mischief. Stories of his
pranks are recounted as recent happenings. As an ardent lover, he inspires
our poets and artists, our music and dance.
Ganesh is the god of
wisdom as well as of good fortune. As a granter of boons he is worshipped at
the beginning of every prayer and auspicious occasion.
Ganesh's birthday
(Chaturthy) falls at the end of the monsoon and is marked by special
festivities after which is image is immersed in the nearest river or the
sea.
Every year in autumn, at the time of the full moon the
Rajputs gather to honour Lord Brahma, the god of creation at
the temple
of Pushkar. This is the only temple dedicated to the god in the country.
The female as Shakti (Perennial Energy) has a central place in
Indian tradition and Durga is its militant form. She is the Mother and at
the same time the destroyer of evil forces. Her festival
Dussehra
heralds the new planting season and also celebrates her victory over the
demon buffalo Mahishasura. These are also the days of the Ram Lila, an
enactment of the story of Lord Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the
hero of the epic Ramayana. It is extraordinary how this ancient story
written in Sanskrit by Sage Valmiki and the people's spoken Hindi by poet
Tulsidas and in other languages by renowned poets has permeated the hearts
of our people and is relived year after year. On the day of Dussehra
effigies of Ravana the king of Lanka are burnt at nightfall marking the
celebration of the victory of Rama over Ravana symbolizing the victory of
good over evil. 20 days later comes
Diwali, the most beautiful of
all festivals. It is dedicated to Lakshmi the goddess of prosperity. All
buildings from the palatial to the humblest are illumined with millions of
twinkling oil lamps, now being replaced by electricity, which though cleaner
is not half-pretty. At dusk the sky is lit up and air reverberates with
fireworks.
States have special harvest festivals such as
Bihu in Assam,
Onam
in Kerala and
Pongal in Tamil Nadu. The main attraction of Onam is a
boat race on rivers swollen by the monsoon. At Arnamulla the long boats
compete in speed on the Pamba River where water jousts are held. Each boat
painted in the colors of its proprietor or village is manned by a hundred
oarsmen, who chant in rhythm to speed up the beat of the paddles.
Kerala is a land of strange beliefs and of all of India it is here
that pre Aryan customs have best been preserved. North of Malabar, the
feasts of
Therayattam are held from January to March. Masked dancers
execute what seems to be a synthesis of all the different cults rendered to
Devi the Great Goddess and to the ancestors. From daybreak to dusk masked
divinities dance without ceasing. At Trichur,
Pooram the feast of
the Shaivite temples is enthusiastically celebrated in April or early May.
The festival attracts millions of spectators to watch the celebrated
procession of elephants in battle formation. Musicians play all day. Beating
their drums in frantic rhythm, clashing their cymbals or blowing their
bugles.
The Muslims celebrate
Eid twice a year and is an
occasion for functions of communal harmony. There is also the Prophet's
birthday.
Ramzan is a month of prayer and fasting.
The
Sikhs observe the birthdays and days of martyrdom of their Gurus. The
birthdays of Buddha and Mahavira are similarly observed.
For
official and work purposes we follow the Gregorian calendar, but Hindu and
Muslim festivals are calculated according to the Lunar calendar, so the
dates change every year. Different groups of observe different New Years.
For the Gujaratis Diwali marks the eve of the New Year. The Parsis celebrate
Nauroz on 21 March, the same as in Iran. The Kashmiri Hindus New Year is the
same as the 'Gudi Padwa' of Maharashtra, the Ugadhi of Karnataka and Andhra.
Everyone has a different type of celebration. The Punjabis have Baisakhi,
which falls on 13 April. Bengal and Assam observe the 1st of Baisakhi, which
falls around the same time.
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