Onam
This four-day harvest festival of the Hindus falls in the month of Chingam, marking
the advent of spring. It also celebrates the yearly visit of King Mahabali to
Kerala. One of the main events of this festival is the snake boat race.
|
Pongal
This three-day Hindu harvest festival falls in the month of Magha, corresponding
with the solar equinox. Celebrated in the south, it is marked by the cooking of
the rice from the first harvest after the long and arduous winter. |
Pooram
Thrissur Pooram, the most colorful and spectacular temple festival of Kerala is
celebrated in the Malayalam month of Medom (April-May). Spectacular pageant of
fully caparisoned elephants, sonorous percussion, quintet like Panchavadyam and
Pandimelom and grandiloquent fireworks mark this festival as magnificent and stunning.
|
Pushkar
Mela
This is the biggest cattle fair in India, held in the month of Kartik on the full
moon day in Pushkar in Rajasthan. It is marked by taking a holy dip in the lake
and is also one of the only two places where Brahma is worshipped. |
Skanda
Shasthi
Celebrated on the sixth day in the bright half of Kartik, Skanda Shasthi commemorates
the birth of Skanda, the son of Shiva and Parvati. People keep a daylong fast
on this occasion.
|
Teej
The festival of Teej celebrates the onset of the monsoon in the month of Shravana,
after the long and arduous summer. The day commemorates the event of Parvati leaving
the home of her parents as a bride and Shiva coming to fetch her. |
