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When it happens
February
Fixed date window, February 18–27 annually. Region: Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
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A grand 10-day state carnival celebrating India's finest handlooms, crafts, culinary arts, and classical music near the Taj Mahal.
The festival commemorates the cultural flowering of the Mughal era and its craft traditions, introducing a new generation to their splendour.
Colourful craft stalls fill Shilpgram, with folk dance, classical music, ghazals and mushairas, and a spread of Mughlai cuisine to sample.
The festival opens with a grand procession of flower-decked elephants, horses and traditional drummers; artisans offer a customary homage to their craft heritage before the displays open.
The festival is seen as keeping Agra's living heritage alive and sustaining artisan crafts that might otherwise fade away.
Uttar Pradesh Tourism began the festival in 1992 to give heritage crafts - marble inlay, zardozi, woodwork and more - a global stage.
Ten days from the eighteenth of February at Shilpgram, near the Taj's east gate. It is a crafts fair first — pashmina, woodwork, stone inlay, brass — with shehnai and tabla and Mughlai food stalls. It is not held at the Taj itself, which catches people out.
Yes - a modest entry fee applies for adults, with different rules for children and foreign tourists.
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Across Mizoram, with the main celebrations held in Aizawl.
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The ancient Pattadakal Temple Complex (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), situated beautifully along the Malaprabha River, Bagalkot district, Karnataka.
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The open-air festival grounds at Weiking Field, Jaiaw, Shillong, East Khasi Hills district, Meghalaya.
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Naga Heritage Village in Kisama, located near Kohima, Nagaland.
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Udaipur, Mewar vistar, Rajasthan.
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Set in Dhordo and across the expansive Great Rann of Kutch salt desert in Gujarat.
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Shey Manla, situated beautifully on the rocky banks of the Indus River, approximately 8 km from Leh, Ladakh.
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Villages of Mokokchung district, Nagaland - the heartland of the Ao Naga tribe.
