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Celebrate India
India's calendar bursts with religious, regional, musical, cultural and culinary celebrations. Filter by month, type or state to plan around the right moment.
Happening soon
Indian festivals mostly follow lunar calendars, so the exact days shift each year. We name the month they fall in and leave the day to the panchang closer to the time.
Festival calendarFestival directory
Use the calendar when timing is the main decision, or browse the directory for context, location and meaning.
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Matho Monastery, located approximately 26 km southeast of Leh, Ladakh.
Famous for the public ritual trance appearance of two blindfolded oracles who make future state predictions.
Udaipur, Mewar vistar, Rajasthan.
Welcomes the arrival of spring with traditional Rajasthani folk dances, singing, lake boat pageants, and fireworks.
The Ziro Valley, Lower Subansiri district, Arunachal Pradesh, rotating across ancestral Apatani villages like Hari, Hong, and Haja.
A highly structured community friendship festival rotated among Apatani clans, featuring shamanic fire prayers.
Celebrated throughout India, with deep spiritual centers in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh), Bhadrachalam (Telangana), and Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu).
Celebrates the birth of Lord Rama. Marked by temple processions, recitations of the Ramayana, and grand celebrations in Ayodhya.
Tribal regions of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
The tribal New Year festival worshipping nature and the sacred Sal tree, marked by heavy drumming and local flower distribution.
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Across Goa, with grand state-sponsored street float parades in Panaji, Margao, Ponda, and Mapusa.
The spring harvest festival of Goan Hindus, expressed through street float parades, folk drumming, and traditional dances.
Prominently celebrated in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka (as Ugadi), and Maharashtra and Goa (as Gudi Padwa).
The New Year for Telugu, Kannada and Marathi communities, celebrated with neem-jaggery dishes (Ugadi Pachadi), new clothes, and the raising of the Gudi flag.
Across Manipur, especially the Imphal Valley.
The premier Meitei festival combining color play with indigenous sports and the midnight Thabal Chongba circle dance.
Mon district, Nagaland, across all Konyak Naga tribal settlements and ancestral villages.
The vibrant spring festival of the Konyak Naga tribe, marked by traditional gun firing, ancestral war dress, and songs.
Punjab, Haryana, and major Sikh diaspora hubs globally.
The Punjabi harvest festival and Sikh New Year, marking the founding of the Khalsa in 1699. Celebrated with Bhangra and Gidda dances, fairs, and gurudwara prayers.
Dharmaraya Swamy Temple, Pete vistar, Bengaluru, Karnataka.
A centuries-old festival where a carrier balances an intricate floral pyramid representing Draupadi across streets.
Assam and across the Brahmaputra Valley.
Assam's set of harvest festivals marking the agricultural cycle. Rongali Bihu welcomes the Assamese New Year with Bihu dance, folk songs, and feasting.
Throughout the state of Manipur, particularly centered in the domestic courtyards and sacred hilltops of the Imphal Valley.
The traditional Meitei New Year, marked by domestic feast cooking and climbing local sacred mountain tops.
Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Madurai's grandest temple festival, re-enacting the celestial wedding of Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswarar, with massive chariot processions.
Across the state of Tripura, observed with immense religious devotion inside both rural tribal hamlets and urban administrative quarters.
An essential tribal agrarian harvest ritual where Lord Garia is worshipped via an adorned bamboo pole totem.
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Celebrated pan-India; particularly popular in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
Celebrates the birth of Lord Hanuman, the devoted companion of Rama and symbol of strength and devotion. Marked by temple visits and recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa.
Asramam Sree Krishna Swamy Temple grounds, Kollam, Kerala.
A spectacular temple pageant packing an array of caparisoned elephants, custom orchestration, and visual parasol shifts.
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West Bengal, Tripura, and across Bengali diaspora communities worldwide.
The Bengali New Year, marked by Prabhat Pheri processions, new ledgers for businesses (Halkhata), cultural programmes, and festive Bengali feasts.
Across the state of Tamil Nadu, with grand celebrations in major temple hubs like Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, and Chennai.
The Tamil New Year, centered around viewing an auspicious tray of fruits and gold (Kani) first thing in the morning.
The open-air festival grounds at Weiking Field, Jaiaw, Shillong, East Khasi Hills district, Meghalaya.
The Thanksgiving Dance of the Peaceful Hearts, celebrating spring sowing cycles with traditional courtly dances.
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Centered entirely at the Vadakkunnathan Temple grounds in Thrissur, Kerala.
Kerala's most spectacular temple festival, famous for caparisoned elephants, parasol exchanges (Kudamattam), and grand percussion ensembles and fireworks.
Celebrated across the state of Kerala, as well as by Malayali communities in neighboring regions and worldwide.
Kerala's New Year festival, centred on the Vishukkani — an arrangement of auspicious items viewed first thing in the morning to ensure a prosperous year.
Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Sikkim, Ladakh, and globally across Buddhist nations.
Commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha. Observed with prayers, meditation and processions, especially at Bodh Gaya and Sarnath.
The ancient Hadimba Devi Temple compound, situated inside the dense Doongri pine forest, Manali, Himachal Pradesh.
Celebrates the birth anniversary of Goddess Hadimba Devi with a convergence of traditional Kullu Nati folk dance sets.
Observed by Muslim communities nationwide, with particularly historic and grand gatherings in Jammu & Kashmir, Old Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Kerala, and West Bengal.
Commemorates Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice in obedience to God. Marked by prayers, the qurbani sacrifice, and sharing meat with the needy.
Observed along the sacred banks of the Ganges, primarily in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Garhmukteshwar, and Patna.
Celebrates the descent of the holy river Ganga to earth. Marked by riverside aartis and holy dips, especially at Haridwar, Rishikesh and Varanasi.
Villages of Mokokchung district, Nagaland - the heartland of the Ao Naga tribe.
A post-sowing festival of the Ao Naga tribe, celebrating friendship with warrior chants, indigenous wine, and custom dances.
Throughout the state of Sikkim, heavily centered at the Tsuklakhang Palace Monastery and Rumtek Monastery in Gangtok, as well as Buddhist pockets in Ladakh and West Bengal.
The most sacred Buddhist day in Sikkim, honoring the birth, enlightenment, and passing of Buddha with monastic processions.
Kamakhya Temple, Nilachal Hills, Guwahati, Assam
Commemorates the annual menstruation cycle of Goddess Kamakhya. Gates close for three days, attracting thousands of Tantric ascetics.
Pampa River at Champakulam, Kuttanad region, Alappuzha district, Kerala.
The traditional season-opening snake boat race of Kerala, marking the ancient installation transit of a royal idol.
Celebrated at the Hemis Monastery, located 45 km southeast of Leh, Ladakh (high-altitude region in Northern India).
Ladakh's largest monastic festival celebrating Guru Padmasambhava's birth, famous for colourful masked Cham dances performed by lamas.
Throughout the state of Odisha, with high cultural fervor in coastal districts like Cuttack, Puri, and Khordha.
A singular festival celebrating womanhood, fertility, and the resting phase of Mother Earth prior to agricultural sowing.
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Across the state of Goa, with intense, highly colorful celebrations in villages like Siolim, Anjuna, and Candolim.
A cheerful Goan Christian festival dedicated to St. John the Baptist, where locals wear floral crowns and jump into water wells.
Shey Manla, situated beautifully on the rocky banks of the Indus River, approximately 8 km from Leh, Ladakh.
Honors the sacred Indus River as a lasting symbol of cross-cultural national integration and peaceful coexistence.
Devaki Krishna Temple yard, Marcel (Mashel) village, Ponda, Goa.
A joyful mud festival celebrating the infant playfulness of Lord Krishna through traditional village mud games.
The Ziro Valley, Lower Subansiri district, Arunachal Pradesh, with the largest public festival ground hosted in open-air fields near Hapoli town.
The primary agricultural crop protection festival of the Apatani tribe, involving sacrifices to clear insect pests.
