Top 5 Festivals Of India For Foreign Visitors

As Indians, we face several issues in our country which leads us to believe that almost everything in India is worth criticizing. At the end of it all, we end up imitating the West and almost end up believing that it is the west and the west alone that should be idealized and followed. However, the one thing that cannot be criticized in India, is the long-standing traditions for which in fact, it is the west that idealizes us and wishes to follow us. And there is no better way to understand the traditions of India, and its culture than to visit it during the time of festival celebrations.

India is a land rich in its festivals. We are some of the most religious people in the world and are known for celebrating festivals with the utmost grandeur and pomp and show. There’s no shying away from the fact that during the time of festivals, regardless of the religion the Gods of which are being worshipped, or the birthday of whichever God(s) or Goddess(es) is celebrated, people from all corners of society come together to celebrate and worship the Gods. India is a place of diversity and here you’ll find Hindus celebrating Eid and Muslims dropping everything on their priority list and come together with their Hindu friends to celebrate Durga Puja.

If you are planning a vacation sometime soon and wish to fly from the USA to India, you must make it a point to visit India at a time when festival celebrations are going on. In here, we tell you about the top 5 festivals of India that every foreign visitor must know about and if it’s possible that you could arrange your vacation accordingly, try not to miss these festivals.

DIWALI

Diwali – One of the biggest festivals in India, Diwali is the celebration of the victory of light over darkness. It has its origin in the fact that people lit up diyas to welcome Lord Rama after his vanwaas (exile) ended. On Diwali, you will find Indian homes lit up with hordes of diyas, which are small but extremely beautiful containers which are used on Diwali to contain oil which burns throughout the night of Diwali, making entire cities glow. If you happen to travel from US to India on the night of Diwali, you will be amazed to see how cities look from the sky on the day of this august night.

Diwali in India is as big as Christmas in the west, a huge festive celebration that brings families together, who exchange mithai (sweets) on the occasion of the festival. The one thing that you must note is unlike festivals like Christmas, which happen to take place on a certain date, i.e. December 25, Indian festivals keep happening on different dates each year because the day on which the celebrations are going to take place is decided in accordance with the Hindu calendar. So it is advisable for you to ensure that you’ll be traveling on the correct date accordingly.

The best way to celebrate Diwali would be to stay with your Indian friends and with their families and make the best out of this festival. If you don’t have a friend in India, you can book a small guesthouse or a homestay to make the best out of it. The best cities where you could celebrate Diwali with your Indian friends are Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Mumbai, Delhi. In fact the entire North India celebrates Diwali with great pomp and show.

HOLI

Holi – Another great occasion to fly to India would be Holi, which is perhaps the most celebrated Indian festivals. It is something so unique that we bet that you wouldn’t have seen its equivalent ever before. Holi is a festival of colors and it involves friends throwing coloured water on each other in the first half of the day. While most people use to play with colored water, some also play with colored powder. In the evening, families visit each other and play abeer, which again is coloured powder.

If you plan to celebrate Holi in India and have friends here, you’ll have an experience like no other. But the amazing thing with us Indians is that even if you don’t have friends here, feel free to buy a packet of abeer from a local vendor (you’ll easily find people selling it on the streets during Holi) and just roam around. We assure you that not a single person will be offended if you smear their faces with a pinch on abeer on the eve of Holi. Like they say, “Bura na maano holi hai” – It means do not get offended, it’s just Holi. This phrase is mainly used with strangers in India by people when they throw coloured water on them, without seeking their permission or consent on the morning of the Holi festival. This is the fabric of India – you can celebrate with strangers, like they are your own. Welcome to India!

DURGA PUJA

Durga Puja – If you have any interest in the culture of India and have googled anything about Indian deities, the one name that always figures is that of Goddess Durga. The best place to celebrate Durga Puja is Kolkata, the capital city of the state of West Bengal. Although the festival is celebrated across almost all North Indian towns, including place like South Delhi, there is no better place than India that does it better than Kolkata.

Thousands of workers gel in together to make wonderful statues of the Goddess Durga and various pandals laden with beautiful murthis of Goddess Durga can be found throughout the city. There is so much art involved in this festival that almost the entire city turns into a huge art gallery. The best way to celebrate this festival is to move with the crowd and visit pandals and receive prasadam.

GANESH CHATHURTHI

Ganesh Chaturthi – Lord Ganesha is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. He is the elephant-headed God, one of the most loved and undoubtedly one of the cutest, in India. The festival Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated to honour the God. The festival runs for 11 days, and once again the dates are never certain with respect to the English calendar.

Ganesha is the god of luck and auspicious beginnings and Lord Ganesha is worshipped before starting any venture, business or even a journey. The best place to celebrate this festival and make the most out of it is Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra. Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Mumbai are the equivalent of Durga Puja celebrations in Kolkata, West Bengal – both the festivals are celebrated with enormous pomp and show.

JANMAASHTAMI

Janamashtami – This festival is celebrated to commemorate the birthday of Lord Krishna. A huge crowd appears on the streets of the cities where this festival is celebrated. Like Diwali is the festival of lights, Holi the festival of colors, Durga Puja the festival of arts, Janamashtami also is the festival of adventure. Huge teams often comprising of hundreds of members come together to participate in various Handi competitions across the country. The challenge is to crack open the matki containing makhan (butter) which hangs at great heights. Boys who usually have been practicing for the competition for months, make pyramids to ultimately reach the matki. The entire sports is conducted to commemorate and remember Lord Krishna’s love for makkhan, who is lovingly remembered to steal makhan from various households in Vrindavan when he was a child.

Undoubtedly, India is incomplete without its festival. And there should be absolutely nothing that prevents you from joining us Indians to celebrate our festivals with us. There are many other festivals also in other parts of the country that are celebrated with great pomp and show, but for reasons of space, we could only share with you the above top 5 festivals. Check out our website for the best offers on flights from USA to India during Holi, Diwali, Durga Puja, Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi. Stay tuned for updates.

The one who is able to crack the matki, wins. We assure you that you will not find an equal level of enthusiasm with regards to adventure when it comes to religious celebrations anywhere else in the world.

More info: tajtravel.com