Calender Of Special Events
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As a multicultural and multi ethnic country,
India offers the most diverse selection of fairs and festivals all year
round. The dates of most festivals are calculated according to the Indian
lunar calendar. Delhi celebrates every festival and fair with gaiety and
abandon. |
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January - February – March
Lohri (13th January), a rural festival is celebrated
with bonfires marking the end of winter.
International Film Festival Of India is held in January
on every alternate year.
Republic Day (26th January), stages a magnificent military
parade with regiments in full-dress, bands, richly caparisoned camels
and elephants, cultural floats from each state in India, troupes of folk
dancers, tableaux of historical events and drills by school children.
A two-day festival of music and dance from all over India follows it.
Beating the Retreat (29th January). This beautiful pageant
that follows Republic Day, assembles various sections of the armed forces
in a musical parade at Vijay Chowk. The Central Secretariat is decorated
with lights and the camel regiment and the cavalry stand on parade forming
a magnificent silhouette with Rashtrapati Bhawan as backdrop. |
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Basant Panchami (end January early February). This
festival is celebrated to welcome the spring. It also honours Saraswati,
the Hindu goddess of knowledge.
Statesman Vintage Car Rally (early Fe3bruary). Classy
vintage cars roll out on the roads of the Delhi on way to Sohna in the
bordering state of Haryana.
Mahashivratri is celebrated on amavasya (new moon) night of Phalguna
(end February- early March). It is said Lord Shiva danced the
Tandav nritya (cosmic dance) on this dark night. Devotees fast for a day
and prayers are held all night.
Surajkund Crafts Mela is an annual fair which is held for a fortnight
in February. Craftsmen from all over India gather near the historic
10th century pool on the outskirts of Delhi offering wealth of exotic
artifacts for sale.
Delhi Horse Show. Show jumping and equestrian feats
go on display during this show in mid February.
The Delhi Flower Show held at Pragati Maidan is followed
by all India Rose show, which is organized by the Rose Society of India.
Holi. On the day of full moon (purnima) in the month
of Phalguna, Holi is celebrated with great vigor and joy. All morning
people smear gulal (coloured powder) and throw buckets of water on one
another and dance to the beat of drums in an atmosphere of playful flirtation.
On the night before, bonfires are lit, symbolically burning then demoness
Holika and celebrating the triumph of good over evil. |
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April-May-June Good Friday and Ester,
the Christian festivals are also observed as in the West.
Baisakhi. The Hindu New Year is celebrated on this day.
For Hindus, this festival marks the descent of the sacred Ganges River
to earth, and devotees throng to holy rivers (including Delhi’s
Yamuna) to bathe and worship. Sikhs also celebrate it to commemorate the
day in 1689 that their tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa,
a powerful brotherhood of the Sikhs. The day is celebrated by performing
Bhangra dance and singing of shabad kirtan.
Id-ul-Fitr, also known as Ramzan-Id, is a major Muslim
celebration, which marks the end of Ramzan, the Islamic month of fasting.
Thousand of devout Muslim stream into the Jama Masjid to kneel in prayer,
then rejoice and feast.
The Urs, of Hazrat Nizamuddin is celebrated at his Dargah
(shrine). Devotees put flowers and chaddars on his grave, followed by
an evening of qawwalis, the devotional songs, especially those composed
by the medieval poet Amir Khusro. |
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Ram Navami, the birth of Lord Rama, is celebrated
on the ninth day of the Shuklapksh (waxing moon) in the month of Vaisakha
with devotees chanting prayers and singing ballads from the Hindu epic,
Ramayana.
Buddha Purnima in the month of Vaisakha commemorates
Lord Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and attainment of nirvana all
on one day.
Mahavir Jayanti, the birth of Lord Mahavira, the 24th
Jain Tirthankara or saint, and founder of Jainism, is celebrated with
prayers and processions preaching non-violence.
Muharram. Shi’ite Muslims commemorate the murder
in 680 A.D. of Imam Hussain, the prophet Muhammad’s grandson, with
10 days of mourning. This culminates in a procession of devotees engaged
in ritual self-flagellation with whips and parading floats bearing Tazias
(replicas of Hussain’s Tomb at Kabala). |
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July-August-September
Independence Day. On 15th August, India celebrates Independence
Day with the prime Minister hoisting the National Flag and addressing
the Nation from the ramparts of Lal Qila. Kite-flyers can be seen everywhere
with sky full with thousands of brightly coloured kites.
Raksha Bandhan is celebrated on purnima (full moon)
day of the month of sravana. Hindu women tie rachis or woven bands of
tinsel and thread around the wrist of their brothers to remind of their
duty to protect their sisters. It commemorates the god Indra’s battle
victory after his wife gave him a rakhi.
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| Janamashtami is celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna
on the eighth day of Krishnapaksh (waning moon) in the month of sravana.
Devotees celebrate with feasts and raslila dances after a fast, and make
pilgrimage to Krishna temples.
Id-Ul-Zuha is also known as Bakr Id, the ‘feast
of sacrifice’, and is a celebration for Muslim meat-eaters.
Phoolwalon Ki Sair (flower sellers’ walk) is a
unique annual festival celebrated both by Hindus and Muslims. Large pankhas
(fans) made of flowers are ceremonially presented at the dargah and at
the Hindu Yogmaya Mandir in Mehrauli.
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October – November – December
Navaratrey (nine nights) commemorates the victory of
goddess Durga over the demon Mahisasur and is celebrated as Durga Puja.
Through the nine days devotees keep fast all daylong.
Dussehra or Vijaya Dashami is celebrated on the tenth
day after the navaratras to celebrate the god Rama’s victory over
the Lankan demon Ravana who had abducted his wife Sita, as recounted in
the Hindu epic, the Ramayana. The story of Ramayana is re-enacted in Ram
Lilas at over a dozen places in Delhi. Huge effigies are made of the evil
ten headed Ravana, his brother Kumbhakarna and son Meghnath, filled with
fireworks and set ablaze to the cheers of thousands of onlookers.
Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October) is celebrated as the birthday
of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Nation. Prayers and singing of hymns
are held at Raj Ghat.
Balloon Mela (October) at the Safdarjang Airport celebrates
adventure with huge hot air balloons floating across the sky.
Diwali, the festival of lights, falls on Amavasya (new
moon), the darkest night of Kartika month. It commemorates the triumphant
return of Lord Rama to his capital Ayodhya after a fourteen-year exile.
Traditional diyas (oil lamps) as well as candles and electric bulbs illuminate
buildings, and firecrackers explode all over the town. Sweets and gifts
are exchanged between family and friends. Throughout India, houses are
cleaned and repainted to honor Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth for bringing
prosperity and good luck. Most hotels and fair organizers organize melas
(fairs) and festivals of their own.
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Guru Nanak Jayanti (November) or Guru Purab is the celebration
of the birth of the founder and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus, Guru Nanak,
Processions are taken through streets and prayers are held at all the Gurudwaras.
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Christmas (25th December). Christians celebrate Jesus
Christ’s birthday with a special mass. There are special programmes
at most hotels and restaurants with special invitation for the kids.
New Year’s Eve. Celebrated by one and all, people
step out at midnight to welcome the New Year with noise and revelry. Most
of the hotel and restaurants have special package programmes for the New
Year’s Eve providing all sorts of entertainments. |
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