Public holidays in India

About 2 pages (660 words)

India, being a multicultural and multireligious society, celebrates holidays and festivals of various religions. There are three national holidays in India: Independence Day, Republic Day and Gandhi Jayanti. In addition, many states and regions have local festivals depending on prevalent religious and linguistic demographics. Popular religious festivals include the Hindu festivals of Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Dussehra , the Islamic festivals of Eid-ul-Fitr, Muharram, Ramadan which are celebrated throughout the country. In addition, the Sikh festivals such as Guru Nanak Jayanti and the Christian festival of Christmas are celebrated in certain areas where these religions have a significant following. The following is a List of Festivals in India:

1 Hinduism
2 Islamic
3 Christian
4 Sikhism
5 Zoroastrian
6 Jain
7 Unofficial
8 External links

Hinduism

Main article: Hindu festivals

People celebrating Holi.

The largest religious gathering on Earth. Around 70 million Hindus from around the world participated in Kumbh Mela at one of the Hindu Holy city Prayag (India).

Hindus celebrate a number of Festivals all through the year. From celebrating the advent of spring to celebrating the win of good over evil, Hindu religion and culture provide its followers endless reasons to celebrate. Given below is the list of just a few of these festivals that are celebrated with great zest and fervour.

Diwali or Deepawali
Dussehra or Daserra
Holi
Buddha Purnima (Buddha Jayanti or Vesak)
Ayya Vaikunda Avataram
Raksha Bandhan
Krishna Janmastami
Durga Puja
Maha Shivaratri
Bhai Dooj
Ramanavami
Guru Purnima
Baisakhi
Laxmi puja
Saraswati Puja
Sankranthi

Islamic

Chand Raat
Eid-ul-Azha (or Eid-ul-Adha or in slang Bakra-Eid)
Eid-ul-Fitr
Muharram (day of mourning observed by Shiites only)
Ramzan
Milad-un-nabi

Christian

Sikhism

Diwali
Guru Nanak's Birthday Jayanti
Guru Govind Singh's Birthday Jayanti
Guru Teg Bahadur's Martyrdom Day
Baisakhi

Zoroastrian

The Traditional Haft Seen for Navroz

The Parsis account for less than 0.007% of the Indian population, but as Mahatma Gandhi said, they are "in number beneath contempt, but in contribution, beyond compare." The same could be said of their festivals. Unfortunately, like the Parsis themselves, these are private and celebrated primarily within the community. The Parsis use the Shahenshahi ("Imperial") version of the Zoroastrian calendar, which differs significantly from the Qadimi ("Ancient") version that their Iranian co-religionists use. For example, New Year is celebrated in the spring by Iranians but falls in late summer for Parsis. In addition to seasonal festivals, called Gahambars, the most eminent celebratory occasions are listed below.

Maidyozarem Gahambar - Mid-Spring Festival. Early October.
Maidyoshahem Gahambar - Mid-Summer Festival. Early December
Paitishahem Gahambar - Festival of bringing in the harvest. Mid February.
Ayathrem Gahambar - Festival if bringing home the herds. Mid March.
Maidyarem Gahambar - Mid-Winter Festival. Lit. 'Mid-Year'. Early June.
Hamaspathmaidyem or Muktad - All Souls Festival. Cf. Día de los Meurtos
Pateti - New Year's Day Eve. August-September.
Jamshed-e Navroz - New Year's Day, (Norouz). August-September.
Jashan-e Sadeh - Festival of Fire. Lit. the 100th day (before Navroz).
Jashan-e Mehragan - Festival of Mihr. A day of thanksgiving dedicated to the highest Angel, Mithra (c.f. Metatron).
Jashan-e Tirigan - Festival of Tir. A day dedicated to Tishtrya, Angel of the star Sirius and rain.
Farvardigan - Festival of the Farohars ('guardian angels').
Khordad Sal - Birthday of the Prophet Zarathushtra.
Zartosht No-Diso - Anniversary commemorating the death of the Prophet Zarathushtra.