Hindu holidays
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globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...
,
Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
celebrate a diverse number of
festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...
and celebrations, typically marking events from
ancient India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...
and often coinciding with seasonal changes. These celebrations take place either on a fixed annual date on the
solar calendar A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar. T ...
, or on a specific day of the
lunisolar calendar A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, combining lunar calendars and solar calendars. The date of Lunisolar calendars therefore indicates both the Moon phase and the time of the solar year, that is the position of the Sun in the Ea ...
. There is some regional variation with the observance of the festivals, and numerous festivals that are primarily celebrated by specific sects or in certain regions of the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
.


Terminology


Utsava

''Utsava'' is the Sanskrit word for festivals. The Sanskrit word ''Utsava'' comes from the word "''ut''" meaning "removal" and "''sava''" which means "worldly sorrows" or "grief".


Observance periods (''tithi'')

Hindu calendar The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a s ...
dates are usually prescribed according to a
lunisolar calendar A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, combining lunar calendars and solar calendars. The date of Lunisolar calendars therefore indicates both the Moon phase and the time of the solar year, that is the position of the Sun in the Ea ...
. In
Vedic timekeeping Hindu units of time are described in Hindu texts ranging from microseconds to trillions of years, including cycles of cosmic time that repeat general events in Hindu cosmology. Time (Kaal, ) is described as eternal. Various fragments of time are ...
, a ''māsa'' is a lunar month, a ''pakṣa'' is a lunar
fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days," since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is h ...
and a ''tithi'' is a
lunar day A lunar day is the period of time for Earth's Moon to complete one rotation on its axis with respect to the Sun. Due to tidal locking, it is the time the Moon takes to complete one orbit of the Moon, orbit around Earth Earth is the thi ...
. Two definitions of the lunar month prevail: amānta and pūrṇimānta (lunar month ending with new moon and full moon respectively). As a result, the same day may refer to belonging to different but adjoining months. If a festival occurs during ''śukla paksha'', the two traditions assign it to the same month; if a festival occurs during ''kṛṣṇa paksha'' the two traditions assign it to different but adjoining months.


Sublists

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List of Hindu festivals in Punjab This list of Punjabi Hindu festivals summarizes festivals observed in Punjab. These are based on the Bikrami calendar. The festivals of Maghi and Vaisakhi are determined by the solar aspect and others on its lunar months. Observance and overview ...
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List of festivals observed at Jagannatha Temple, Puri There are elaborate daily worship services. There are many festivals each year attended by millions of people. A large number of traditional festivals are observed by the devotees of Jagannath. Out of those numerous festivals, twelve are importa ...
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List of Sindhi festivals One of the first civilizations of human history, the Sindhis have a rich and clearly distinct cultural heritage and are very festive. The most important festival for Hindu Sindhis is the birthday of Lord Jhoolelal and Cheti Chand. Sindhi Hindu ...


List and descriptions of major Hindu festivals

The ''
tithi In Vedic timekeeping, a ''tithi'' is a uration of two faces of moon that is observed from earth known as ''milа̄lyа̄'' (𑐩𑐶𑐮𑐵𑐮𑑂𑐫𑐵𑑅, मिलाल्याः) in Nepal Bhasa, or the time it takes for the longit ...
shown in the'' following list is as per the amānta tradition.


See also

; Hindu festival related concepts *
Astronomical basis of the Hindu calendar The Hindu calendar is based on a geocentric model of the solar system.Burgess 1935, p. 285 (XII. 32) A geocentric model describes the solar system as seen by an observer on the surface of the earth. The Hindu calendar defines nine measures o ...
* Coconut: use for worship *
Culture of India Indian culture is the heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, artifacts and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse India. The term als ...
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Dhupa Dhupa (धुप) is, in Indian religions (such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, etc.), the ritual offering of incense during puja to an image of a deity, or other object of veneration. It is also the Sanskrit word for incense or perfume itself. ...
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Hindu prayer beads A japamala, , or simply mala ( sa, माला; , meaning 'garland') is a loop of prayer beads commonly used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism for counting recitations when performing ''japa'' (reciting a m ...
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Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...
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Incense of India In India, incense sticks, called Agarbatti (''Agar'': from Dravidian probably Tamil அகில் (agil), அகிர்(agir)., Sanskrit vatti, "wound" or "grief" ), are a large part of the economy and many religions in the region. The basic ...
* Mala *
Ghat Ghat, a term used in the Indian subcontinent, depending on the context could refer either to a range of stepped hills with valleys (ghati in Hindi), such as the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats; or the series of steps leading down to a body of ...
s *
Mudras A mudra (; sa, मुद्रा, , "seal", "mark", or "gesture"; ,) is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. As wel ...
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Namaste ''Namaste'' (, Devanagari: नमस्ते), sometimes called ''namaskar'' and ''namaskaram'', is a customary Hindu non-contact manner of respectfully greeting and honouring a person or group, used at any time of day. It is found on the In ...
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Pādodaka Pādodaka (Sanskrit: पादोदक, lit. ''foot-water'') is holy water. Its prepared from bathing the Linga or guru's feet. It is one of the Ashtavarana or the 'eight protections' of Lingayatism. This holy water is used in many sacred occas ...
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Pranāma ''Pranāma'' (Sanskrit: प्रणाम, praṇāma, "obeisance, prostration or bowing forward") is a form of respectful or reverential salutation (or reverential bowing) before something or another person – usually one's elders, spouse or t ...
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Parikrama Parikrama or Pradakshina is clockwise circumambulation of sacred entities, and the path along which this is performed, as practiced in the Indic religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. In Buddhism, it refers only to the path along ...
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The Archaeology of Hindu Ritual ''The Archaeology of Hindu Ritual: Temples and the Establishment of the Gods'' is an archaeological study focusing on the early development of Hinduism within the Gupta Empire between the 4th and 6th centuries CE. Written by the British archaeolog ...
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Yatra ( sa, यात्रा, 'journey', 'procession'), in Indian-origin religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, generally means a pilgrimage to holy places such as confluences of sacred rivers, sacred mountains, places associated w ...
Others *
Buddhist prayer beads A japamala, , or simply mala ( sa, माला; , meaning 'garland') is a loop of prayer beads commonly used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism for counting recitations when performing ''japa'' (reciting a m ...
* Guru-shishya tradition *
Jain festivals Jain festivals occur on designated days of the year. Jain festivals are either related to life events of Tirthankara or they are performed with intention of purification of soul. Festivals There are many religious festivals in Jainism. Some of ...
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Lists of festivals This is a list of festival-related list articles on Wikipedia. A festival is an event ordinarily staged by a community, centering on and celebrating some unique aspect of that community and its traditions, often marked as a local or national hol ...
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Puja (Buddhism) Devotion, a central practice in Buddhism, refers to commitment to religious observances or to an object or person, and may be translated with Sanskrit or Pāli terms like ''saddhā'', ''gārava'' or ''pūjā''. Central to Buddhist devotion is th ...
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List of Hindu Empires and Dynasties Indian empires rose to power following the birth of Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism in the Indian subcontinent. The period of the Gupta Empire under Samudragupta is sometimes attributed to as the Golden Age of India. List The following list enumera ...


References


External links


Festivals
Ministry of Culture {{DEFAULTSORT:Hindu festivals
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
Festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...
Lists of observances Lists of religious festivals Lists of festivals in Pakistan
2021 All Festivals , Date, Timing, History