Events in India

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) June 6, 2006 -- Events

India is blessed with a huge number of festivals, and several are so

spectacular that you would be a fool to miss them if you were remotely

within spitting distance. They start with the secular Republic Day

Festival in Delhi each January, which includes elephants, a procession,

and plenty of military might and Indian princely splendour. Holi in

February is one of the most exuberant Hindu festivals in the north of

India. It marks the end of winter and basically involves throwing coloured

water and red powder over as many people as you can in one day.

The 10-day Shi'ite Muharram festival commemorates the martyrdom of

Mohammed's grandson. It's marked by a grand parade and dedicated penitents

scourge themselves with whips in religious fervour. It's best seen in

Lucknow, the principal Indian Shi'ite city and takes place in April/May

for the next couple of years. The massive Kumbh Mela festival commemorates

an ancient battle between gods and demons for a pitcher (kumbh). During

the fight for possession, four drops of nectar fell from the pitcher and

landed in Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain. The mela is held every

three years rotating through these four cities. The next festival takes

place in Allahabad in 2001.

Don't mistake the great car festival Rath Yatra for a rally race. This

spectacle in Puri in June/July involves the gigantic temple car of Lord

Jagannath making its annual journey, pulled by thousands of eager

devotees. One of the big events of the year in Kerala is the Nehru Cup

Snake Boat Races on the backwaters at Alappuzha (Alleppey), which take

place on the second Saturday of August.

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi in August/September is dedicated to the

popular elephant-headed god Ganesh. It's celebrated widely, but with

particular enthusiasm in Maharashtra. Shrines are erected, firecrackers

let off, clay idols are immersed in rivers or the sea, and everyone tries

to avoid looking at the moon. September/October is the time to head for

the hills to see the delightful Festival of the Gods in Kullu. This is

part of the Dussehra Festival, which is at its most spectacular in Mysore

and Ahmedabad.

November is the time for the huge and colourful Camel Festival at Pushkar

in Rajasthan. Diwali (or Deepavali) is the happiest festival of the Hindu

calendar and is celebrated over five days in November. Sweets, oil lamps

and firecrackers all play a major part in this celebration in honour of a

number of gods. It may be a tired old scene, but a beach party in Goa is

still the only place to be for Christmas.


Source: http://www.yahoo.com