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Hope you all are doing well.
Today, we are here with an interesting article on Traditional New Year Festivals in India. Nowadays, you must be coming across words like Bohag Bihu, Pohela Boishakh but wondering what they are. They are two of the many traditional new year festivals celebrated in India. If you are interested in knowing everything about traditional new year festivals in India, then read this blog attentively.
Table of Contents
Overview
There are numerous days throughout the year celebrated as New Year’s Day in the different regions of India. Their observance is determined by the solar and lunar calendars system. Every region in India follows different cultures, so traditions of new year’s celebration also vary. Generally, new year is celebrated in different states of India at the time of harvesting. Let’s look at some of the important New Year Festivals in India:
Ugadi/Yugadi- Telugu New Year
- It is the New Year’s Day for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka in India.
- This festival is celebrated in the month of March-April (Chaitra month)
- It is celebrated by distributing jaggery and neem flowers- symbolic of sharing both sweet and bitter experiences of life.
Gudi Padwa- Marathi New Year
- Gudhi Padwa is a spring-time festival that marks the traditional new year for Marathi and Konkani Hindus.
- It falls in the Chaitra month of Hindu calendar and is celebrated in the states of Maharashtra and Goa.
- It is celebrated by hanging Gudi on the right side of the entrance of their house. Gudi is a bright yellow cloth tied to the tip of a long bamboo and copper pot placed inverted on it along with a sugar garland.
Baisakhi- Punjabi New Year
- Baisakhi (also Vaisakhi) is observed by Hindus and Sikhs.
- It marks the beginning of Hindu solar New year.
- It is the biggest harvest festival celebrated across North Indian states especially Punjab.
Puthandu- Tamil New Year
- Puthandu (also known as Puthuvarudam) is the first day of the year on the Tamil calendar.
- It falls on or about 14 April every year.
- It is known by other names such as Vishu in Kerala, and Vaisakhi or Baisakhi in central and northern India.
- It is observed in Tamils in India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore.
Bohag Bihu- Assamese New Year
- Bohag Bihu or Rongali Bihu also called Xaat Bihu (seven Bihus) is a traditional ethnic festival celebrated in Assam and other parts of northeastern India.
- It usually falls in the 2nd week of April, historically signifying the time of harvest.
- There are three Bihu festivals in Assam, the other two are Maagh and Kaati.
Pohela Boishakh- Bengali New Year
- It is the first day of the Bengali calendar.
- This festival is celebrated on 14th/15th April in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam (Barak Valley) by Bengalis regardless of religious faith.
Bestu Varas- Gujarati New Year
- Bestu Varas is celebrated in Gujarat on the day after Deepavali.
- It is also called Varsha-Pratipada or Padwa.
- Marwaris in Rajasthan also celebrate their new year during Deepavali.
Vishnu- Malayalam New Year
- Vishu is the Malayali New Year celebrated in the state of Kerala in the month of April.
- The festival marks the first day of Medam, the ninth month in the solar calendar in Kerala.
- The most important event of the festival is Vishukkani, which means the first object viewed in the morning.
Losoong- Sikkimese New Year
- Losoong is the Sikkimese New Year of the Bhutia tribe, celebrated every year in the month of December.
- Losoong is also known as Sonam Losoong.
- Chham Dance is one of the major attractions of the festival.
Navreh- Kashmiri New Year
- It is the lunar new year that is celebrated in Kashmir.
- It falls on the first day of the Chaitra Navratri.
- On this day, Kashmiri pandits look at a bowl of rice which is considered as a symbol of riches and fertility.
Cheti Chand- Sindhi New year
- Sindhis celebrate the new year as Cheti Chand. Chaitra month is called ‘Chet’ in Sindhi.
- The day commemorates the birth anniversary of Uderolal/Jhulelal, the patron saint of Sindhis
Sajibu Cheiraoba
- Sajibu Cheiraoba is celebrated in Manipur to mark the traditional lunar new year.
- It is a ritual festival of Meiteis which is observed on the first day of Manipur lunar month Shajibu
- It falls in March/April every year.
Hijri- Islamic New Year
- The Islamic New Year is also called the Hijri New Year or Arabic New Year.
- It is the day that marks the beginning of a new Hijri year, and is the day on which the year count is incremented.
- The first day of the Islamic year is observed by Muslims on the first day of the month of Muharram.
So, these were all the important Traditional New Year Festivals celebrated in India. We have covered all the important facts of each festival. Hope you have enjoyed reading it.
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