List of Hindu festivals

(Redirected from Hindu festival)

Across the globe, Hindus celebrate a diverse number of festivals and celebrations, typically marking events from ancient India and often coinciding with seasonal changes.[1] These celebrations take place either on a fixed annual date on the solar calendar, or on a specific day of the lunisolar calendar. There is some regional variation with the observance of the festivals, and numerous festivals are primarily celebrated by specific sects or in certain regions of the Indian subcontinent.

Explanatory note
Hindu festival dates

The Hindu calendar is lunisolar but most festival dates are specified using the lunar portion of the calendar. A lunar day is uniquely identified by three calendar elements: māsa (lunar month), pakṣa (lunar fortnight) and tithi (lunar day).

Furthermore, when specifying the masa, one of two traditions are applicable, viz. amānta / pūrṇimānta. If a festival falls in the waning phase of the moon, these two traditions identify the same lunar day as falling in two different (but successive) masa.

A lunar year is shorter than a solar year by about eleven days. As a result, most Hindu festivals occur on different days in successive years on the Gregorian calendar.

Terminology

edit

Dolu Utsava

edit

Utsava is the Sanskrit word for festivals. The Sanskrit word Utsava comes from the word "ut" meaning "starts" and "sava" which means "Change" or "Decline".[2] Dolu Means seasonal colouring. Both solar and lunisolar calendar operates on the basis of Dolu Utsava.

Observance periods (tithi)

edit

Hindu calendar dates are usually prescribed according to a lunisolar calendar. In Vedic timekeeping, a māsa is a lunar month, a pakṣa is a lunar fortnight and a tithi is a lunar day.

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.

Popular Hindu festivals
Festivalmāsapakṣatithi
amāntapūrṇimānta
Gudi Padwa/Ugadicaitraśuklaprathama
Rama Navamicaitraśuklanavamī
Akshaya Tritiya
Guru Purnimaāṣādhaśuklapūrima
Naga Panchami
Raksha Bandhanśrāvaṇaśuklapūrima
Krishna Janmashtamiśrāvaṇabhādrakṛṣṇaaṣṭamī
Ganesh Chaturthibhādraśuklacaturthī
Ganesh Visarjanbhādraśuklapūrima
Pitru Paksha beginsbhādraāśvinakṛṣṇaprathama
Pitru Paksha ends

Sarvapitru Amavasya

bhādraāśvinakṛṣṇaamāvasyā
Navaratri beginsāśvinaśuklaprathama
Durga Ashtami

(8th day of Navaratri)

āśvinaśuklaaṣṭamī
Maha Navami

(9th day of Navaratri)

āśvinaśukla navamī
Navaratri ends

Vijaya Dashami

āśvinaśukladaśamī
Karva Chauthāśvinakārtikakṛṣṇacaturthī
Diwali begins

Dhan Teras

āśvinakārtikakṛṣṇatrayodaśī
Naraka Chaturdashi

(2nd day of Diwali)

āśvinakārtikakṛṣṇacaturdaśī
Deepavali / Lakshmi Puja

(3rd day of Diwali)

āśvinakārtikakṛṣṇaamāvasyā
Annakut or Bali Padyami

(4th day of Diwali)

kārtikaśuklaprathama
Diwali ends

Bhai Dooj

kārtikaśukladvitīya
Vasant Panchamimaghaśuklapañcamī
Maha Shivaratrimaghaphālgunakṛṣṇacaturdaśī
Holika Dahanphālgunaśuklacaturdaśī

Sublists

edit

List and descriptions of major Hindu festivals

edit

The tithi shown in the following list is as per the amānta tradition.

See also

edit
Hindu festival related concepts

Others

References

edit
edit