North Indian Village Festivals

Several kinds of festivals are celebrated in different regions of India throughout the year. Among the five regions of India, the north region is quite famous for celebrating a variety of colourful festivals. The villages in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand comprise the north Indian villages. Processions, prayers, new attires, dance, music, etc. are the common elements in any kind of celebration in north India. However, though the basic mood is the same, the traditions and cultures of celebrating festivals differ from state to state.

The north Indian village festivals can be classified according to their nature or style of celebration. While some of the festivals are of religious nature, there are a few that are related to change of season and harvesting. The festival of colour, Holi, is one of the major north Indian village festivals. People love to spray colours on each other during this festival. Ganesh Chaturthi is another major festival in north India and the God of wisdom and good fortune, Ganesh, is worshipped during this festival.

Another major Hindu festival in north Indian villages is Diwali. It is the festival of lights and people decorate their houses with lots of lights during this festival. The other Hindu festivals celebrated in the villages of north India include Janmashtami, Dussehra, Raksha Bandhan, etc. One of the major north Indian village festivals is Baisakhi. It is the New Year Day of the Punjabi people and they sing, dance and spend many light moments with each other during this day. Baisakhi is also considered a harvest festival as wheat ripens during this time. The villagers perform various forms of folk dance and music during the festival. Gurupurab is another major Sikh and Punjabi festival in north Indian villages. Rural people celebrate the birthdays and the martyrdom of reverend Sikh Gurus. This festival is celebrated by performing mock battles, display of swordsmanship and horse riding.

Vaitha-Vatur-Truvah is one of the major north Indian village festivals. This festival is celebrated in the villages of Punjab. People from all religious communities participate in the festival. On the other hand Urs is a Muslim festival, mostly celebrated in the villages of Jammu and Kashmir. This is a typical Kashmiri festival held annually at the shrines of Muslim saints on their death anniversaries. Another important festival in the villages of Jammu and Kashmir is Sindhu Darshan. The people worship the source of the Sindhu River in Leh during this festival. There are a few Buddhist festivals celebrated in the villages of north India like the Yuru Kabgyat. Doscmoche is another ancient festival that is still celebrated in the villages of Jammu and Kashmir every year with great pomp and fervour.

The Phulaich festival is a major north Indian village festival, mostly celebrated in the villages of Kinnaur district in Himachal Pradesh. This festival is unique in tradition and is celebrated as the flower festival. The Rajput people of the village sing and dance during the festival. They also worship the village deity on the third day of the festival, by bedecking him/her with all the finery along with the numerous flowers. Another two major north Indian village festivals are Teej and Sanjhi. Both these festivals are celebrated in the villages of Himachal Pradesh. While Teej is a colourful festival where the girls and married women worship Lord Shiva and Parvati, Sanjhi is a festival where the unmarried girls worship Sanjhi as the mother goddess. They make the image of Sanjhi with mud using various shapes and worship the image. Gangore is also one of the popular North Indian village festivals during which, idols of Ishar and Gangore are worshipped. This spring festival is held in honour of Gauri, the goddess of abundance.

Lathmar Holi is a famous festival celebrated in the villages of Braj in Uttar Pradesh. This is one of the most notable north Indian village festivals and it has an ancient tradition. According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna from Nandgaon used to come to Barsana to play Holi with Radha along with his Gopi friends during this period. Mata Murti Ka Mela is another popular north Indian village festival held in the villages of Champavat region in Uttarakhand. This is a unique festival when the mother of Badrinath is worshipped. The Magh Mela during Sankranti in the Kumaon region is also an important festival.

The major Muslim festivals like Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha, Muharrum, etc. are celebrated in all the villages of north India and hence, are counted among the major north Indian village festivals. Christmas is the principal religious festival of the Christians and is celebrated in the villages of north India. The major festivals of other religions like Buddha Purnima of Buddhists, Mahavir Jayanti of Jains, etc. are also celebrated in the north Indian villages. Apart from all the above mentioned fairs and festivals, there are a few other north Indian village festivals that include Nagaur Fair, Desert Festival, Baneshwar Fair, Mewar Festival, Elephant Festival, Summer Festival, Pushkar Fair, Camel Festival, Lohri Festival, etc.

The North Indian village festivals are some of the most colourful and blissful festivals among all the villages in India. The people celebrate the festivals with lots of enthusiasm and cheerfulness.