New Year in India: dates and traditions of celebration

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Folk wisdom says that the very first day of the year predetermines all subsequent 364. Therefore, it is customary to meet the new cycle of the chronology with noisy festivities. Many do not spare money to meet the arrival of the New Year at a richly decorated table. Well, what about travel? Without a chiming clock, but also without snowdrifts outside the window, in some tropical countries on the shores of a warm sea? Sounds tempting. And although we have already missed the celebration of the World New Year 2015, all is not lost. After all, there is such a country as India. In this amazing region, a significant event occurs four times a year. And in some states even more often. Let's learn how the New Year is celebrated in India. Maybe we can guess and also take part in the enchanting fun?

Why are there so many New Year celebrations?

India is a multicultural country. Side by side with the Hindus, who make up the religious majority, people of different faiths live. These are Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists. And everyone is not averse to celebrating. But what is not celebrated at all in India is the Old New Year. But this only means that the Russiansthere are still very few tourists in the country, and they have not informed the local population about such a wonderful opportunity to welcome the arrival on January 14th. Traditional for the whole world, the New Year in India began to be celebrated relatively recently. With the greatest scope, the festivities are held in the state of Goa - the recent colony of Portugal. There, this event takes place in conjunction with Christmas and the Adoration of the Magi, that is, everything is permeated with Christian spirituality. But the Hindu calendar also has enough New Years. They are celebrated in February, April, May and also in October.

Holi

The date February 24 is also the New Year. In India, Holi is celebrated in all states. This is an official holiday. Another name for Holi is the "Festival of Colors". On this day, people of all ages sprinkle each other with a multi-colored powder of crushed Ayurvedic medicinal herbs. Cleaned houses are decorated with lamps and lights. Hanging orange flags. On this day, it is customary to wear pink, red, white and purple clothes. The culmination of the festival is the burning of a large effigy or a tree decorated with garlands. Unlike Europeans, Hindus conduct religious rituals - pujas - on New Year's Eve. In temples, as well as in homes, the goddess Lakshmi and the gods of love - Kama and Krishna are honored. Well, then they go to visit or sit down at the festive table with the whole family.

Gudi Padva

Another New Year in India falls in the spring. It does not have an exact date, since it is tied to the lunar calendar, like our Easter. But for the Hindus, with his arrival, the first month of the year begins - medam (middleMarch - first half of April). It marks a new agricultural cycle. Gudi Padva (or Vishuvela Festival) is celebrated especially brightly in the state of Kerala. There are carnival processions. People dress up in banana-leaf skirts and cover their faces with masks. The holiday lasts five days. In the first, offerings are made to the sacred cows, in the second, they give gifts to relatives. The third day - Gosein Bihu - is reserved for religious ceremonies. According to the results of the carnival processions, bihu kanvori is selected - the best dancer. The locals are very religious, and you need to remember this when you come to celebrate the New Year in India. Traditions prescribe not only to have fun and fireworks into the sky, to make and receive gifts, but also to honor various deities. Since it was on this day that another character of the Hindu Olympus defeated the demon on duty.

India for the New Year: 2015 according to the Shaka calendar

For a long time the country lived according to its own calendar. The year began with the month of Chaitra, or rather, with the spring equinox (March 22). Each region of India has its own name for this holiday: Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh, Panchanga Shravana in Andhra, Nadu in Tamil. But in the state of Kashmir, this New Year is celebrated for a particularly long time. Celebrations begin on March 10 and continue until April. All this time in Kashmir, fun has not ceased, accompanied by fairs.

Diwali, or the Festival of Lights

This joyful event is celebrated in October. Hindus believe that on this day Prince Rama defeated the evil demon. Ravana and took back his kidnapped wife Sita. In honor of the victory of light over darkness, people light thousands of lamps. And the day after Diwali comes the New Year. In India, the tradition of considering this holiday as an analogue of January 1 is not everywhere. Basically, the New Year in October is celebrated by the Gujarati people, while the rest of the Indians simply celebrate Diwali. But after the Festival of Lights comes Bestu Varas (Varsha Pratipada). According to Gujarati beliefs, once Krishna himself saved their people from destructive rains and gave them a bountiful harvest. Therefore, tradition prescribes to celebrate the New Year with a tray of fruit. Well, in the evening the sky explodes from the noise of crackers and fireworks.

India, New Year, tours

If you want to celebrate a holiday according to the pan-European calendar, then it makes sense to do it in some tropical country. Recently, the night from December 31 to January 1 is considered a holiday everywhere. This is a joyful event that brings together people of different faiths and atheists. Therefore, wherever you go, thousands of local residents will be celebrating the most important night of the year with you. But each country has its own peculiarities to celebrate this date. Take, for example, the state of Goa. The most Catholic region of the country, about which even the locals say that this is not quite India. Goa, in which the New Year always leaves a lot of the most joyful impressions, is also good on weekdays. But during the Christmas period, it is something special! That's why tours go there. Discos on the shores of the warm sea, a light breeze and the glow of lights. All celebrations are not devoid of certain European symbols - Christmas trees, Santa Clauses and reindeer. Since winter is the peak season in Goa, it makes sense to book tours ahead of time. This way you can save money by booking early.