Skip to main content

6 Major Harvest Festivals in Our Country

Image
By
In our country, we celebrate life and all those things which help in living our lives well. One such celebration is Harvest festivals. In different states of India, harvest festivals are being celebrated based on the main crops of that region and its timing. But regardless of state or time, the main reason behind every harvest festival is to welcome new food and to bid thanks to almighty for giving us an important aspect of our lives, harvest.

Here are few harvest festivals that we celebrate with excitement and zeal every year : 

1. Makara Sankranti in January: Makar Sankranti is a major harvest festival celebrated in almost every state of India. This festival is to honour the beginning of the harvest season and end of the northeast monsoon in South India. Makar Sankranti is respected as the beginning of an auspicious phase in Indian (Hindu) culture. It is cited as the 'holy phase of transition'. Makara Sankranti is known as Pongal, Uttarayana, Lohri, Khichdi, Shishir Sankraat and Maagh Bihu. Kite flying is also an important part of this festival.


2.  Baisakhi in April: Baisakhi or Vaishakhi refers to the harvest festival of the Punjab region. The Punjabi New Year also falls on the same day. This day is observed as a thanksgiving day by farmers when they pay their tribute to God with thanking for the abundant harvest and also pray for future prosperity. There are different rituals that are being performed this day. Drums are played and people sing and dance. This harvest festival is also characterized by the folk dance Bhangra which traditionally is a harvest dance.



3.  Bihu in April: Bihu denotes three different festivals celebrated in Asaam. These three festivals are Maagh in January, Bohaag in April and Kaati in October. Rongali Bihu or Bohag Bihu is the major among the three and most popular Bihu festival, celebrated as the Assamese New Year in mid-April along with spring season. It’s a seven days festival and is always celebrated with the feeling of joy, worship, traditional cuisines and folk dance.




4.  Hareli festival in July-August: The Hareli festival is one of the popular festivals of tribal Chhattisgarh state. The word 'Hareli' is derived from the Hindi word 'Haryali' which means greenery. It is a festival celebrated by the various communities of the farmer in the Hindu month of Savan. While celebrating this festival the farmers of Chhattisgarh worship their equipments used for farming and cows of their houses. The farmers pray for a good harvest and the main purpose of this festival is to celebrate nature and its generosity.
5. Onum in August-September: This festival is like a grand carnival of Kerala. This ancient festival marks the commemoration of Vamana avatar of God Vishnu and yearly homecoming of the mythical Emperor Mahabali. It is regarded as Kerala's rice harvest festival and the festival of Rain Flowers, which fall on the month of Chingam (August-September). Amazingly it’s a ten-day festival which is celebrated with various celebrations such as flower carpets, Vallamkali, Puli Kali and Kaikottikkali.

6.  Nuakhai in August-September: Naukhai is the harvest festival being celebrated in Orissa. Nuakhai is also known as Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat.  It is celebrated to welcome the new rice of the season. The word ‘nua’ means new and ‘khai’ means food, so the name represents that the farmers fruitfully got the newly harvested rice. The festival is regarded as a new ray of hope, held the day after the Ganesha Chaturthi festival.



I'm sure there are many other harvest festivals in India which I'm not aware of. So based on my knowledge. I have tried to give a glimpse of few of such festivals and where/when they are being celebrated. Please share your thoughts if you know any other harvest festival.

Also, I wish the new year will bring lots of happiness and good luck to everyone. I'm showing my gratitude to our mother nature for giving us life and resources for leading our lives ahead.
Listen This Post Stop Listening Post
Share this PostPin ThisShare on TumblrShare on Google PlusEmail This
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My 'Invisible' Accomplishments #DecadeHop #RRxMM

By
As we entered 2020, through this post I am trying to contemplate the coolest, most daring, and most significant feats of my life during the last decade. Now the more I regress my memory, the more I feel there are two types of achievements or accomplishments that I can ponder upon; Visible and Invisible. Visible ones are those that I can count on my finger like a parrot and others can nod also. I got specs on, married to a not-so-romantic man, produced a baby, started writing and added good 17 kgs in my body volume (I was 50 in 2011). However, there are many invisible accomplishments too that either I know silently or very few can assert. From 2011 to 2019, Who am I now From a coy soul to now an outspoken woman, the trek was not easy. I achieved it. From being a no-makeup girl to now a lipstick swatches observer, the transition was tough. But it happened. And from being a sweet hater to now a sweet lover, the change was mysterious yet occurred. And now I can die for Gulab Jamuns....
76 comments
Read more

Cheap vs.Expensive Bottled Water-The Cost of What is Free & Essential

By
If I ask you when you last bought packaged drinking water last, I am sure you would not count it from long ago. Obviously, because gone are the days when we used to count water as a free goodie from nature for all of us. We now buy this essential for life thing in various amount as per our needs.  Be it a shopping mall or an amusement park, hospital or restaurant, travel time or even at home we pay for our drinking water. During Durgapuja festival I had to buy drinking water from many places which made me notice how the price of the same drinking water changes from one shop to another. Buying a one-liter bottle of a reliable brand from a general store cost me Rs. 20, while the same brand bottle of an equal amount of water filled inside a pizza hut store cost me RS. 50 on the same day. The last bottle that I had bought was left in the car parked outside and I felt thirsty again while waiting for my ordered pizza. This made me ask for water at the cash counter where the person o...
13 comments
Read more

Vibhu and Web Series - Gullak is a cheering story

By
After watching Panchayat , I was again on a hunt for another web series that Vibhu (my 7-year-old boy) can also enjoy. Luckily I found one. It was again a neat and uncomplicated one. No abusive language, no inappropriate talks, and full of comedy, it was really fun to watch " Gullak " with Vibhu. Set in a small town in North India, this web series is about a middle-class Mishra family and their day-to-day struggles. Being a 90s kid, I have seen the craze for clay piggy banks, typically called Gullak. Be it any fair or festival, buying a clay piggy bank was a custom in families of North India (UP) during the early 90s. The Series is named Gullak as in the show, a clay piggy bank, is the narrator of the plot. The Mishra family includes a giving husband, Santosh Mishra; a sarcastically speaking wife, Shanti Mishra; and their two sons. Then there are nagging neighbors, demanding relatives, everyday life struggles, and lots of humor with all. The performance by everyone in the ca...
30 comments
Read more