Popular Harvest Festivals in India

Celebrated in the second week of January, this signifies the end of the harvesting season in the country when farmers put down their tools and come together in joy and harmony. The Sankranti festivities are marked in different ways across north India such as through kite flying in Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan; Pongal in south India; a four-day long cultural harvest festival in India primarily celebrated in Tamil Nadu. It is a famous festival in the south when people pray for abundance in wealth and health.

Date: Thursday, January 14, 2021

One of the most popular harvest festivals of South India is Pongal. It is celebrated in mid-January every year and marks the beginning of Uttarayan-sun’s journey northwards. It is mainly observed in Tamil Nadu and lasts for about four days. The literal meaning of Pongal is “spilling over”, and it is so called because of the tradition of boiling rice in a pot until it starts to spill while people show gratitude to nature during the festival. Drawing of Kolam, swinging and cooking are essential traditions of the festival.

Date: January 13-16 2021

Baisakhi or Vaisakhi, the harvest festival, is celebrated with great enthusiasm to mark the beginning of the new spring and is celebrated in most of India as the new year by Hindus. It signifies the end of the harvest season in India, marking a time of prosperity for the farmers. Also called as Vaisakhi, it is a festival of tremendous joy and celebration. Baisakhi is especially significant to Punjab and Haryana, because of the large Sikh population who celebrate this festival with a lot of energy and vigour.

Date: Monday, 13 April 2020

The joyous festival of Lohri is a celebration of the commencement of the harvest season. Mainly celebrated in Punjab and other parts of North India by Sikh and Hindu communities, the festival involves lighting a holy bonfire, feeding it, offering prayers, dance performances. The fire signifies passing of winters, the long nights and welcomes summer, the longer days. Celebration of Lohri marks the end of winter season. It is celebrated with the beating of Dhol, Nagadas, and singing of traditional Lohri songs.

Date: Wednesday, 13 January 2021

Onam is a 10-day harvest festival celebrated in Kerala in the month of August - September. The festival is celebrated with grandeur. There are fairs and contests for people to indulge in. The floors are decorated with flower designs; there are dances for celebration and a snake boat race (Aranmula Boat Race) contest called Vallamkali is also carried out. The tenth or the last day of Onam is said to be most important and is one of the most popular manifestations of Culture of Kerala.

Date: Saturday, 22 August to Wednesday, 2 September

The most significant and important of all the cultural and vibrant celebrations in Assam is the Bihu festival. Marking the beginning of the agricultural season, Bihu brings the people of Assam together, irrespective of caste, religion, creed, gender or race. People of Assam rest their faith on their supreme God, Brai Shibrai, locally known as Father Shibrai. Celebrated somewhere around April, the Bihu harvest festival lasts for an entire month and is observed all across Assam with high spirits of appreciation.

Date: Tuesday, 14 April - Monday, 20 April

Nuakhai is an annual harvest festival in Odisha, celebrated to welcome the season's new rice. Celebrated a day after Ganesh Chaturthi, Nuakhai is the most auspicious and important social festival in Western Odisha and the neighbouring areas of Simdega in Jharkhand. It is celebrated in both domestic and community levels - while the festival brings people to their natives for customary greetings and meals in the urban places, the season in the rural counterparts runs through the entire month and is marked by prayers, community dances, and feasts.

Date: Sunday, 23 August 2020

The traditional occasion of Ugadi involves day-long festivities. The day is believed to be auspicious for starting new ventures. The fervour and enthusiasm with which the festival is celebrated mark its relevance even in today's time. The city drowns in different colours of rangolis and decorations. The festival welcomes a new start of life.

Date: Wednesday, 25 March 2020

Gudi Padwa is one of the most important festivals for the people of Maharashtra as it marks the beginning of the new year and the harvest season. Gudi Padwa is celebrated on the first day of the month of Chaitra (March-April). It is believed that Lord Brahma created the universe on this day. It is also believed that Lord Rama killed Bali on this day. The main ritual is the worship of an adorned bamboo stalk or Gudi, which is erected in the front of the house.

Date: Wednesday, 25 March 2020

One of the, if not the most colourful harvest festivals celebrated in the world, Holi is representative of India’s essence and vibrancy. The beautiful cultural festival celebrated with colours and water in March is a unique festival marked all across the country. Celebrated across two days; the night before the colour playing family and friends gather to burn a bonfire to commemorate the sacrifice of Holika and the next day people come out and play with colours and water in the spirit of joy.

Date: Monday, 9 March - Tuesday, 10 March

Basant Panchami is a Hindu Spring harvest festival is either celebrated in January or February. The festival is dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Saraswati. Saraswati Puja takes place on a giant level in the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, and Assam. People eat yellow and wear yellow. In Rajasthan, people wear jasmine garlands whereas, in Uttarakhand, people also worship Lord Shiva and Parvati as the mother earth. The Sikhs conduct Langar to celebrate the yellow festival.

Date: february 16, 2021

Wangala is an important post-harvest festival of the Garo Tribe, to mark the end of an agricultural year. It is a thanksgiving festival to the god of fertility, known as Misi-A-Gilpa-Saljong-Galapa. An extravaganza of a 100 drums, the festival is also known as the hundred drum festival. It is accompanied by the cries of a leading warrior, while boys and girls join him syncronising the dance steps with hand gestures. Celebrated from September to December, it marks the onset of Winter. During the festival, the sun god is worshipped with great Zeal with women dressed in colourful attire and men rhythmically drumming their traditional instruments.

Date: 13 November 2020 Friday

Nabanna, translating to Nobo-Onno which means New Rice in Bengali, is a harvest festival of the state. Celebrated in the Bengali month of Agrohyon, the new rice is harvested, and farmers offer the first harvest to Goddess Lakshmi as a thanksgiving offering. Apart from this, the festival hosts a food mela called the Nabanna Fair where a Bengali cuisine called 'Pithe' is cooked and offered to everyone. There are other cultural events with dance and music during the festivities.

The harvest festival of Ladakh is a 15-day event at the start of September. This festival is a colourful and vibrant extravaganza of the local culture. The people perform masked dances, songs and other rituals. A polo tournament known as the “Ladakh Festival Cup” is the highlight of the festival.

Ka Pomblang Nongkrem is celebrated by the Khasi people of Meghalaya. It’s a five day long carnival in the autumn months of October and November. This is an elaborate festival where people wear traditional attires perform Nonkrem dance. Goats are sacrificed and offered to the deity of U-Lei Shillong. On the 5th day, a prayer of thanksgiving is offered to the creator by the Syiem.

Vishu festival signifies the New Year of Kerala. This also symbolises the beginning of Spring. Lord Vishnu, in his avatar Shri Krishna is worshipped in Vishu. It is believed that on this day, Lord Krishna had killed the demon Narakasura.

Date: Tuesday, 14 April 2020

Agera is celebrated by the Catholic community of East Indians in Mumbai. It marks the harvest of crops after the monsoons. Agera falls on the first Sunday of October. The word Agers comes from the Latin word Ager which means “farm”. After the harvest, the first fruits are offered to God.

Dree Festival is celebrated by the Apatani Tribe in Ziro Valley, Arunachal Pradesh.This festival is celebrated on the 5th of July. The preparations however start from 4th of July itself. Dree festival is celebrated by offering prayers to the Gods Tamu, Harniang, Metii, and Danyi and asking for a great harvest season. Other than that, tangy rice and millet lager is prepared and relished.