Indian Folk Festival

Bathukamma is a colourful and vibrant festival of Telangana and celebrated by women, with flowers that grow exclusively in each region. This festival is a symbol of Telangana’s cultural identity. Bathukamma comes during the latter half of monsoon, before the onset of winter. The monsoon rains usually brings plenty of water into the fresh water ponds of Telangana and it is also the time when wild flowers bloom in various vibrant colors all across the uncultivated and barren plains of the region. The most abundant of these are the ‘gunuka poolu’ and ‘tangedu poolu’. There are other flowers too like the banti, chemanti, nandi-vardhanam etc. Bathukamma is celebrated by the women folk of Telangana, heralding the beauty of nature in vibrant colors of multitudinous flowers. As evening approaches the women folk dress colourfully with the best of their attire and adorn lot of ornaments and place the Batukamma in their courtyard. The women of neighborhood also gather in ...

The Elephant Festival is an annual festival which is held every year in the Pink City, Jaipur. This matchless event is organised on the full moon day of Phalgun Purnima which falls in the month of February/March. It is celebrated on the day before the festivals of colours i.e. Holi. From the ancient times, elephants have always been an important part of the Indian society. The Elephant-headed God, Ganesha, believed to be the remover of obstacles and foremost to all the gods, is revered and devotedly worshipped in all the parts of India. For this festival, elephants are nicely groomed and clothed with colourful and embroidered velvets rugs and parasols and other heavy ornaments like huge elephant jewellery and anklets decked with bells. Intricate traditional Indian motifs are then painted on their bodies. There are live performances of dancers and musicians too. In addition to this, in the procession there are chariots, lancers on horses, camels, and palanquins...

Every year, around the spring, you can witness that Srinagar in Kashmir celebrates the Shikara festival with lots of joy and excitement. One of the most critical features of this festival is perhaps the Shikara race that truly mesmerizes all and sundry.  Shikara refers to the long light-paddling boats. Several colourful Shikaras are taken out during the festival, and tourists get to participate with the locals in this unique and adventurous sports activity. As you enjoy this race to this finish, the mesmerizing Sufi music playing in all the boats further scintillate the occasion.   The Shikara race happens to be a fan favourite amongst the tourists in Kashmir, and it usually takes place in the famous Dal lake of Srinagar. Other events that occur during this festival include the Dragon Boat Race and Canoe Polo Match, to name a few, besides numerous cultural activities that revamp the rich culture and tradition of the region. 

The Hornbill Festival is a very popular festival of Nagaland. Often cited as “festival of all festivals”, The Hornbill Festival is a grand celebration that is brought to life each year in Nagaland, North East India. The festival is gritting in its element and a powerful representation of the Naga culture through splendid traditional music, dance and performances. The festival gets its name from the Indian Hornbill. The Hornbill is a common bird among the folklores and tribes of Nagaland and can be commonly seen prancing around in the forests of Nagaland. The different tribes in Nagaland address their culture with utter respect and thus find it purely essential to grace the festival with their cultural presence. The Hornbill festival is celebrated annually. The festival opens in the first week of December each year. The government of Nagaland organizes the cultural event. The celebration stretches between the expanse from 1st December to 7th December.  Peopl...