India is known as the land of festivals. Almost every month Indian people celebrates some fairs or carnivals. There are different identities of each fair, some fairs are religious fairs while others are celebration of season change. All fairs/Carnivals has lots of diversities according to culture, language, people, state and religion but they brings people closer to each other and also helps them to feel the essence of Indian culture and heritage. Fairs and Carnivals are the windows to view the true colour of India. Below are the five biggest Indian Carnivals/Fairs:
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GOA CARNIVAL:
This is one of the biggest carnival in the state of Goa (city Panaji). This festival has been celebrated in Goa since the 18th century. After the end of Portugese rule the carnival was resurrected by a Goan musician Timoteo Fernandes in 1965 and was modeled after the famous Rio Carnival and since then this has been one of the unique festival celebrated in India.
The Goa carnival takes place in the month of February every year for three days and nights. It is considered the at that time Goa comes under the rule of King Momo.
Parade, is one of the main attraction in this carnival. Big colourful parades takes over the city with bands, ribbons, floats, music and dances and the Parade is headed by a large gentle man who plays the role of King Momo. In the evening people over there starts partying at different places in the city. This is the heaven for foodies and this carnival is meant to be feasting and drinking. There are a huge number of food stalls and cocktail bars at different places. Different electric events and exciting performances keeps the tourists enthralled. It also includes dancing troupes, revelers wearing mask and colourful costumes, live music concerts and also sports competitions. The carnival ends with traditional red and black dance, where the men and women are dressed in red top and black trousers/skirts. People from all over India comes to take part in the celebration and there is no entry ticket for this carnival. So, undoubtedly the Goa Carnival is one of the most awaited event for all Indians.
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TARNETAR FAIR:
Tarnetar is a village in the state of Gujarat which is very popular for Trinetreshwar Temple where the Tarnetar fair helds but the temple was ruined, later on a new temple was built by the Gaekwads of Vadodara in the 19th century which is now one of the main attraction of Tarnetar Fair. This fair is based on the swayamvara of princess Draupadi and is the celebration of Gujarat’s folk culture starting from folk-dance, music, costumes and art. This held for three days. During this time people are dressed beautifully in their traditional costumes and ornaments. Rabari women performs beautiful folk music and dance called ‘Rahado’ moving in single circle with the rhythm of drums and other musical instruments. The dress of these women indicates their marital status, black skirt means she is married and red skirt means she is un-married. There are huge number of stalls where a large variety of hand-made stuffs, folk instruments, ethnic jwellery, traditional statues and many more goods are available. Beside these different rides, photographers and magic shows are also found there. Another main attraction of this fair is young tribal men and women seek their marriage partners here. Every year more than 7 lakhs people from India and different other countries attend this fair.
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PUSHKAR FAIR:
Pushkar Fair/Mela is one of the biggest fair which helds in the state of Rajasthan for five days. It is believed that Lord Brahma dropped a lotus flower in the Pushkar lake and the city of Pushkar came into existence. This fair is also known as the Camel Fair. This is an annual live-stock fair. People trade their live-stock which includes Camels, Horses, Cows, Sheeps and goats. This fair also reflects the vibrant culture of Rajasthan by performing different activities and events. There are different colourful themes, cultural events, competitions like: Tug of war, Matka Phod (breaking the pot), longest moustache, Camel race, bridal competition etc and different cultural performances which makes the fair more happening. Another important aspect of this fair is the music that flows all around, different fusion bands from different countries performs there. Recently the Kite festival has also started there, colourful kites don the skies of Pushkar during the fair, this event is named as “Pushkar ki Patang”. There is also an exhibition cricket match between the local and foreign tourists and they are dressed up in full Laagan (famous bollywood movie) Costume. Various delicious rajasthani dishes are also available there. This has become a important tourist place which attracts more the 2,00,000 visitors.
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SONEPUR CATTLE FAIR:
This fair helds in Sonepur in the state of Bihar on Kartik Poornima, that is in the month of November. It is also known as Harihar Kshetra Mela on the confluence of river Ganga and Gandak. Till date it is the biggest cattle fair in the Asia continent.This fair has an ancient history, Emperor Chandragupta Maurya used to buy elephants and horses across the river Ganga for his army and then it attracts different traders from different places. Previously the fair used to held at Hajipur but later it was shifted to Sonepur during the reign of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. This fair helds for 15 days to 1 month. Animal trading is the biggest attraction of this fair. Different farm animals are brought to this fair for trading purpose like: different breeds of dogs, cows, buffaloes, horses, donkeys, ponies, monkeys, sheeps, cats, pigs, rabbits, goats and also camels. A large variety of birds and fishes are also found here. ‘Hathi Bazar’ was another attraction where elephants who are beautifully decorated are lined up for sale, this is the only fair where such a large number of elephants are sold but since 2004 selling elephants has been baned by government. Apart from this there are also a huge variety of garments, handicrafts, agricultural goods, jewellery and weapons. Another main attraction apart from fair is offer puja at Hariharnath Mahadeo Temple, it is believed that this temple was built by lord Rama. Different lodges and resorts are set up for the tourists who comes from all over India and also from outside India.
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KUMBH FAIR/MELA:
Kumbh Mela is one of the religious fair and biggest pilgrimage for all Indians. It is over 2000 years old. It is the largest peaceful gathering in the world. It helds every third year at one of the four places by rotation i.e. Haridwar, Allahabaad, Nasik and Ujjain. Huge number of people comes to visit this fair to take holy bath in the sacred river, the Ganga which they consider as the royal bath because they believe bathing in the sacred river will wash away all their sins and they will come closer to salvation. According to hindu mythology ‘Kumbh’ means ‘Nectar’, and lord Vishnu spilled drops of Amrita (the nectar) while transporting it in a Kumbha pot at these four places where the mela held. The date and length of this mela is decided on the basis of astronomy and zodiac locations of planets. One of the main attraction of this fair is the ‘Sangram’, which is the union of three sacred rivers that is The Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. Another main attraction of this fair is the Peshwai Procession or Akada where the Naga sadhus are found with elephants and horses. The word ‘Akada’ means the entire organization, when the Buddhist and jain came into existence, the hindu dharma came into danger at that time the saints raised their voice and started the Akhada. Some sadhus are seen wearing saffron clothes with Vibhuti (ashes) on their body. Some sadhus show their aerobics skill and also performs devotional songs and dance. Types of Kumbha Melas:
- MAHA KUMBHA MELA: This mela only comes in every 144 years or after 12 Purna Kumbha Mela.
- PURNA KUMBHA MELA: It comes in every 12 years.
- ARDH KUMBHA MELA: It means half Kumbha Mela which helds in every 6 years.
- KUMBH MELA: It helds in every 3 year and organized by the state government.
- MAGH KUMBH MELA: It is also known as mini kumbh mela which is held annually.
Tourists of all age group across the world comes to visit this fair to feel the spirituality and rich tradition of India. This is the only public gathering which can be seen from space, it was captured from space by India’s high resolution earth imaging satellite CartoSat-2. It is the world’s largest public gathering. In 2013 there was a record crowd of about 120 million people in this mela.
