Hindu Festivals

The named days of the Hindu year — when they fall, what they mean, and the lunar logic that moves their dates. Each page is a quiet introduction for the curious.

• DiwaliDiwali, the Festival of Lights, is a five-day arc around the Kartik new moon — the darkest night of the year, met deliberately with lamps.
• DhanterasDhanteras opens the five days of Diwali: a day for health and honest prosperity, when Dhanvantari is remembered and a lamp is lit for Yama.
• HoliHoli, the Festival of Colours, lands at the full moon of Phalguna — a bonfire one night, thrown colour the next morning.
• NavratriNavratri — "nine nights" — is the autumn festival of the Goddess, nine nights climbing toward Durga’s victory and Dussehra the day after.
• DussehraDussehra, the tenth day after Navratri, marks good’s victory over evil — Rama over Ravana, Durga over Mahishasura.
• Krishna JanmashtamiJanmashtami marks the midnight birth of Krishna — fasting, devotion, and a cradle rocked at twelve o’clock.
• Ganesh ChaturthiGanesh Chaturthi welcomes the elephant-headed remover of obstacles home for ten days, ending in the immersion of Anant Chaturdashi.
• Raksha BandhanRaksha Bandhan, on the Shravana full moon, ties the thread between sisters and brothers — protection promised both ways.
• Maha ShivaratriMaha Shivaratri, "the great night of Shiva," is a night of fasting and wakefulness on the dark fourteenth before the new moon.
• Ram NavamiRam Navami celebrates the noon birth of Rama, closing the spring Navratri on the ninth bright day of Chaitra.
• Makar SankrantiMakar Sankranti marks the sun’s turn north into Capricorn — the one major festival fixed to the sun, not the moon, so its date barely moves.
• Karva ChauthKarva Chauth is a dawn-to-moonrise fast kept for a spouse’s long life, broken only when the moon is sighted through a sieve.
• Akshaya TritiyaAkshaya Tritiya is the "never-diminishing third" — a day held to be wholly auspicious, when what is begun is said to endure.
• Hanuman JayantiHanuman Jayanti, on the Chaitra full moon, celebrates the birth of the monkey-god — strength placed wholly in service of devotion.
• Guru PurnimaGuru Purnima, the Ashadha full moon, is the day of gratitude to one’s teacher — the one who turns darkness to light.
• Sharad PurnimaSharad Purnima is the full moon that closes the monsoon, when the moon is said to shine at its most nourishing and the night is kept with moonlit feasting and devotion.
• Kali PujaKali Puja is the great Bengali celebration of the fierce mother goddess on the darkest night of the year — the same new moon as Diwali.
• Bandi Chhor DivasBandi Chhor Divas, the Day of Liberation, marks Guru Hargobind Sahib's release from Gwalior Fort and his return home with fifty-two imprisoned kings.
• Tulsi VivahTulsi Vivah is the ceremonial wedding of the holy basil plant to Lord Vishnu, marking the end of the four-month Chaturmas and the opening of the Hindu wedding season.
• Chhath PujaChhath Puja is a four-day festival of gratitude to the sun, centred on standing in open water at sunset and sunrise to offer *arghya* on Kartik Shukla Shashthi.
• Skanda SashtiSkanda Sashti celebrates Lord Murugan's defeat of the demon Soorapadman — a day of fasting, devotion and triumphant temple drama kept especially by Tamil families worldwide.
• Karthigai DeepamKarthigai Deepam is the great Tamil festival of lamps, kept on the full moon when the Krittika stars rise — a night of blazing fire and quiet flame.
• Guru Nanak JayantiGuru Nanak Jayanti marks the birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism — a day of prayer, scripture and langar observed by Sikhs worldwide.
• Kartik PurnimaKartik Purnima is the full moon that closes the holiest month of the Hindu calendar — a night of river baths, lamps on water, and the gods themselves descending to celebrate.

Looking for a specific date? The Vedic calendar shows the full month, and the glossary explains the terms.