Hindu festivals 2031

Kept by couples hoping for a child.

The northern gate of Vishnu's temples opens — Srirangam, Tirupati and Udupi. Falls once or twice a year, and some years not at all.

Shiva's cosmic dance, seen at Chidambaram on Ardra in Margazhi; Kerala keeps it as Thiruvathira.

Magh snan begins; the Kumbh's first bathing day.

Bonfires, sesame and harvest songs on the night before Makar Sankranti (Punjab).

Old things burn in a dawn bonfire and the Pongal festival begins.

Assam's harvest feast, with the Meji bonfire.

The Sun enters Capricorn — kites, til, harvest.

The day for cattle — bathed, decorated and thanked for the harvest.

Families picnic by the river; sisters pray for their brothers' well-being.

Saraswati, spring, and yellow.

The appearance of Shri Advaita Acharya.

The Sun turns his chariot north.

The day Bhishma chose to leave his body.

Freedom from the curse of a wandering spirit.

The appearance of Lord Varahadeva.

The appearance of Shri Nityananda Prabhu.

Murugan receives the vel; kavadi carried in Tamil Nadu and Malaysia.

The birthday of the Bhakti saint Ravidas, on the Magha full moon.

Holy dips; the Kumbh's big bathing day.

Three days when the earth is said to menstruate; no digging or ploughing.

The appearance of Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.

The day the Sun enters Aquarius

The great night of Shiva.

Braj begins its Holi season with flowers.

The amla tree worshipped as Vishnu's dwelling.

Lakhs of women cook sweet pongala for Bhadrakali in Thiruvananthapuram, on Pooram.

The bonfire the night before Holi.

The appearance of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Colours, water, and no rules.

The day Sant Tukaram is remembered as going to Vaikuntha, observed at Dehu.

Holi's last day of colour, five days on (Maharashtra, MP).

The day the Sun enters Pisces

Cold food for the goddess of healing (Gujarat, Rajasthan).

Basoda — cold food offered to the goddess Shitala.

The last Ekadashi of the lunar year.

Spring Navratri; nine nights of the Goddess before Ram Navami.

Lunar new year in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana; Chaitra Navratri begins.

Sindhi new year and the birth of Jhulelal.

A month of Gauri worship with haldi-kunku gatherings for married women, ending on Akshaya Tritiya.

Rajasthan's festival of Gauri, marital happiness and spring.

Vishnu's first avatar, the fish who saved the Vedas.

The appearance of Shri Ramanujacharya.

The river Yamuna's descent to earth.

Nine days of simple ayambil meals and prayer to the nine padas (Jain).

Durga Ashtami of the spring Navratri.

Rama's birthday, celebrated at midday.

A spring day for Kamadeva and Rati, kept for love and a happy marriage.

The birth of Mahavira, the 24th Jain Tirthankara.

Divine weddings — Murugan and Deivanai, Shiva and Parvati — celebrated at Tamil temples.

Hanuman's birthday on the Chaitra full moon.

Tulu new year — the Bisu kani is arranged the night before and seen first thing.

Solar new year across Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Bengal, Assam, Odisha.

Protection and prosperity; charity of gold or land.

A new moon on a Monday — a river dip, and circling the peepal tree 108 times.

The never-diminishing day — gold, ventures, weddings.

The axe-wielding sixth avatar of Vishnu.

The philosopher who unified Advaita Vedanta.

Sita's appearance from the earth, kept at midday.

Vishnu's man-lion form, worshipped at twilight.

Birth, enlightenment and passing of the Buddha.

Vishnu as the tortoise who bore the churning mountain.

The day the Sun enters Taurus

Boundless merit; kept before the summer solstice.

A new moon on a Tuesday — ancestors remembered, Hanuman and Mangal worshipped.

Saturn's birthday; oil offered at Shani temples.

Savitri's vow, kept on the new moon in North India.

The Ganga's descent to earth; a dip in the river.

The day the Gayatri mantra was revealed.

The strictest Ekadashi — kept without even water; Bhima's Ekadashi.

Closes the Yakshagana and Bhuta Kola season until the rains pass.

The bathing festival of Lord Jagannatha.

Savitri's vow — married women circle the banyan tree (Maharashtra, Gujarat).

The day the Sun enters Gemini

Puri's chariot festival.

Vishnu begins his four-month sleep and Chaturmas starts; the Pandharpur Wari reaches Vitthal.

Five days of fasting by unmarried girls in Gujarat.

Honouring teachers; Vyasa's birthday.

Parvati as the cuckoo; a month-long vow that begins on Ashadha Purnima.

The day the Sun enters Cancer

The monsoon new moon — paleda kashaya, a bitter bark drink, is taken at dawn.

Maharashtra's feast day and Dipa Pooja on Ashadha Amavasya, before vegetarian Shravan begins.

The Mondays of Shravan, the most auspicious for Shiva.

Monsoon swings and green saris for Parvati (North India).

Serpent worship at the height of the monsoon.

Married women worship Lakshmi on the Friday before Shravana Purnima.

Fishing communities offer a coconut to the sea and reopen the waters after the monsoon, on the day Raksha Bandhan falls.

Siblings' day — the rakhi thread.

Monsoon songs and a fast for married women (UP, Bihar, MP).

Krishna's birth at midnight.

Human pyramids break the pot of curd, as the young Krishna did.

The day after Janmashtami, Udupi's Krishna Matha breaks the curd pots in its Leelotsava.

The appearance of Shrila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

The day the Sun enters Leo

Farmers honour their oxen; mothers keep Pithori Vrat for their children.

A new moon on a Monday — a river dip, and circling the peepal tree 108 times.

Kerala's harvest festival — King Mahabali comes home.

A new moon on a Tuesday — ancestors remembered, Hanuman and Mangal worshipped.

The day the Sun enters Virgo

The first sheaves of the new rice are cut, offered and eaten. The day varies by family, and Tulu panchangas differ on it.

Parvati's fast to win Shiva.

Ganesha comes home for ten days.

Honouring the seven sages; kept after Hartalika Teej.

Jyeshtha Gauri is welcomed home during Ganeshotsav, on Anuradha nakshatra.

The main worship of Gauri, with a feast, on Jyeshtha nakshatra.

Gauri is sent off, on Mula nakshatra.

Sixteen days of fasting for Lakshmi.

Radha's birthday, fifteen days after Krishna's.

Vishnu as the dwarf who measured the worlds in three steps.

The appearance of Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.

Ganesh visarjan; Vishnu as Anant.

A fortnight for ancestors.

Mothers fast without water for their children (Bihar, UP, Jharkhand).

Telangana's nine days of flower stacks for the goddess begin on Mahalaya Amavasya and end at Saddula Bathukamma.

Pitru Paksha ends; Durga is invited (Bengal).

Nine nights of the Goddess; Ghatasthapana.

The day the Sun enters Libra

Durga Puja begins — the goddess is welcomed at Bodhon.

Books, instruments and tools are worshipped on the Mula nakshatra of Navratri.

The goddess is installed with Nabapatrika, the nine-plant bathing.

Nine days of simple ayambil meals and prayer to the nine padas (Jain).

The eighth night — Maha Ashtami, kanya puja.

Tools, books and vehicles are cleaned and worshipped on Navami, in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Tulu Nadu.

The ninth night; Ayudha Puja in the South.

Good over evil — Ravana burns, Durga returns.

Lakshmi is worshipped at home and the household stays awake under the full moon; in Maharashtra, spiced milk is shared.

Kojagiri — kheer under the brightest moon.

The birthday of Maharishi Valmiki, composer of the Ramayana.

A day-long fast broken at moonrise (North India).

Mothers fast for their children (North India).

Vasu Baras — cows and calves honoured as Diwali opens.

Diwali begins — buy something metal.

Krishna defeats Narakasura; the oil bath before dawn.

The festival of lights, on the darkest night.

Bengal and Odisha worship Kali at midnight on the new moon, the same night most of India lights Diwali lamps.

Krishna lifts the hill; Gujarati new year.

Sisters host brothers; Diwali's last day.

The day the Sun enters Scorpio

Chhath begins with a holy bath and a simple meal.

A day-long fast broken at dusk with kheer, before the 36-hour waterless fast.

Sun worship at the river (Bihar, UP, Jharkhand).

Six days for Murugan, ending in the defeat of Surapadman.

Offerings to the rising Sun end the Chhath fast.

Amla Navami — a meal eaten under the gooseberry tree.

Krishna became a cowherd; cows are decorated and fed.

Krishna's defeat of his uncle Kansa, marked in Mathura.

Vishnu wakes, Chaturmas ends and the season of weddings and Tulsi Vivah begins.

The tulsi plant is married to Vishnu; wedding season opens.

Shiva and Vishnu worshipped together at midnight.

The birthday of Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, on Kartik Purnima.

Tamil Nadu's festival of lamps; a great fire on Thiruvannamalai.

The gods' Diwali on the ghats; Guru Nanak Jayanti.

Shiva's fierce form, worshipped at midnight.

The Ekadashi on which Ekadashi herself was born.

Sant Dnyaneshwar's samadhi at Alandi; the end of the Kartiki Wari for the Varkaris.

The day the Sun enters Sagittarius

The wedding of Rama and Sita, kept in Janakpur and Ayodhya.

The last of Khandoba's six-day festival — turmeric, dry coconut and brinjal offered to the family deity.

Kukke Subrahmanya's car festival and the serpent pilgrimage in coastal Karnataka; the same tithi Maharashtra keeps for Khandoba.

The day the Bhagavad Gita was spoken.

The northern gate of Vishnu's temples opens — Srirangam, Tirupati and Udupi. Falls once or twice a year, and some years not at all.

The goddess who feeds everyone; kitchens are honoured.

The three-in-one guru.

Shiva's cosmic dance, seen at Chidambaram on Ardra in Margazhi; Kerala keeps it as Thiruvathira.