Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
January
Post-monsoon cool lingers throughout the country, although it never gets truly cool in
the most southerly states. Pleasant weather and several festivals make it a popular
time to travel (book ahead!).
Free India
Republic Day commemorates the founding of the Republic of India on 26 January 1950.
Kite Festival
Sankranti, the Hindu festival marking the sun's passage into Capricorn, is celebrated in
many ways across India - from banana-giving to dips in the Ganges. But it's the mass kite-
flying in Maharashtra (among other states) that steals the show.
Southern Harvest
The Tamil festival of Pongal (
Click here
)
, equivalent to Sankranti, marks the end of the
harvest season. Families prepare pots of
pongal
(mixture of rice, sugar, dhal and milk),
symbolic of prosperity and abundance, then feed them to decorated cows.
Celebrating Saraswati
On Vasant Panchami, Hindus dress in yellow and place books, musical instruments and
other educational objects in front of idols of Saraswati, the goddess of learning, to receive
her blessing. The holiday may fall in February.
The Prophet Mohammed's Birthday
The Islamic festival of Eid-Milad-un-Nabi celebrates the birth of the Prophet Mohammed
with prayers and processions. It falls around 13 January 2014, 3 January 2015 and 26
December 2016.
