Hola Maholla Hola Maholla is an annual festival held at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab. It was started by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, as a gathering of Sikhs for military exercises and mock battles on the day following the festival of Holi. It reminds the people of valour and defence preparedness, concepts dear to the Tenth Guru who was at that time battling the Mughal Empire. The mock battles...

Hemis The Hemis festival takes place in the courtyard of Hemis Gompa -the biggest Buddhist monastery in Ladakh. It is a celebration of the birth anniversary of Guru Padamasambhava. This two-day pageant falls on the 10th day (Tse-Chu) of the Tibetan lunar month. To celebrate the day Ladakhis dresses themselves in their finest traditional attire. Marvellous masked dances and sacred plays are displayed by the Lamas. Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of...

Heleibambe Heleibambe is celebrated in Assam by each Zemi village according to the convenience of the village prior to the starting of ‘Jhum’ cultivation. It is held in mid-April when monsoon is likely to set on the first day. Tingkupeu, the village priest, sacrifices a buffalo for the appeasement of `Suphai’, the Crop God so they could have a bumper crop. The meat of the sacrificed animal is then distributed among...

Hanuman Jayanti The first month of Hindi calendar year Chaitra witnesses the birthday of Ramchandra’s stalwart devotee Hanumana, on Chaitra Sud Poonam. By the blessings of Shiva and Vayu deities (Arjan), wife of Kesari, the king of monkeys, gave birth to Hanumana. While the Shiva Puran cites that since Shiva could not serve Shri Rama in his present form, he inspired the birth of one Rudra from his 11 Rudras, as...

Gu-Stor Gu-Stor literally means ‘sacrifice on the 29th day’. It is traditional to the monasteries of the reformist Geluk-pa order of Tibetan Buddhism. It is mainly celebrated in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh region. This is a two-day long festival. It is held mainly in the Spituk, Thiksay and Karsha monasteries at different times every year, from July to November. The celebration ends with the dismemberment and dispersal of Storma (sacrificial...

Gurupurab Anniversaries associated with the lives of the Sikh Gurus are referred to as Gurupurabs (festivals). Of these the important one is the birthday of Guru Nanak the first Sikh Guru. It falls on the full moon day in the month of Kartik. It is also called Kartikpurnima festival. On Gurupurab, the Sikhs put on new clothes after a ritual bath. Then they go to the Gurudwaras for scriptural readings from...

Gudhi Padva The first day of Hindu year is celebrated as Gudhi Padva in India. On this day a pole named Gudhi is erected in front of the house. Padva is also known as Pratipade, i.e. the first day of lunar month in Hindu calendar. A new cloth is tied on the gudhi, a metal vessel is put on to it and a garland of sweets is hung on it. This...

Govardhan Puja Govardhan Puja is performed on the fourth day of Padwa and it is also a day of Diwali celebration. The festival is celebrated to commemorate the lifting of Mount Govardhan by Lord Krishna. According to mythology, people of Gokul used to celebrate a festival in honour of Lord Indra and worshipped him after the end of every monsoon season. But Krishna wanted to stop this feast. When Lord Indra...