How do you start on a topic like festivals of a huge country like India that has a million or more strands to it? We have a suggestion ... start with a bird's eye view of the maze called festivals in India. Variations abound in India whether it is religious, cultural or regional in character. The festivals are often associated with seasonal changes and popular fables that more often than not describe the victory of good over evil. These festivals inform us about the cultural and traditional riches that we've been bestowed with. Every festival either welcomes a season, or harvest, rains etc and is celebrated with music, dance and colour. The birthdays of saints are also celebrated as festivals whereas some festivals are common to all over India such as Diwali, Shivratri etc. Most of the festivals follow the lunar calendar and therefore seldom fall on the same date of English calendar.

India has not yet realized its full potential as a tourism destination, which, if fully developed can provide impetus to other industries as well. Festivals drive the tourist traffic in and around the days these are held and generate enough wealth to sustain the population that depends on it. That's why festival tourism is something that comes under core sectors of our economy.

The festivals are myriad but so are the legends associated with each festival that explain the rationale behind each festival. It is believed that Lord Ganesha was born on 4th day of Shukla Paksha of Bhadrapad and therefore Ganesh Festival is celebrated for 10 days continuously, from Ganesh Chaturthi to Anantha Chaturdashi. It is believed that the great epic Mahabharata was transcribed by him as it was dictated by Ved Vyas. Another important festival of India, Dassera, is also known as Vijayadashmi. In this festival, Goddess Durga is worshiped for ten days. She was created when the gods were under attack from Mahisasur and it was decided that an all powerful entity would be created to kill the demon King. Thus Goddess Durga was born. Legend has it that Diwali celebrations began when Lord Vishnu killed Narasur and this is not the only one. The more you dig into these legends, the more engrossed you become. This is not the end, this is the beginning of your interest in the legends associated with the festivals.

The festivals give us a kind of freedom to indulge ourselves as we wish. Entire India is dressed up in a new attire to celebrate these festivals. Some recipes like Besan ke Laddu, Kesar kaju Barfi, Gujhia, Malpua etc are associated with Diwali. Every festival is incomplete without gastronomical delights. Jal Jeera, Papri, Thandai are some of the recipes that are associated with Holi. Some of the Rakhi recipes are Khoya Burfi, Malai Ka Laddoo, Malpua etc. The recipes that you should try during Navratri are Kele Ka Kofta, Boondi Ka Raita, Kottu Pakora, Dal stuffed Puri, Saboodana Vada etc. The recipes that are popular in Eid are Badam Phirni, Haleem, Nawabi Biryani, Seviyan etc.

Vishu, Bengali Nab Barsha, Navreh - the Kashmiri New Year, Navroz - the Parsi New Year, Ugadi - Maharashtra - all these festivals have one thing in common despite having different dates and different areas they are celebrated in. All of them celebrate the New Year for their respective communities. Both Diwali and Shab-e-Barat are festival of lights, albeit for different reasons and religions. If you think along these lines, you can always find out a common thread that binds the people of India.

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