Festivals of Varanasi
Varanasi is a Cultural and Traditional Capital of India. Varanasi city has been the biggest centre for learning Indian philosophy, classical music, spiritualism, religious studies and other education. According to the Hindu religion, it is considered that Benaras is the melting pot of the Indian culture. It has become a great centre for a variety of fairs and festivals for the whole year. People are very happy while celebrating festivals. The festivals celebrated in Varanasi are:
Dev Diwali
Dev Deepawali is a famous festival celebrated every year at the holy city Varanasi. It signifies the victory of Lord Shiva over demon Tripurasur. It comes after 15 days of Diwali on the auspicious day of Kartik Purnima(full moon day).On this auspicious day, a large number of devotees come together to take a dip in the holy Ganges. People pray to goddess Ganga and offer flowers and light clay lamps or diyas in the evening.
This act of offering lamps to the Ganga is called Deepdaan. As the sun goes down, every single step of the staircases at Varanasi ghats glitter with thousands of diyas(oil lamps), which look absolutely gorgeous. Besides the ghats, all the temples in the city are also beautifully lit by the lamps.
Dev Deepawali in Varanasi is a unique experience. During this celestial demonstration, every corner of the city comes alive with bright colours and glowing diyas. It looks like stars have come down on the Earth to make the city all the more beautiful. People also believe that on the day of Dev Deepawali, all the Gods descend to Varanasi to bathe in the Ganga River.
Besides being an important religious festival, Dev Diwali is also the occasion when the city remembers the martyrs. The Ganga Seva Nidhi organises special aarti and a program, wherein wreaths are laid at the Amar Jawan Jyoti on the famous Dashashwamedh Ghat.
Bharat milap
Bharat Milap is an important festival of Varanasi which held in October/November. This festival is celebrated to commemorate Lord Ram’s return to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and his reunion with his brother, Bharat. The summary of this festival is the victory of truth over evil.
The story of Lord Ram is the main subject of Valmiki’s Ramayana and Tulsidas’ Ramcharitamanas. The Bharat Milap festival is held a few days after Dussehra at Nati Imli, Varanasi. This festival is one of the greatest attractions of Varanasi city. The people of Varanasi celebrate Bharat Milap with great joy and devotion.
A big crowd gathered in the streets to see the procession of Lord Ram and his reunion with younger brother, Bharat. People pay their respect by putting Tilak on the forehead and garlanding Lord Ram and his brothers. Another important part of the Bharat Milap celebration is the presence of Kashi Naresh along with his royal belongings and adorned in a ceremonial dress.
Nakkatayya
This festival is celebrated at Chetganj in Varanasi. Nakkatayya is an event of the Ramayana(epic) which is commemorated for the slitting of the nose of Supernkha (sister of the Ravan, the devil King) by the Lakshman (younger brother of Lord Ram). The date decided for this festival falls during mid-October and represents the victory of truth over evil. People who involve in fair, start their preparations way before the commencement of the festival. The parades and scenes are displayed with great vigour and exhibited all along the narrow alleyways and streets of Varanasi.
Nag Nathaiya
This festival was first celebrated in the 16th century by Tulsidas, a great poet and saint. This festival is celebrated with great fun and enthusiasm on the Tulsi Ghat and marks the victory of Lord Krishna over the famous and the much-dreaded kaliya nag(serpent). The legend of Nag Nathaiya festival is related to the time of Mahabharata.
One day Lord Krishna while playing with his friends lost his ball in the river. When all Krishna’s friend starts asking for the ball little Krishna dived into the river to fetch it back. He dived down deep inside the river. There he was encountered by the poisonous King Cobra, Kaliya. The battle went for long but soon Kaliya Nag acknowledged the strength and power of Lord Krishna. He bowed his head in front of the Lord and promised not to hurt the villagers residing in the village. The snake(Kaliya) lifted Lord Krishna on its head and took him to the surface.
Another significant part of this festival is the Krishna Leela performance that takes place on the ghats and is witnessed by a huge crowd. The festival is attended by Kashi Naresh (king of Varanasi) every year who views the Leela from the royal boat. After the performance concludes the actors who had performed in the Krishna Leela are given awards and accolades for their impeccable performances.
Panch Koshi Parikrama
Panch Koshi Parikrama is considered to be one of the most important festivals in Varanasi. Panch Koshi Parikrama will only be completed once the devotee passes through five holy places of Kardmeshwar, Shivpur, Rameshwar, Bhimchandi and Kapildhara. This parikrama starts from Manikarnika ghat and ends up there only. People participating in this procession wake up early in the morning and commence their parikrama after taking a refreshing bath in this holy river Ganga.
It is believed that in the Treta Yuga, Lord Rama along with wife Sita and brothers performed this sacred circumambulation for the first time to liberate their father Dasharatha from the curse of Shravan Kumar. The second time when Lord Rama killed Ravana, he travelled to Panchakroshi with Sita and Lakshmana to get rid of the sin of Brahmana. It is also believed that the Pandavas undertook this journey with Draupadi at the time of the unknown in Dwapara Yuga.
travelling 50 miles or about 80 kilometres, passing through five stops on the way. The five stops along the way are actually five temples. These five temples are important sites of this journey.
The first stop is Kardameshwar. It is 3 cos from Manikarnika. The second stop is 5 cos from Bhim Chandi Kardeshwar, the third stop is 7 cos from Rameshwar Bhim Chandi, the fourth stop is 4 cos from Shivpur Rameshwar and the fifth stop is 3 cos from Kapil Dhara Shivpur. Manikarnika has to come back from Kapiladhara. Manikarnika distance from Kapiladhara is 3 cos. In this way, a total of 25 cos travel. A cos has 3.2 km. In this way, about 80 km travel in 25 cos.
Mahashivratri
Mahashivaratri (the great night of Shiva) takes place every year on the 14th day of the month of Phalgun which marks the end of the winter season. Since Varanasi is considered the city of Lord Shiva, Mahashivaratri festival holds great importance here.
On Mahashivaratri, all Shiva temples of Varanasi are nicely decorated. On Mahashivaratri, a beautiful marriage procession of Lord Shiva is arranged from Mahamrityunjaya Temple Daranagar to Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The procession for this festival commences late in the evening, continues for the entire night and concludes early morning of the next day.
In Varanasi, people visit nearby temples of Shiva and offer milk, Bhang, Dhatura, flowers, coconut, fruits etc to Shiva Lingams and sing bhajans in honour of Shiva. Many devotees observe fasting throughout the day. On the day of Mahashivaratri, around 200 thousand devotees visit Kashi Vishvanath temple to offer prayers to the presiding deity of Varanasi, Lord Shiva.
Chhath Pooja
Chhath Pooja is an important festival dedicated to Lord Surya(Sun) and Chhathi Maiya (known to be the sister of Surya). It is celebrated in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and the country of Nepal. It is the only Vedic festival that is dedicated to the Sun God, who is supposed to be the source of all powers and Chhathi Maiya This festival is celebrated on the 6th Day(Chhath) after Diwali, another major Hindu festival, it generally falls during the month of October-November.
It is believed that in ancient times, Chhath Puja was celebrated by Draupadi and the Pandavas of Hastinapur in order to solve their problems and regain their lost kingdom. As the story goes by, this Puja was first started by Surya Putra Karna who ruled over the Anga Desh (Bhagalpur in Bihar) during the age of Mahabharata.
On the first day of the Puja, the devotees take bath first and then cook a meal Kaddu Bhaat along with Channa dal for themselves. The ladies who are having fast can allow themselves only one meal on this day.
The second day, the devotees do not eat (fast) for the entire day, which they can break just a while after sunset. After that, they have to fast without water for 36 hours.
The third day is spent by preparing the Prasad and in the evening, the whole family of the Vratins accompanies them to the riverbank, where they create offerings to the setting sun. The ladies usually wear yellow colour saree while making their offerings. The evenings are made even better with enthusiastic folk songs.
Here, on the ultimate day, all the devotees attend the riverbank before sunrise to form offerings to the rising sun. This festival ends when the Vratins break their 36 hours fast (called Paran) and therefore the relatives come across to their house to possess their share of Prasad. According to the Hinduism, Sun worship is said to the cure of a variety of diseases like leprosy, etc.
Shravan maah
Shravan is one of the most auspicious months in the Hindu religion, having a special significance to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Shravan is observed in July and August. In this holy month, people across the country stay fast on Monday and visit Shiva temple to seek Shiva’s blessings. Most of Hindu stay vegetarian during Shravan month.
On this month the city is always busy with pilgrims that come to bathe in the River Ganges and visit the Shiva temples. Every Monday there are special prayers performed in the Kashi Vishwanath temple and at the end of the month, the city is buzzing with festivities.
When: Shravan Maah is in the fifth month of the Hindu calendar that usually is in late July and early August.
Rangbhari Ekadashi
Rangbhari Ekadashi is celebrated with great enthusiasm at Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Rangbhari Ekadashi is the beginning of Holi celebration in Kashi. Rangbhari Ekadashi is also known as Amalaki Ekadashi. Amalaki is the form of Brahman who can destroy all kinds of sinful reactions. Holi begins on the day of Ekadashi in Varanasi, which is called Rang Bhakri Ekadashi.
Devotees along with Baba Vishwanath play Holi with Abir Gulal on Rangbhari Ekadashi. The entire street resonates with the slogans of Har Har Mahadev and Abir Gulal. he belief behind this Holi is that after marriage on the day of Shivaratri, Baba returns on this day by giving him a cowl of mother Parvati. Therefore, all the Gods and Goddesses of Devlok throw gulal on Baba on this day from heaven. On this day, the place around Kashi Vishwanath temple gets wet with the colours of Abir and Gulal. Devotees fiercely play Holi with Baba.