New Year Festivals of India

Learn about the various new year's days and festivals celebrated by the people of India.

1. New Year Festivals of India

2. New Year Festivals New Year Festivals of India Apart from 1 st January, India celebrates New Year Days followed by both solar and lunar calendar systems. Most of these new year  festivals  are celebrated based on the Hindu calendar that follows the lunar cycle. Culturally rich India has it’s own way to celebrate New Year’s day in different times of the year at different places. Every region in India follows a different culture, so traditions of new year’s days celebrations also vary .

3. Baisakhi New Year Festivals of India Baisakhi Festival, also called Vaisakhi , holds great importance for the Sikh community and farmers of Punjab and Haryana . Baisakhi falls on 13 or 14 April, the first day of the second month of the year according to the Nanakshahi Calendar. Sikhs also celebrate this day in honor of their tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh. Baisakhi commemorates the day when the Sikh Guru eliminated caste differences and founded Khalsa Panth in 1699, at Anandpur Sahib, Punjab. The Sikh New Year as per the Sikh Nanakshahi Calendar falls on 14 March every year, with the beginning of Chet; and is marked with revered celebrations throughout the Sikh community.

4. Baisakhi New Year Festivals of India

5. Baisakhi New Year Festivals of India

6. Baisakhi New Year Festivals of India

7. Bestu Varas New Year Festivals of India Bestu Varas is the New Year's Day for Gujaratis and falls on the day after Diwali. According to Hindu calendar systems, the Vikram calendar begins with the month of Baishakh / Chaitra (April), or Kartik (October/November) in Gujarat.   Bestu Varas generally falls in month of October or November. The day starts with the heavy fire works, to welcome New Year. Houses are decorated with torans (door hangings) made from leaves of the asopalav tree or mango tree and marigold flowers and make rangoli near the entrance to the house. The people get dressed with new clothes and visit their friends and family to greet them. Home made snacks, " Farsaan " and sweets are offered to the guests and neighbors who come to wish the new year.

8. Bestu Varas New Year Festivals of India

9. Bestu Varas New Year Festivals of India

10. Rongali Bihu New Year Festivals of India Rongali Bihu or Bohag Bihu (mid-April), is celebrated as the Assamese New Year (around 14–15 April) and the arrival of Spring. This marks the first day of the Hindu solar calendar. The first day of the bihu (last day of the previous year) is called goru bihu or cow bihu , where the cows are washed , smeared with ground turmeric, patted with dighalati / makhiyati , worshipped and gets new ropes. This is followed by manuh (human in Assamese) bihu on 15 April , which is the Assamese New Year Day. People welcome the spring with cleaned home, neighbourhood and dresses. The third day is Gosai (Gods) bihu when people worship statues of God, all households are cleaned and worshiped hoping for a prosperous and happy new year.

11. Rongali Bihu New Year Festivals of India

12. Rongali Bihu New Year Festivals of India

13. Cheti Chand New Year Festivals of India Cheti Chand is celebrated as New Year's Day by Sindhis , According to the Hindu calendar, Cheti Chand is celebrated on the second day of the Chaitra month known as Chet in Sindhi. Hence it is known as CHET-I-CHAND . It is the second day of month Chaitra .

14. Cheti Chand New Year Festivals of India

15. Cheti Chand New Year Festivals of India

16. Gudhi Padwa New Year Festivals of India Gudhi Padwa is celebrated as New Year's Day in Maharashtra and Konkan . It is celebrated on the first day of the month Chaitra . Courtyards of rural houses are cleaned and plastered with fresh cowdung . Designs called Rangolis are drawn on doorsteps. People wear new clothes and special dishes are prepared. Lord Brahma is worshipped on this day and the gudhi , Brahma's flag (also called Brahmadhvaj ), is hoisted in every house as a symbolic representation of Rama's victory over Ravana .

17. Gudhi Padwa New Year Festivals of India

18. Gudhi Padwa New Year Festivals of India

19. Gudhi Padwa New Year Festivals of India

20. Gudhi Padwa New Year Festivals of India

21. Navreh New Year Festivals of India Navreh is the lunar new year which is celebrated in Kashmir . This coincides with the first day of the Chaitra (spring) Navratras . This day finds mention in Rajtarangini and Nilamat Purana of Kashmir and is regarded as sacred in Kashmir as the Shivratri . The celebrated Arab scholar Alberuni has written that Kashmiris celebrate the second of Navaratras to commemorate victory of their greatest and famous king – Lalitaditya – with great festivity and pomp. Navreh falls on the same day as Ugadi or Cheiraoba or Gudi Padwa .

22. Navreh New Year Festivals of India

23. Navreh New Year Festivals of India

24. Navroze New Year Festivals of India Navroze , the Parsi New Year is mainly celebrated by a particular sect of Parsis , the Faslis . Navroze is the first day of the first month according to the Zoroastrian calendar. Navroze means spring, or the beginning of a new life shedding off all that is old and worn out. Originally an agricultural festival, the Parsi New Year later transformed into a religious festival . The day is celebrated by wearing new and colorful clothes, decorating the house with powders of different colors, lighting incense sticks and sprinkling sandalwood powder on live coal . The day begins by going to the Fire Temple and offering Jashan or a thanksgiving prayer service and offering sandalwood to the holy fire. Food is a significant part of the Parsi New Year. It includes a wide selection of non-vegetarian dishes, fruits and nuts. Navroze is celebrated on 21 March which is the vernal equinox of the sun. This day is also the day when the spring season commences.

25. Navroze New Year Festivals of India

26. Navroze New Year Festivals of India

27. Navroze New Year Festivals of India

28. Poila Boishakh New Year Festivals of India Poila Boishakh or Bengali New Year is the first day of the Bengali calendar, celebrated on 15 April in West Bengal by the Bengali people and also by minor Bengali communities in other Indian states, including Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand and Orrisa . It coincides with the New Year's days of numerous other calendars like Tamil new year Puthandu . The traditional greeting for Bengali New Year is " Shubhô Nôbobôrsho " which is literally "Happy New Year".

29. Poila Boishakh New Year Festivals of India

30. Poila Boishakh New Year Festivals of India

31. Poila Boishakh New Year Festivals of India

32. Puthandu New Year Festivals of India Puthandu , also known as Varuda pirappu , is celebrated as New Year's Day in Tamil Nadu . It is celebrated on the first day of the Tamil month Chithirai , which falls on 14 April. Women draw patterns called kolams . A lamp called a kuttuvilaku is placed on the center of the kolam , to eradicate darkness. A ritual called kanni takes place. Kanni means 'auspicious sight'. People watch jewellery , fruits, vegetables, flowers, nuts, rice etc., as it is a belief among Tamil people that it brings prosperity. People wear new clothes and special dishes are prepared for the occasion. A car festival is held at Tiruvadamarudur , near Kumbakonam .

33. Puthandu New Year Festivals of India

34. Puthandu New Year Festivals of India

35. Sajibu Nongma Panba / Cheiraoba New Year Festivals of India Cheiraoba is celebrated as New Year's Day in Manipur . Sajibu Cheiraoba is an annual religious celebration in which certain rites and rituals are observed with a traditional devotion. The celebration marks the parting of the old year while welcoming the new year. The name ' Cheiraoba ' is a combination of two words which have two different meanings – ' Chahi ' (year) and ' laoba ' (declaration). So, overall ' Cheirao-ba ' means the announcement of the coming year . Cheiraoba falls on the same day as Ugadi or Gudi Padwa .

36. Sajibu Nongma Panba / Cheiraoba New Year Festivals of India

37. Ugadi New Year Festivals of India Ugadi is celebrated as New Year's Day in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . The name Ugadi is derived from the name "Yuga Adi ", which means 'the beginning of a new age'. It is celebrated on the first day of the Hindu month Chaitra , which marks the onset of spring. It is believed that Lord Brahma, the creator according to Hindu tradition, began creation on this day. Preparations begin well ahead of the festival. Houses are given a thorough cleaning, people don new clothes and special dishes are prepared, with six flavours .

38. Ugadi New Year Festivals of India

39. Ugadi New Year Festivals of India

40. Ugadi New Year Festivals of India

41. Vishu New Year Festivals of India Vishu is celebrated as Malayalam New Year's Day in Kerala . Vishu falls on the first day of the Malayalam month of Medam (mid-April on the Gregorian calendar). Medam is the first month according to the astronomical calendar; it is identical with Chaitram of the Saka Varsha .

42. Vishu New Year Festivals of India

43. Vishu New Year Festivals of India

44. Mahavishuva Sankranti New Year Festivals of India Mahavishuva Sankranti , is celebrated as the Oriya New Year. On this day, religious people offer delicious Pana – a sweet drink made of different types of fruits, water, milk, bela , curd and sugar or jaggery - to the Tulsi Plant, Lord Shiva and Shalagram and their deities in various Temples of the state. People also drink Pana with great enjoyment. During the festival you will find water pots placed on the roadsides to help the thirsty souls. Water is as also offered to animals and birds with equal enthusiasm. This Sankranti is also known as Pana Sankranti or Jala Sankranti .

45. Mahavishuva Sankranti New Year Festivals of India

46. Mahavishuva Sankranti New Year Festivals of India

47. Holi New Year Festivals of India Holi is celebrated as New Year's Day in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand . It is celebrated on the first day of the Hindu month which marks the start of spring.

48. Holi New Year Festivals of India

49. Holi New Year Festivals of India

50. Thapna New Year Festivals of India Thapna is a New Year as per Rajasthani calendar (Marwari Miti ). Starting with 1st day of Chaitra Shudh . In Rajasthani language people greet each other by saying "Nava baras ri badhaiyan ".On this day people do homas ( Yagya ).

51. Thapna New Year Festivals of India

52. Chaiti New Year Festivals of India The festivals of Chaiti and Basoa are celebrated as New Year festivals in the state of Himachal Pradesh . The festival of Basoa , also known as Bishu , is celebrated on the first day of the month of Baisakh .

53. Chaitti New Year Festivals of India

54. This presentation is a result of my experiences while I was helping out my son with his school assignments and project work. I am happy to share this with other students and their parents. Hope you find this informative and useful. Thank you . - Prashant Mahajan -   All pictures belong to their original authors, photographers.