List Of Festivals Celebrated In The Month Of July
July is the month of rain and showers in India when the climate is revitalizing in the monsoon month. July brings plenty of rainy days and a lot more reasons to celebrate life. Being the monsoon season it is the off-season for tourists so travel becomes cheap with greenery all around and plenty of festivals celebrated. Some of the main festivals celebrated in the country are.
Van Mahotsav
Van Mahotsav is an annual tree-planting festival in India. Van Mahotsav will help in increasing forest cover and conserving biodiversity. It is also the only viable option to promote fruit and timber trees. Open fields, riverbanks, and barren lands can be slowly converted into integrated tree land or semi forests or orchards. Finally, through Van Mahotsav, we can bring back our lost forests.
When: 1st July – 7th July 2024.
Where: All across India
What is Special: Van Mahotsav, a week-long tree-planting festival, is being celebrated in different parts of India.
Rath Yatra
Puri Rath Yatra is a festival of chariots of Lord Jagannatha when the main temple deities are taken on grand chariots and a procession takes place. At Rath Yatra, you can witness frenzied devotees pulling the raths (chariots) of the three deities—Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra. The huge, colorfully decorated chariots, are drawn by hundreds and thousands of devotees on the bada danda, the grand avenue to the Gundicha temple.
When: July 7, 2024.
Where: Puri, Odisha
What is Special: Festival of grand chariots and a procession of Lord Jagannath and his siblings at Puri, Odisha. Ratha Jatra is perhaps the grandest festival on earth.
Bonalu Festival
Bonalu is a Hindu Festival, Goddess Mahakali is worshiped. It is an annual festival celebrated in Twin Cities Hyderabad, Secunderabad, and parts of Telangana, India. It is celebrated in the month of Ashada Masam, in June/July. Bonam means Bojanam or a Meal in Telugu, which is an Offering to Mother Goddess.
Women carry the pots on their heads and make offerings of Bonam along with turmeric, vermilion, bangles, and saree to the Mother Goddess across the temples.
When: Begins on 31st July.
Where: Telangana
What is Special: Bonalu is a ritual offering to Goddess Kali and is honored mostly by women during the Bonalu festival with offerings. The festival provides a pious glimpse of the Extremely Elegant Festival of Goddess Mahakali.
Eid-al-Adha / Bakrid
Eid al Adha also is known as Bakrid is one of the major festivals of the religion of Islam. Bakrid falls on the tenth day of the Dhu al-Hijjah which is the last month of the lunar year. This festival is celebrated with great pomp around the world about 70 days after the end of Ramadan. It is named Bakrid because the goat is sacrificed on this day and this day is primarily considered as the ‘Feast of the Sacrifice‘. The festivals begin with Eid prayer in Mosque and followed by their prescribed ritual of sacrificing a goat. The sacrificed animal is divided into three parts: the family retains one-third of the share; another third is given to relatives, friends, and neighbors; and the remaining third is given to the poor and needy.
When: Begins on 16th June, ends on 20th June 2024.
Where: All across India
What is Special: People sacrifice animals mainly goats and conduct Eid prayers.
Amarnath Yatra
Amarnath is one of the prominent places of Lord Shiva and its yatra one of the most prominent pilgrimages for Hindus. It is present 135 km northeast of Kashmir capital Srinagar and at an altitude of 13 thousand 600 feet above sea level. The main feature of Baba Amarnath is the construction of natural Shivling in the holy cave present here which is formed by drops of ice water drip from the top of the cave. It is one of the toughest pilgrimages in India and is taken by tens of thousands of Hindus during the Shravan (July-august) month.
When: 29th June – 19th August 2024.
Where: On Mount Amarnath
What is Special: The Amarnath Yatra features one of the most important events for Hindu pilgrims around the globe. The Yatra starts from the mountains of south Kashmir Himalayas and ends at the Holy Cave Shrine of Shri Amarnathji.
Guru Purnima
Guru Purnima is also known as Asadha Purnima, or Vyasa Purnima is observed on the full moon day, Purnima, in the Hindu month of Ashad – which falls around July or August on the Gregorian calendar. On this day, the disciple performs special worship of his Guru and presents him with Dakshina, flowers, clothes, etc. This day is a tribute to the eternal goodness, knowledge, and dedication of all the spiritual Gurus or teachers.
When: 21st July 2024.
Where: All over India
What is Special: It is a day to honor the teachers, or “gurus” in our life. Traditionally, Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists celebrate this festival to honor their chosen masters.
International Mango Festival
The International Mango Festival is annually held at the Dilli Haat in Delhi and tends to demonstrate the mango specialties from various states of India. Summer is for mangoes and this International Mango Festival gives mango lovers an opportunity to savor a great variety of this splendid “king of fruits,” and even some of the exceptional mango species like Langda, Dasheri, Alphonso, and others. This mango festival features events and activities associated with mango, like mango carving, mango-eating competitions, mango slogan writing, quizzes, and so on.
When: 13th – 14th July 2024.
Where: Dilli Haat, Janakpuri, Delhi
What is Special: Held in Dilli Haat, Janak Puri, Delhi the festival puts on display more than 1,000 varieties of mangoes brought here from different states of India.
Behdienkhlam
Behdienkhlam is the 4-day Meghalaya Annual Cultural Festival of the Jaintia tribe celebrated in the month of July after the sowing is over for good health, property, and bumper harvest. Behdeinkhlam is derived from two Pnar words: Behdein meaning ‘to drive away’ and Khlam meaning ‘plague’. Thus, Behdienkhlam has its origins in the mists of time when an epidemic of cholera spread across the Jaintia hills. To stop the plague, four sisters carried the longest tree trunk from the forest and buried the evil plague in a pool of mud. Hence the festival is also known as the festival for chasing away the Demon of Cholera.
Behdienkhlam is also an occasion for families to get together and uphold the ancient wisdom where the natural world is held sacred, nurtured, cherished, and celebrated in its original form. Enjoy the vivid atmosphere of this colorful festival in West Jaintia Hills during the month of July.
When: 30th June – 3rd July 2024.
Where: Meghalaya
What is Special: Behdienkhlam, one of the most colorful cultural 4-day festivals celebrated by the Jaintia tribe of Meghalaya. The beauty of the state lies in this dance festival with a chariot being pulled during the Behdienkhlam festival.
Drukpa Teshi Festival
The Buddhist community of Sikkim celebrates the Drukpa Teshi festival. This festival is celebrated on the day when Buddha received his four noble truths and to observe Buddha’s first preaching of the “Noble Truths” at the deer park in Sarnath. Drukpa Teshi is celebrated on the Teshi (fourth) day of Drupka month of the Tibetan calendar which is July or August in the Gregorian calendar. The celebration is marked by the petitions held at the Deer Park and an extraordinary Yak race, that will take your breath away and keep you on the edge, the whole time.
When: 9th July 2024.
Where: Sikkim
What is Special: The yak race is the main highlight of this festival and people collect at Deer Park or Muguthang to perform the act of mass prayer. Thousands of tourists and locals enjoy the utmost in this festival.
Dree Festival
Dree is the monsoon harvest festival celebrated by the Apatani tribe who reside in the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh. It involves the sacrifice of fowls, eggs, and animals to the Gods – Tamu, Metis, and Danyi Pilo(Sun and Moon God). The main purpose of celebrating this festival is to appease Gods so that famine could be avoided. Rice is the staple food of the region hence they pray to god during Dree Festival for a bumper harvest. Every year Dree Festival is celebrated from 4th July to 7th July. Dree Festival takes the bonding of Arunachalees to a notch higher.
When: 5th July 2024.
Where: Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh
What is Special: This festival is one of the cultural identities of the community and at the same time reinforces the splendid cultural fabric of the society.
Palkhi Festival
Palkhi Festival is a 1000-year-old tradition followed by the Warkaris people in the month of Jyeshta (June) which lasts for 22 days. The Palkhi festival in Maharashtra was started by the youngest son of Tukaram the famous poet and saint. To commemorate the life of a saint, people walk about 300 km to get to a shrine to worship a specific god. Devotees perform collective singing, chanting, and shopping around the temple with enthusiasm for their creator.
When: Begins 29th June, 2024.
Where: Maharashtra
What is Special: People perform collective dancing, singing, chanting shows a distinctive feature of the Maharashtrian culture.
Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey
Every year, hundreds of Royal Enfield motorcyclists ride up to the Himalayas on a road trip to Leh Ladakh from Delhi by motorcycle. The Himalayan Odyssey – the holy grail of all motorcycle rides remains one of the most cherished and revered motorcycle journeys in the world. The scenery in the Himalaya Mountains is hard to compare to what other places have to offer to the tourer’s eyes, and the rider rides on the highest motorable pass on the planet, one of the main attractions of the Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey, and a major achievement for the die-hard motorcycle adventure enthusiasts.
When: August 2024
Where: Ladakh
What is Special: Himalayan Odyssey, conducted by Royal Enfield attracts explorers and adventure seekers to travel in the mesmerizing natural beauty of Himalayan ranges.
Minjar Festival
Minjar festival falls in the month of Shravana (July- August) and continues for a week when Raghuvir Varman, one of the local deities is worshiped. The highlights of the festival are cultural programs by troupes from within and outside the states at the fair, and of course, the traditional ceremonies associated with the festival. Kunjri Malhar folk singing and dancing is a special feature of the fair. The fair begins when the hoisting of the Minjar flag at historic Chowgan ground. The town of Chamba wears a colorful look during the seven-day festivities.
When: Starts on 29th July 2024.
Where: Himachal Pradesh
What is Special: Minjar Mela is one of the most popular fairs of Chamba and is one of the state fairs of Himachal Pradesh. Chamba is at its very best during this time of the year.
