Fairs and Festivals of Karnataka
With several ancient temples and rich cultural
heritage, Karnataka cselebrates various colorful temples. Having a
multi-religious population, many festivals are celebrated here.
¤ Festivals
Dussehra
Dusshera is the main Hindu festival of Karnataka. This ten days
festival was celebrated with extravagance by the rulers of Vijayanagar
Empire. Later, this became a tradition. The festival was celebrated at
Mysore where a Durbar was held for 9 days and on the 10th day a huge
procession was taken out with decorated elephants, colorful folks and
much more. It is still celebrated in Mysore with great pomp and show.
Yugadi
Yugadi is considered as the New Year's Day in Kannada tradition. It
falls on the late March or early April and is celebrated all over
Karnataka. On this day the dinner is specially prepared and it starts
with jaggery and neem leaves. This depicts that life is nothing but a
bundle of joys and sorrows.
Karaga
This festival is mainly celebrated at the Darmaraya Temple in
Bangalore. It is celebrated on the full moon day of Chaitra, the first
month of Hindu Calendar. This festival is celebrated in the honor of
Draupathi, the spouse of Pandavas, famous religious characters from
the great Hindu epic, Mahabharata.
¤ Other Hindu Festivals
Some of the other Hindu festivals that are celebrated in Karanataka
along with the rest of the country are Makara Samkramana, Sri
Ramanavami, Sri Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi and Deepavali.
¤ State Festivals
Rajyotsava Day
The Rajyotsava Day is celebrated on the 1st of November every year.
This day marks the formation of the Karnataka State. Apart from this,
other state festivals celebrated here are the Coorg festival,
Hampi/Vijayanagar festival and the Hoysala festival. These festivals
celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Karnataka.
¤ Other Religious Festivals
 Karnataka
has a multi-religious population. Thus, festivals of all religions are
celebrated here. Some of the Muslims festivals celebrated here are
Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha, Milad-un-Nabi and Moharrum. Christians
residing in the state celebrate festivals like Christmas, Easter, Good
Friday etc along with the rest of the nation. Buddhist and Jain
festivals like Buddha Poornima and Mahaveera Jayanthi are also
celebrated in certain regions of the State.
¤ Fairs
Sri Vithappa Fair
This fair is held in the honour of Vithappa, the deity of the
village, Vithappa. It is a three days festival and about 7 to 8
thousand people gather during the fair. This fair has a religious and
folk importance.
The Godachi Fair
The Godachi fair is held at Godachi village in Ramdurg Taluk of
Karnataka. It is held in the month of Kartik This fair is held in the
honour of Shri Veerabhadra and it is organized by the government of
Karnataka.
Shri Yellamma Devi Fair
Shri Yellamma Devi fair is held at Saundatti. It is held for about 5
times between October and February. But the Margasira is the biggest
one, which is held on the full moon day.
Banashankari Devi Fair
The Banashankari Devi fair is held near Badami. It is an annual fair
held in the month of January on the full moon day. This fair lasts for
10 to 12 days. At the fair, villagers buy agricultural items, utensils
and other articles of domestic needs. |
