Fair and festival in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

 

Events in Varanasi revolve around the rituals concerned with the deities revered there. The city celebrates almost all Indian festivals. Almost every month there would be a festival. Some of them are:

Bharat Milap: This is a festival marking the reunion of Rama and Bharata after 14 years of exile. This falls in the months of October and November, coinciding with the Dassara festival. Kashi Naresh attends the festivities connected with this festival.

Buddha Purnima: It is an important festival for the Buddhists. It marks the birth of Gautam Buddha. The full moon day of the Vaisakh (April/May) would be celebrated as Buddha Purnima. Saranath near Varanasi would be crowded that day.

Dev Deepawali: The full moon day in the month of Kartik is celebrated as Kartik Purnima and the same festival is known as Dev Deepawali in Varanasi. Even Jains celebrate this festival. The Ghats would be lit with clay lamps, and aarati would be done at the Ghats. Government of Uttar Pradesh holds three day cultural festival on this occasion which is known as Ganga Festival.

Hanuman Jayanti, and Maha Shivratri are the two other festivals to be celebrated in Varanasi with great fervor. Naga Nathaiya is another unique festival of Varanasi meant to celebrate the day when Krishna did Kalinga Mardan.

Nakkatayya and Ram Lila are the two events related to the story of the Ramayana. People of Varanasi rejoice these two celebrations. The episode of Shurpanakha would be enacted during the Nakkatayya celebration in October/November. Ram Lila is uniquely celebrated in Varanasi. It was started by Kashi Naresh Udit Narayan Singh based on Ramacharitamanas of Tulasidas. Different stages would be built up at different spots of Varanasi and for 15 nights there would be performances on these different stages.