Monsoon Festivals in India
Teej Where: North India, especially Rajasthan and Bihar When: Late July The Haritalika Teej is a fasting festival for Hindu married women. Women get together, dress up and then swing, umm... on jhoolas. It's the quintessential monsoon festival Adiperukku Where: Tamil Nadu When: Mid July-August Celebrated by women, the festival pays tribute to water's life-sustaining properties. It's always celebrated near river basins, water tanks, lakes and wells Dree Where: Arunachal Pradesh When: July 5 Celebrated every year at Nenchaleya by the Apatani tribes to propitiate the Dree god to protect the crops from pests and diseases Minjar Where: Himachal Pradesh When: July-August Celebrated in Chamba, this seven-daylong affair is a thanksgiving ceremony to the god of rain and a prayer for good harvest Behdienkhlam Where: Meghalaya When: July Pnar tribe celebrates this monsoon festival where young men make a symbolic gesture of driving away the evil spirit The North East has more...