The religious festivals of the Kashmiri Pandits  Brahmins of Kashmir have Rigvedic and Proto-Indo-Iranian roots. The Kashmiri Pandits share most of their festivals with other Hindu communities and some with the Zoroastrians, Shin of Hindukush, and other Persian and Central Asian peoples, the pre-Islamic elements of whose cultures are derived from the Proto-Indo-Iranian religion.Some Kashmiri Pandit festivals are Herath (Shivaratri), Navreh (Navroz or Nowruz), Zyeath-Atham (Jestha Ashtami), Huri-Atham (Har Ashtami), Zarmae-Satam (Janmashtami), Dussehra, Diwali, Pan (Roth Puza / Vinayaka Tsoram / Ganesha Chaturthi), Zyeth Atham (Jyeshtha Ashtami),Khetsimavas (Yakshamavasya), Kava Punim, Mitra Punim (Mehregan), Tiky Tsoram, Gengah Atham, Tila Atham, Vyetha Truvah, and Anta Tsodah.Herath (Shivarati),Khetsimavas, Navreh (Navroz, Zyeth Atham, Tiky Tsoram,Pan, Ancient Kashmiri Pandit Festivals.The culture of Kashmiri is a diverse blend and highly influenced by northern South Asian as well as Central Asian culture. Along with its scenic beauty, Kashmir is famous for its cultural heritage; it amalgamates Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies and has involved composite culture based on the values of humanism and tolerance.

ਪੰਜਾਬ - Punjab:

The word Punjab is a combination of the Persian words Panj (Persian: پنج‎) and Āb (Persian: آب‎)‎ that means Five and Water respectively, thus PanjĀb means Five Rivers which roughly means Land of

Five Rivers.The five rivers are the Beas, Sutlej, Ravi, Chenab and Jehlum (also spelled Jhelum). Traditionally, in English, there used to be a definite article before the name i.e. The Punjab.The name

is also sometimes spelled as Panjab.Sikhism is the predominant faith in Punjab followed by around

60% of the populace. The holiest of Sikh shrines, the Sri Harmandir Sahib (or Golden Temple),

is in the city of Amritsar. The Sri Akal Takht Sahib which resides within the Golden temple complex

is the temporal seat of Sikhs.

Of the five Takhts (Temporal Seats of religious authority) of Sikhism, three are in Punjab. These

are Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Damdama Sahib and Anandpur Sahib. During major holidays on the Sikh calendar (such as Vaisakhi, Hola Mohalla, Gurpurb and Diwali), many Sikhs gather and march in

religious processions through virtually every city, town and village. At least one Sikh Gurdwara can be found in almost every village in the state beside towns and cities (in various architectural styles and

sizes). Hinduism is the second most practised faith in Punjab. A large segment of Punjabis who are categorized as Punjabi Hindus continue to live out heterogeneous religious practice that includes

spiritual kinship withSikhism. This not only includes veneration of the Sikh Gurus in private practice,

but also visits to Sikh Gurudwaras along with Hindu temples.The Punjabi language, written in the Gurmukhi script, is the official and most commonly used language in the state.The language is

now popular across India and the wider world due to large scale migration of Punjabi.The sup of the Punjab comprises many elements including music such as bhangra, an extensive religious and non-religious dance dance tradition, long history of poetry in the Punjabi language, a significant film industry which dates back to  before Partition, a vast range of cuisine which has become widely

popular abroad, and a number of seasonal and harvest festivals such asLohri,Basant, Baisakhi and

Teej all of which are celebrated in addition to the religious festivals of India.

ગુજરાત - Gujarat

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language evolved from Sanskrit, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is native to the Indian state of Gujarat, and is its chief language, as well as of the adjacent union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.The majority of the population in state speak Gujarati, while people from Kutch region of Gujarat also speak in Kutchi language. Other native languages spoken in low proportions are Bhiliand Gamit.Gujarat is home to Gujarati people. Notable population of Marathi people and Marwariscurrently reside in Gujarat. Gujarat is also the home of Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel, who preached the unity between all religions and became a worldwide figure for peaceful struggle against tyranny.Gujarati folk music known as Sugam Sangeet, is a hereditary profession of Gadhvi and Charan communities. The omnipresent instruments in Gujarati folk music include wind instrumentslike Turi, Bungal, Pava, string instruments like Ravan Hattho, Ektaro, and Jantar and percussion instruments like Manjira and Zanz pot drumThe folk traditions of Gujarat include Bhavai, Rass-Garba. Bhavai is a folk theatre, it is partly entertainment and partly ritual, it is dedicated to  MAA AMBA. The Rass-Garba is a folk dance done as a celebration of Navratri by Gujarati people. The folk costume of this dance is Chaniya choli for women and Kedia  for men. Different styles and steps of garba include Dodhiyu, simple five, simple seven,popatiyu, Trikoniya (hand movement which forms an imagery triangle), Lehree, tran taali, butterfly,hudo, two claps and many more.Makar Sankranti is a festival where people of Gujarat fly kites. In Gujarat, from December through to Makar Sankranti, people start enjoying kite flying.

म्हारो रंग रंगीलो  राजस्थान - Mharo Rang Rangilo Rajsthan

The first mention of word Rajasthan appears in James Tod's 1829 publication, Annals and Antiquities

of Rajast'han or the Central and Western Rajpoot States of India.Rajasthan literally means a Land of Kingdoms. George Thomas (Military Memories) was the first in 1800 A.D., to term this region as Rajputana.John Keay in his book, India: A History stated that the Rajputana name was coined by

the British, but that the word even achieved a retrospective authenticity: in an 1829 translation of

Ferishta's history of early Islamic India, John Briggs discarded the phrase Indian princes, as rendered

in Dow's earlier version, and substituted Rajpoot princes.R. C. Majumdar explained that the region was long known as Gurjaratra that is Country protected or ruled by the Gurjars, early form of Gujarat, before

it came to be called Rajputana Rajasthani (although constitutional status is pending) is the main

spoken language although Hindi and English are used for official purpose.It is spoken by 130 million

people in Rajasthan and other states of India.A number of tribal languages are still spoken in Rajasthan.The main religious festival are Deepawali, Holi, Gangaur, Teej, Gogaji, Shri Devnarayan Jayanti, Makar Sankranti and Janmashtami, as the main religion is Hinduism. Rajasthan's desert

festival is celebrated with great zest and zeal. This festival is held once a year during winter. Dressed

in brilliantly hued costumes,  the people of the desert dance and sing haunting ballads of valor, romance and tragedy. There are fairs with snake charmers, puppeteers, acrobats and folk performers. Camels,

of course, play a stellar role in this festival.We are lucky to have Rajasthani blood flowing in our veins, Rajasthan is perhaps the land where most number of brave heroes and heroines were born...just google maharana pratap veer durgadas rathore Rani Padmini, Panna Jhaala, Haadi Rani , Panna Dhai , etc etc..

the list is endless,,,,but just reading about these few will give you a sense of how privileged you are....and please keep following Rajasthani culture not only in language but also the way you dress ..atleast once a week:)

Jay Jay Rajasthan Jai Hind 

जय जय महाराष्ट्र माझा-Jai Jai Maharashtra Majha 

In the 17th century, the Marathas rose under the leadership of Chhatrapati Shivaji against the Mughals who ruled a large part of India. By 1760, Maratha power had reached its zenith with a

territory of over 250 million acres (1 million km²) or one-third of the Indian sub-continent. After the

 third Anglo-Maratha war, the empire ended and most of Maharashtra became part of Bombay state 

under a British Raj. After Indian independence, Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti demanded unification

of all Marathi speaking regions under one state. At that time, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was of opinion

that linguistic reorganization of states should be done on a "One state – One language" principle and

not on a "One language – One state" principle. He submitted a memorandum to the reorganization commission stating that a "Single Government can not administer such a huge state as United Maharashtra".The first state reorganization committee created the current Maharashtra state on 1 May 1960 (known as Maharashtra Day). The Marathi-speaking areas of Bombay state, Deccan states and Vidarbha.

Aashadi Ekadashi is one of most important festivals celebrated across Maharashtra. It is also referred

to as "WARI" and people from all over Maharashtra, Karnataka and other parts of India walk to

Pandharpur from there respective villages.

Lord Ganesha's devotion is celebrated by Ganesh Chaturthi in August–September of every year.Town of Pen in Raigad district is famous for Ganesh Idols made of special Shadu Clay. Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati, Lalbaugcha Raja, Shri Siddhivinayak Temple, Shri Ashtavinayaka's are the major holy places for Maharashtrians. Popular forms of God are Shiva, Krishna and Ganesha. Lord Shiva's

devotion is celebrated by taking part in Maha Shivaratri (Great Night of Shiva) festival. In modern times,

the Elephanta island in Mumbai, Lord's Shiva island in local mythology, originated the Elephant Festival.

Lord Krishna's devotions are celebrated in the state-wide Gokul Ashtami (or Krishna

Janmashtami, Krishna's birthday) whereby many devotees fast on the entire day until midnight. The Dahi-Handi (Matki-fod) is also observed on this day at many places. Lord Krishna's devotion are also celebrated

at Kaartik Aamawasya (or Diwali) and at Narak Chaturdashi as the killing of the demon Narakasura.

The other festivals celebrated on a large scale are Vijayadashami or Dasara (Marathi: दसरा), Navaratri, Holi, Diwali, Eid (Ramzan Eid).Simollanghan is a ritual performed on Dasara or Viajaya Dashami day in Maharashtra. Simollanghan is crossing the border or frontier of a village or a place. In ancient times, kings used to cross the frontier of their kingdom to fight against their rivals or neighbor kingdoms. They used to perform Ayudha Puja on Dasara and begin the war season. On Dasara, people

cross the borders of their places (Seemollanghan) and collect the leaves of Apta tree (आपट्याची पाने) and exchange among their friends and relatives as gold (सोने म्हणून आपट्याची पाने देतात).People worship Shami tree and

its leaves (शमीची पाने) on this day.

 ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ -Karnataka

The traditional folk arts cover the entire gamut of music, dance, drama, storytelling by itinerant troupes, etc. Yakshagana of Malnad and coastal Karnataka, a classical dance drama, is one of the major theatrical forms of Karnataka. Contemporary theatre culture in Karnataka remains vibrant with organizations like Ninasam, Ranga Shankara, Rangayana and Prabhat Kalavidaru continuing to build on the

foundations laid by Gubbi Veeranna, Prasanna and others.Veeragase, Kamsale, Kolata and Dollu Kunitha are popular dance forms. The Mysore style of Bharatanatya nurtured and popularised by the

likes of the legendary Jatti Tayamma continues to hold sway in Karnataka and Bangalore also enjoys an eminent place as one of the foremost centers of Bharatanatya.The Kannada language is the official

language of the state, the native language of approximately 65% of its population and one of the classical languages of India.

 കേരള-Kerala

Kerala is an established tourist destination for both Indians and non-Indians alike. Kerala is popular for

its beaches, backwaters, mountain ranges and wildlife sanctuaries. The city of Kochi ranks first in the

total number of international and domestic tourists in Kerala.Some of the other popular tourist

destinations are the beaches at Kovalam, Varkala, Cherai, backwaters at Alappuzha and Kumarakom,

hill stations in Munnar, Wayanad, Nelliampathi, Vagamon, and national parks and wildlife sanctuaries such as Periyar and Eravikulam National Park. Kerala's culture was elaborated upon through centuries

of contact with neighboring and overseas cultures.Kollavarsham or Malayalam Era, which is assumed to have been established by King Udaya Marthanda Varma in 825 CE, serves as the official calendar of

Kerala. Spoken language is malayalam.

தமிழ்நாடு - Tamilnadu

Tamil Nadu has a long tradition of venerable culture. Tamil Nadu is known for its rich tradition of

 literature, music and dance which continue to flourish today. Unique cultural features like

Bharatanatyam (dance), Tanjore painting, and Tamil architecture were developed and continue to be practised in Tamil Nadu.Tamil is the only official language of Tamil Nadu. English is also in common

usage as an official language of India.Pongal, also called as Tamizhar Thirunaal (festival of Tamils) or

Makara Sankranti elsewhere in India, a four-day harvest festival is one of the most widely celebrated festivals throughout

Tamil Nadu. Tamils have a large number of folk dances. These are performed for every possible occasion,

to celebrate the arrival of seasons, birth of a child, weddings and festivals. Tamil dance is closely intertwined with the Tamil theatrical tradition. The most celebrated of these is karakattam. In its religious form, the dance is performed in front of an image of the goddess Mariamman.

ఆంద్ర ప్రదేశ్ -Andhra Pradesh:

Just like in other parts of the country, many festivals are celebrated in Andhra Pradesh, which include - Ugadi, Sankranthi, Dasara, Varalakshmi Vratham, Vinayaka Chavithi, Deepavali,Batukamma, Rakhi poornima, Christmas, Sri Rama Navami, Bonalu, Maha Shivaratri, Nagula Chaviti, Holi, Eid ul-Fitr, 

Eid al-Adha, Muharram, Milad-un-Nabi etc.Classical dance in Andhra can be performed by both men and women; women tend to learn it more often. Kuchipudi is the state's best-known classical dance form. The various dance forms that existed through the state's history are Bonalu, Dappu, Chenchu

Bhagotham, Kuchipudi, Bhamakalapam, Burrakatha, Veeranatyam, Butta bommalu, Tappeta Gullu, Lambadi, Dhimsa, Kolattam, and Chindu. Jaanapadam theenmar is a popular folk dance.

बिहार- Bihar:

The age in which true history appeared in India was one of great intellectual and spiritual ferment. Mystics and sophists of all kinds roamed through the Ganges Valley, all advocating some form of    mental discipline and asceticism as a means to salvation; but the age of the Buddha, when many

of the best minds were abandoning their homes and professions for a life of asceticism, was also

a time of advance in commerce and politics. It produced not only philosophers and ascetics, but also merchant princes and men of actionwhile the majority of the people speak one of the Bihari languages – Maithili, Angika, Magadhi or Bhojpuri . Presently Bihari languages are considered one of the five subgroups of Hindi.Madhubani painting is a style of Indian painting practiced in the Mithila region of Bihar,where powdered rice is colored and is stuck.Chhath, also called Dala Chhath – is an ancient and major festival in Bihar, and is celebrated twice a year: once in the summers, called the Chaiti Chhath, and once around a week after Deepawali, called the Kartik Chhath. The latter is more popular because winters are the usual festive season in

North India, and Chhath being an arduous observance requiring the worshippers to fast without water for more than 24 hours, is easier to do in the Indian winters. Chhath is the worship of the

Sun God. Wherever people from Bihar have migrated, they have taken with them the tradition of Chhath. 

বাংলা -West Bengal

The Bengali language boasts a rich literary heritage, shared with neighbouring Bangladesh. West

Bengal has a long tradition in folk literature, evidenced by the Charyapada, Mangalkavya, 

Shreekrishna Kirtana, Thakurmar Jhuli, and stories related to Gopal Bhar. In the nineteenth and

twentieth century, Bengali literature was modernized in the works of authors such as Bankim

Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, 

Kazi Nazrul Islam, Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Jibananda Das and Manik Bandyopadhyay. In

modern times Jibanananda Das, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay,

Manik Bandopadhyay, Ashapurna Devi, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Buddhadeb Guha, Mahashweta Devi, 

Samaresh Majumdar, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay and Sunil Gangopadhyay among others are

well known.The Baul  tradition is a unique heritage of Bengali folk music, which has also been

influenced by regional music traditions. Other folk music forms include Gombhiraand Bhawaiya.

Folk music in West Bengal is often accompanied by the ektara, a one-stringed instrument. West Bengal

also has an heritage in North Indian classical music.

"Rabindrasangeet", songs composed and set into tune by Rabindranath Tagore and "Nazrul geeti"

(by Kazi Nazrul

Islam) are popular. Also prominent are other musical forms like Dwijendralal, Atulprasad and Rajanikanta

's songs, and "adhunik" or modern music from films and other composers.Durga Puja in October is the

most popular festival in the West Bengal.Poila Baishakh (the Bengali New Year), Rathayatra, Dolyatra or 

Basanta-Utsab, Nobanno, Poush Parbon (festival of Poush), Kali Puja, SaraswatiPuja, 

LaxmiPuja, Christmas, Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha and Muharram are other major festivals. 

 অসম - Assam:

Assamese and Bodo are the major indigenous and official languages while Bengali holds official status in the three districts in the Barak Valley and is the second most widely spoken language of the state (27%).Some of the common and unique cultural traits in the region are peoples' respect towards areca-nut and betel leaves, symbolic (Gamosa, Arnai etc.), traditional silk garments and towards forefathers and elderly. Moreover, great hospitality and Bamboo culture are common.There are diversified important traditional festivals in Assam. Bihu is the most important and common

and celebrated all over Assam. Durga Puja is another festival celebrated with great enthusiasm. Muslims celebrate two Eids (Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha) with much eagerness all over Assam.Bihu is a series of three prominent festivals. Primarily a non-religious festival celebrated to mark the seasons and the significant points of a cultivator's life over a yearly cycle.Assam has rich tradition of performing arts. Ankiya Nat(Onkeeya Naat) is a traditional Vaishnav dance-drama (Bhaona) form popular since 15th century AD It makes use of large masks of gods, goddesses, demons and animals and in between the plays a Sutradhar (Xutrodhar) keeps on telling the story.  

उत्तर प्रदेश- Uttar Pradesh:

Uttar Pradesh is one of the religious hubs of India. The state is claimed to the birthplace[citation needed] of Hinduism and its derived Vedic and Buddhist beliefs, UP has been the ancient seat of Hindu religion, learning and culture, and has many important sites of Hindu pilgrimage. The State also has several sites important to Buddhism: the Chaukhandi Stupa marks the spot where Buddha met his first disciples, while the Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath commemorates

Buddha's first sermon. Also the town of Kushinagar is where Gautama Buddha died.The state

also holds much of the heritage of  the Mughal Empire, including the world famous mausoleum Taj Mahal built by Shah Jehan, the magnificent tomb of  Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great in Agra and Akbar's capital-palace in Fatehpur Sikri. It was a centre of nationalism during the British colonial period and has continued to play a prominent role in Indian political and cultural movements.Kathak, a classical dance form, involving gracefully coordinated movements of feet and arms along with the entire body, grew and flourished in Uttar Pradesh.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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