digest sep1

Festivals of India – September 2018
Govinda/Krishna Janmashtami
The festival of Krishna Janmashtami , also known as
Govinda, commemorates the birthday of Lord Krishna. In
Mumbai, on the second day, an extremely fun part of the
festival involves people climbing on each other and forming
a human pyramid to try and reach and break open clay pots
illed with curd, which have been strung up high from buildings.
When: September 2-3, 2018.
Where: Throughout India.
Ganesh Chaturthi
The spectacular 11 day Ganesh Chaturthi
festival honors the birth of the beloved
Hindu elephant-headed god, Lord
Ganesha. The start of the festival sees
huge, elaborately crafted statutes of
Ganesha installed in homes and podiums,
which have been especially constructed
and beautifully decorated. At the end of
the festival, the statutes are paraded
through the streets, accompanied by
much singing and dancing, and then
submerged in the ocean.
When: September 13-23, 2018.
W h e re : M o s t ly i n t h e s t a tes o f
M a h a ra s h t ra , G o a , Ta m i l N a d u ,
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. One of
the best places to experience the festival
is in the city of Mumbai.
28th Onam Kala Kettu
Festival
This unusual harvest thanksgiving
festival in Kerala sees gigantic idols of
bulls, made out of straw and cloth by
locals, pulled on wheels to the temple.
The procession is known as Kala Kettu,
and there are about 100 such bulls in it
from surrounding villages. They're
believed to be Nandhikesha, the vehicle
of the temple deity Parabrahmam (the
h i g h e s t B r a h m a n ) . T h e r e ' s a
competition for the biggest and best one,
which can cost 50 lakh rupees ($75,000)
to make! The festival takes place on the
28th day after the irst day of Onam.
When: September 21, 2018.
Where: Parabrahma temple, Ochira,
Kerala. It's about an hour north of
Kollam and about an hour south of
Alleppey.
September 2018 9