Varanasi Festivals

Varanasi boasts of a rich cultural heritage and tradition and this is why Varanasi is considered to be the cultural capital of India. Varanasi is a city that is not only home to many ashrams, temples and muths but is also greatly associated with festivals and Hindu traditions. You find Varanasi filled with fairs and festivals all year through where there is an important festival celebrated almost every month. Festivals are celebrated with gaiety and fervor in Varanasi and with the many festivals found in Varanasi, whichever time you make a visit to Varanasi, you are sure to be in the midst of a festive season. Bharat Milap is one of the important festivals of Varanasi which is held to commemorate the return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile, and reunion with brother Bharat. It is celebrated the day after Dussehra at Nati Imli, Varanasi with great fanfare and devotion. The Dev Deepavali is a festival celebrated on Karthik Purnima where you find the ghats coming to life with thousands of Divas (earthen lamps). It is celebrated on the fifteenth day of Diwali as a tribute to river Ganga with lots of feasts and fanfare. Nag Nathaiya is an important festival of Varanasi which is held at the Tulsi Ghat during the months of Nov. to Dec. it is held to commemorate Lord Krishna’s jumping into river Ganga for Nag Nathan. The most important festival of Varanasi is Maha Shivaratri as Varanasi is considered to be the city of Lord Shiva. It is celebrated on the fourteenth day of Phalgun, somewhere between February and March. This is a religious festival where all Shiva temples of Varanasi are decorated well. There is a marriage procession of lord Shiva that starts from Mahamritvunjaya temple of Daranagar to Kashi Vishwanath Temple on Maha Shivarathri in Varanasi.