Festivals of India are well renowned throughout the world for their majestic colour and grandeur. However during festivals the demand for air tickets on flights to the nation grows surprisingly. Here are various upcoming festivals that are worth booking last minute India flights.
Holidays to India are significantly popular amongst Britons during the festive season when the nation speaks expressively about its rich cultural and traditional background. The months from September to December, which is also the peak tourist season in terms of weather, see Indians celebrating a flurry of vibrant local as well as global festivals and events. Take a brief look at few of the dazzling annual festivals that will be celebrated in India during these months making flights tickets to the country vanish like greased lightning!
Navaratri – Sep 25 to Oct 3, 2014
Navaratri is a colourful and one of the merriest festivals in India. This nine day long carnival marks the celebration of the Mother Goddess in all her renowned manifestations that include Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Navratri is celebrated with utmost zeal and excitement all over the country, but it is western India, especially the province of Gujarat, that observes most lavish community celebrations attracting locals as well as tourists.
Foreign tourists can witness and also participate in the best of quintessential Indian tradition of song and dance at the Garba and Dandiya (unique folk dance forms) nights that are organised in most cities. Group of local dancers clad in colourful ethnic costumes and gyrating to the lilting Garba music is a sight to behold. Some of the country’s biggest performers are roped in for Garba nights by various hotels and resorts that host holidaying tourists. In fact, there can be no better time for culture vultures to board flights to the country and get the most value out of the monies spent on air tickets and holidays.
Durga Puja – Sep 29 to Oct 3, 2014
The last five days of Navaratri are celebrated as Durga Puja, and with greatest vigour in the eastern state of West Bengal. The state capital Kolkata is the best place to get a generous dose of Indian culture at this time. Thousands of temporary yet intricately designed Pandals (covered places for community celebration and worship) are built in the city, many of which are based on interesting themes. The city remains awash with brilliant lightings and transforms into a veritable treasury of culture, art and traditions during this time. The fun intensifies at dusk with hordes of revelling locals stepping out for ‘Pandal hopping’ with family and friends. Frantic shopping frenzy, sparkling fireworks, spectacular Pandals, cultural performances, light and sound and road shows and standstill traffic add to the carnival like feel in the city.
Spotting numerous spiritually and culturally inclined westerners or simply backpackers who are holidaying in the city during the festival is quite common. Every year the festival causes a surge in the number of tourists booking tickets on flights to the country and those who have not booked their tickets yet must rush.
Diwali – Oct 23rd, 2014
Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is undoubtedly the most popular festival in India. Diwali celebrates the victory of good over evil and the homecoming of Lord Rama after fourteen years of exile in the mythological epic Ramayana. Traditionally, every household, business place, office and neighbourhood is illuminated with lights, earthen lamps, candles. The day is marked by exchange of gifts among family and friends, family get-togethers and dinners, dazzling fireworks display lighting up the night sky and much more. Illuminated market places, shopping bonanzas, several Diwali carnivals and events organised all across the country enthral locals and tourists alike.
Indian Capital, Delhi, and other metros are quite popular for vibrant Diwali revelries. Foreign tourists to India can choose from a vast array of Diwali tours tailored to include some of the best cities with the Golden Triangle Tour of Delhi, Jaipur and Agra being one of the most popular. October marks the start of peak season for holidays in India and holidaymakers contemplating to visit India around this time often book flights way in advance; the cost of air tickets and accommodation significantly rise up as the festive season draws closer.
Christmas
Despite the relatively smaller population of Christians in India, Christmas is celebrated in an astonishingly lavish manner in the country. Most of the celebrations of the festival in India are same as in other countries; however Indians do have a flair for peppering in a local flavour to any global phenomenon and Christmas is no exception! Goa is the most favourite place in India to be during Christmas. Portuguese influences in Goa are strongly reflected in its lifestyle and language, and Christmas is a great time to witness the multifariousness of the state surfacing at its myriad Catholic churches during midnight Mass prayers. Mumbai follows close on the heels of Goa with traditional celebrations and whole lot of fun.
Foreign tourists booking tickets to Mumbai or Goa to be away from home during Christmas can rest assured of a gala time. Some other places to savour the authentic taste of Christmas celebrations in India are Kerala, Bangalore, Chennai, Diu and Daman, and Pondicherry.
New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve is celebrated throughout India with immense fervour. This is one such event that provides a trigger for people throughout the country to enjoy, leaving behind all their worries. If you are looking to give a dazzling start to your new year, Mumbai and Goa again lead the pack treating the hedonists to best of entertainment at some of the craziest party hot spots.
Head to the open sky full moon beach parties in Goa or buy tickets for any of the many musical concerts and shows hosted by hotels and pubs where you can be a part of non-stop merrymaking till late in the night. Goa and Mumbai are where a number of top musicians and DJs of global repute are headed to for live performances and shows. And if you are boarding flights to any of these places during this time looking to have some great fun, you will not be disappointed. Several other metros like Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai also play host to a number of foreign tourists who decide to begin their New Year in India.
