well, Indian Festivals as ye asked....v dnt hv Holidays much actually, coz if v keep Holidays fr each ov 'em ....hehe, wen will v work???
firstly, every fest is relatd to sum or other religious belief....plz dnt ask me the story behind all
n also, almost every fest comes accordin to hindu calender..which is quite different dan english dat v all generally follow
in Jan, thr's this Kite Flying festival calld "Sankranti" mainly a hindu fest....sweets n all....but the main attraction is always the no. ov kites dat fill the sky....n ppl actually play sum kinda tactics n cut dwn each other's kites
in March or early April thr's tis fest ov colors calld "HOLI" ppl play wid the near n dear ones by throwin water, water balloons n many colors on each other....in ancient times it used to b playd wid flowers, but dat has nw given way to colors...
den...in bout August or early sept....thr's "Ganesh fest"...goes fr 11days in total....celebratd in HUGE form only in the state ov Maharashtra, wid a few other places, Ganesh is actually a hindu God, n ppl celebrate it by bringin POP idols ov Ganesh to deir homes n doin rituals, offerin sweets to the sweet lovin god...ye cn search the internet by keywords "ganesh" or "ganpati"
tis is followd in 2-3 weeks by a similar fest ov a godess calld "Durga", fest being calld "Navratri" which means 9 nights...goes obviously fr 9 days....mainly celebratd in state ov West Bengal, again wid a few places othr....ppl bring idols ov Durga.....the main attraction in city ov Mumbai n the state ov Gujrat is a public dance form calld "Garba" or "Dandiya"...the latter is playd wid sticks in hand, wen playd by many, gives a beautiful sound ov sticks hitting in unison....tis ends on the 10th day by celebratin "Dusshera"....sum states celebrate it by burning n idol ov a demon king calld "Ravan" (the same on whose death Diwali is celebratd...c below..)
1 ov the last fests according to hindu beliefs is Diwali, is equivalent to Christmas....holidays, firecrackers, many sweets, mainly celebratd as a mythological victory ov a god against a demon king....on Dusshera God killd the Demon King and on Diwali returnd to his palace, wid liting earthen lamps n electrical lamps...also, the godess ov wealth, "Laxmi" is worshippd tis day....
den....sumwhr in april or may thr's a Sikh festival calld "Baisakhi"....celebratd in the state ov Punjab, whr most Sikhs live....wid traditional dance calld "bhangra" n traditional music....
den v hv muslim fests....mainly 2 celebratd, 1's calld Eid, whr aftr a whole month ov daytime fasting n only eatin sumthin in the nite, tis fest is celebratd by muslims at a scale as big as christmas or diwali...a sweet calld "kheer" is prepard.....othr fest is calld "Bakri-Eid" whr Bakri means a goat or a ram, n is celebratd by sacrificin the animal to the god...
n also, evn v hv a lotta christians in India, so evn christmas n othr fests r celebratd here.....
dese r the main fest dat r celebratd....many hindu fests more...but on small scale...
.oh yea....thr's tis fest calld "Raksha Bandan" directly meaning Protection Thread....celebratd by sisters by tying fancy thread on brothers' wrists n recievin gifts in return...its actually based on a story on medievial times, whr a Muslim King ov 1 province ws calld by a hindu queen ov the other kingdom to protect her from enemy attack, by sending him a thread wid a letter...the Muslim King left his own battle to save her, but unfortunately ws late...tis is y its celebratd, its jus a traditional way fr every sister askin her brother fr a life-long protection.....tis fest comes in august sumwhr