page_title: List of Hindu festivals
section_title: List and descriptions of major Hindu festivals
hierarchical_section_title: List of Hindu festivals / List and descriptions of major Hindu festivals
caption_attribution_description: English: D.M. at the Thai Pongal Festival at his temple in Colombo
context_page_description: There are a great number of Hindu religious festivals held throughout the world. The festivals typically celebrate events from Hindu mythology, often coinciding with seasonal changes. There are many festivals which are primarily celebrated by specific sects or in certain regions of the Indian subcontinent.
  The festive season is widely celebrated. These events have a historic significance to them and are rooted in various cultural and linguistic norms. The onset of the famous Diwali marks the beginning of lighting 'diyas', beautifying homes, offering gifts and visiting friends and family. Similarly, the Holi festival is described as the 'Festival of Colors', with its magnificent rain dance and the 'gulaal'.
caption: Thai Pongal in Colombo
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "FinePix E900", "Image Software": "Digital Camera FinePix E900    Ver1.00", "Image DateTime": "2006:06:30 01:22:28", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "230", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/550", "EXIF FNumber": "5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:06:30 01:22:28", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:06:30 01:22:28", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "459/50", "EXIF ApertureValue": "23/5", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "47/5", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "36/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2616", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3488", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "4482", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "4482", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}