page_title: Hinduism
section_title: Festivals
hierarchical_section_title: Hinduism / Practices / Festivals
caption_attribution_description: English: Diwali festival (celebrated by Hindus all over the world). Shown here is the arrangement of diyas on Diwali night.
context_page_description: Hinduism is an Indian religion and dharma, or way of life. It is the world's third-largest religion with over 1.25 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population, known as Hindus. The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, many practitioners refer to their religion as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal way" which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts. Another, though less fitting, self-designation is Vaidika dharma, the 'dharma related to the Vedas.'
  Hinduism includes a range of philosophies, and is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, pilgrimage to sacred sites and shared textual resources that discuss theology, philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topics. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, and compassion, among others. Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life; namely, Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, as well as karma and Saṃsāra.
context_section_description: Hindu festivals (Sanskrit: Utsava; literally: "to lift higher") are ceremonies that weave individual and social life to dharma. Hinduism has many festivals throughout the year, where the dates are set by the lunisolar Hindu calendar, many coinciding with either the full moon (Holi) or the new moon (Diwali), often with seasonal changes. Some festivals are found only regionally and they celebrate local traditions, while a few such as Holi and Diwali are pan-Hindu.
  The festivals typically celebrate events from Hinduism, connoting spiritual themes and celebrating aspects of human relationships such as the Sister-Brother bond over the Raksha Bandhan (or Bhai Dooj) festival. The same festival sometimes marks different stories depending on the Hindu denomination, and the celebrations incorporate regional themes, traditional agriculture, local arts, family get togethers, Puja rituals and feasts.
  Some major regional or pan-Hindu festivals include:
  Makar Sankranti
  Pongal
  Thaipusam
  Vasant Panchami
  Maha Shivaratri
  Shigmo
  Holi
  Gudi Padwa
  Ugadi
  Bihu
  Vishu
  Ram Navami
  Guru Purnima
  Raksha Bandhan
  Krishna Janmastami
  Gowri Habba
  Ganesh Chaturthi
  Onam
  Navaratri
  Dussera
  Durga Puja or Durga Ashtami
  Diwali
  Chhath
  Bonalu
  Rath Yatra
caption: The festival of lights, Diwali, is celebrated by Hindus all over the world. It is referred as Dipavali in the South India.
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