Indian festivals are celebrated by varied cultures and through their special rituals add to the colours of Indian Heritage. Some festivals welcome the seasons of the year, the harvest, the rains, or the full moon. Others celebrate religious occasions, the birthdays of divine beings, saints, and gurus (revered teachers), or the advent of the New Year.
Every celebration is centered around the rituals of prayer, seeking blessings, exchanging goodwill, decorating houses, wearing new clothes, music, dance and feasting.
As Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city all festivals are celebrated with equal vigour. So in Mumbai there are festivities happening every month which is celebrated by every Mumbaikar. Mumbai celebrates every states festivals as its own. Now thats the spiirt of Mumbai.
Below is a list of some festivals that are celebrated in Mumbai( mostly in order of occurance in the year):
- Lohri
- Makarsankranti
- Pongal
- Vasant Panchami/ Saraswati Puja
- Mahashivratri
- Holi
- Ram Navami
Chaitra Navaratri- Mahavir Jayanti
- Ugadi
- Good Friday
- Easter
- Gudi Padwa
- Baisakhi
- Tamil New Year
- Bengali New Year
- Buddha Poornima
- Akshaya Tritiya
- Nag Panchami
- Teej Festival
- Guru Poornima
Rakshabandhan- Janmashtami
- Narali Poornima
- Ramzan
- Parsi New Year( Jamshed Navroz)
- Paryushan
- Onam
- Id-ul-fitr
- Ganesh Chaturthi / Anant Chaturthi
- Durga Puja
- Navratri
- Dusshera
- Karvachauth
- Dhanteras
- Diwali
- Laxmi Puja
- Sharad Poornima
- Bhai Dooj / Bhau beej
- Kali Puja
- Tulsi Vivaah
- Dev Deepavali
- Ekadashi
- Guru Nanak Jayanti
- Muharram
- Christmas
There are a few Festivals which are celebrated exclusively in Mumbai. The list is as follows:
- Mumbai Festival
- Banganga Festival
- Elephanta Festival
- Indian Derby Weekend
- Kala Ghoda Festival
- Bandra Mount Mary Festival
- Ellora Festival
- Bandra Festival
