Certain Hindu festivals are associated with the annual cycle of seasons. Pongal or Sankranthi in the South, is celebrated to mark the withdrawal of the southeast monsoons as well as the reaping of the harvest. It is the biggest harvest festival, spread over 3 days. Pongal denotes a sweet preparation made from rice. Each of the three days are marked by different festivities....

On Easter, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as it is told in the Bible. This holy day celebrates the triumph of life over death.

Ugadi heralds the beginning of the New Year, new month and new day. It also marks a beginning of new life with plants acquiring new life, shoots and leaves. People consume Bevu (neem) and Bella (jaggery). The inner significance of this is to indicate that life is a mixture of good and bad, joy and sorrow, success and disappointment, and all of them have to be treated alike. Ugadi marks the beginning of a new Hindu lunar calendar with a change in the moon's orbit. This festival is celebrated

The main Jain festival of the year is Mahavir Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Mahavira, the founder of Jainism. This religious event is largely observed by the Jains by visiting sacred sites and worshipping the Teerthankara. The event holds special significance in Gujarat and Rajasthan due to the ancient shrines at Girnar and Palitana in Gujarat. Mahavir Jayanti is also celebrated at Parasnath Temple in Kolkata and at Pawapuri in Bihar.

The Buddha was born on the full-moon day in the month of Vaisakh in 563 BC. He achieved enlightenment as well as nirvana on the same date.

This is a festival dedicated to Lord Sri Krishna and commemorates his birth. This festival occurs on the eight day (Astami) of a lunar fortnight hence the name.

Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom. Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival in his honour and is celebrated with geity and fervour. Images of Ganesha are installed within homes as well as in places of assembly. Elaborate arrangements are made for lighting and decoration and Ganesha is fervently worshipped for about seven to ten days.

Onam, the foremost festival among the cultural repertoire of Malayalees, falls in the harvest season. Chingam or Bhadrapada, the first month of the calendar ushers in Onam. After the rain drenched Karkidakam with its privations, Chingam is a welcome month of plenty. This picturesque ten-day harvest festival is celebrated with traditional fervour with visit to temples, family get-togethers, gifting each other clothes called Ona-kkodi and lots of merry making.

Diwali, or Deepawali, is a major Indian festive holiday, and a significant festival in Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism. Many legends are associated with Diwali. Today it is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs across the globe as the "Festival of Light," where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within every human being.

Christmas is a holiday in the Christian calendar, usually observed on December 25, which celebrates the birth of Jesus. According to the Christian gospels, Jesus was born to Mary in Bethlehem, where she and her husband Joseph had traveled to register in the Roman census. Christ's birth, or nativity, was to fulfill the prophecies of Judaism that a messiah would come, from the house of David, to redeem the world from sin.