In Pics | India celebrates arrival of spring with harvest festivals

India welcomed the spring season and its first festival of the calendar year on Thursday morning. Pongal as it is known in Tamil Nadu, Bihu in Assam, and Makar Sankranti in much of the north has been and continues to be celebrated with much aplomb. From the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar to paddy fields of Assam, and the streets of Tamil Nadu and the Dharavi slum in Mumbai, here's a look at how India is celebrating its cherished harvest festivals:

Pilgrims perform rituals after taking holy dips during 'Makar Sankranti' festival celebration, at Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. Credit: PTI Photo

Hindu devotees take a holy dip in the waters of river Ganges during Makar Sankranti, a day considered to be of great religious significance in Hindu mythology, on the first day of the religious Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar. Credit: AFP Photo

A Hindu devotee arrives on the banks of the Ganges during Makar Sankranti, a day considered to be of great religious significance in Hindu mythology, on the first day of the Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar. Credit: AFP Photo

A pilgrim with physical disability takes a holy dip during 'Makar Sankranti' festival celebration at Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. Credit: PTI Photo

Traditional Assamese 'Meji', a house made of straw, being burnt during the Magh Bihu celebrations, at Ganeshguri in Guwahati. Credit: PTI Photo

A performer plays music next to his decorated bull known as 'Gangireddu' that is taken house to house during the Hindu Sankranti, also known as the harvest festival as people worship and traditionally donate money, clothes and grains in a residential area in Hyderabad. Credit: AFP Photo

A devotee uses her mobile phone torch as she cooks a rice dish as an offering to the Hindu sun god as devotees attend Pongal celebrations in the early morning at a residential area in Mumbai, India. Credit: AFP Photo

A boy plays the drum beside bonfires to celebrate Hindu harvest festival of Ponga in Chennai. Credit: AFP Photo

Participants try to tame a bull during Avaniyapuram Jallikattu as the part of Pongal festival celebration, in Chennai. Credit: PTI Photo