Skip to main content
KarmaVaani

Practice · 8 lessons · about 50 min

The festival year

Keeping the great days at home

From Makar Sankranti in January to Diwali in the autumn: what the major festivals mean, how families keep them, and how to find their dates for your city.

8 lessons
Rows of small hand-shaped terracotta clay diyas, shallow open oil lamps each with a cotton wick flame, on a stone threshold beside a symmetrical circular rangoli of marigold and rose petals, evening dusk behind
Start: How the dates are fixed

  1. How the dates are fixed

    8 min

    Tithis, lunar months, Purnimanta and Amanta, and the calendar for your city.

    Open

  2. A calendar your family will keep

    10 min

    Choosing which festivals to keep, and keeping them well.

    Open

  3. Makar Sankranti

    5 min

    The sun turns north: harvest, sesame and giving.

    Open

  4. Maha Shivaratri

    5 min

    The great night of Shiva, kept awake.

    Open

  5. Holi

    5 min

    Prahlada’s fire and Krishna’s colours.

    Open

  6. Krishna Janmashtami

    5 min

    A fast until midnight, and the birth of Krishna.

    Open

  7. Navaratri

    6 min

    Nine nights of the Goddess.

    Open

  8. Diwali

    6 min

    The five days of lights, and the evening Lakshmi puja.

    Open