Harvest festival has been the most popular and largest festival celebrated in all the parts of India. People are joyous after they complete their harvesting and celebrate their hard work and harvests of crops.
It is India who has been a country with diversified region and culture while you look in the geographical differences and culture from the northern part of India to Southern part or from the west to the east one can experience the amazing diversified culture. Each culture and festival shows its individuality, one of the common festivals is the harvest festival which is celebrated in April.
Major states with agriculture and farmers celebrate the harvest festival are:
West Bengal
Poila Baisakh is celebrated in the mid of April, on the first day of the Bengali year. On this day the Bengalis celebrate the harvest festival, prepare different kinds of sweets and food. It is the first day of the Bengali lunisolar calendar.
Bengalis not only enjoy different kinds of dishes and sweets but they wear new clothes and spend the day with family and friends. Rossogollas are the popular sweet dish of West Bengal which they celebrate by serving on plated and wishing Subho NabaBarsho. Dancing on Tagore songs ‘Esho hey Baisakh esho’ to celebrate the harvest festival.
Punjab
Baisakhi has always been the important festival of Punjab, farmers perform rituals to thank the god of harvesting for blessing with good crops. Apart from performing rituals they perform Bhangra and gidda their folk dance to enjoy their success. Rituals and prayers are performed in their gurudwara the place of worship.
Along with dancing as their expression of joy and prosperity they also serve their traditional foods which include palak paneer, sarso ka saag and different kinds of hand made rotis and chappatis with lots of ghee and butter.
Assam
Rongali Bihu is also the festival of farmers who perform their rituals for their land of harvesting, the people of Assam enjoy this day by singing and dancing on Bihu, folk dance. Harvest festival in April comes up with prosperity and happiness which they celebrate with a romantic relationship with their partners expressed through music and Bihu dance.
They prepare sweets made of rice called pitha, one of the favorite and popular dishes of Assam. People spend their days with family and friends eating, singing and dancing.
Kerala
Vishu is the harvest festival celebrated in Kerala located in the southern part of India. the festival is celebrated at the border of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The rituals and prayers are for harvesting performed by the Malayalees, gifts are presented to their relatives and close ones.
People enjoy food and gifts, the gift money or coin on the first day of their New year as the token of prosperity.
The harvest festival is celebrated on the first day of the Hindu calendar, and every 36 years the New year comes on 14th April. India celebrates the festival by singing, dancing and sharing different kinds of food with family and friends. Rituals may be a different and diversified culture of India but their reason for celebration is the Harvest festival, Baisakhi.
