New Year in India
Traditionally people celebrate New Year on the first of January in Europe. But it is not the day of the New Year in many countries of the world.
People of India celebrate New Year more than four times a year. It is their national speciality. India is the country that unites many cultures and subcultures. And people of many religions live there. There are a lot of Christians, Moslems, Buddhists, but the majority of population have the religion of Hinduism. So, New Year is celebrated according to the calendar of Hinduism. The date of New Year changes every year and depends on lunar calendar.
Celebration lasts for several days and is accompanied by different festivals and ceremonies. Special carnivals are also held.
But the first of January is also celebrated in India. Some states of India celebrate New Year on 14th of April and this day is also the day when spring comes. The 10th of March, the 26th of March, and the 13th of April are also the days of New Year celebrations in different states of India.
As you see, New Year is celebrated several times in India.
People of India believe that the whole year will be the same as the first day of New Year. That is why it is necessary to be kind and happy this day and not to be irritated and aggressive. So people of India try to spend this day as well as they could.
If you are in India on New Year Eve you'll see the whole country decorated with lights. They may be seen everywhere. Roofs, trees, streets are decorated with them. A lot of sweets and presents are sold outdoors. And fireworks are traditional elements of celebration. And of course people dance and sing outdoors.
This holiday is also a symbol of the victory of all good over the evil. So people celebrate this victory. And according to legend the goddess of wealthy and happiness comes to India this day and brings happiness and luck to the most bright and lightened houses. So people put as many lights as possible in their houses.
Celebration of New Year in India is very bright and colourful holiday that is worth seeing.