Major Harvest festivals in India

 Makara Sankranti (also known as Pongal,Uttarayana,Lohri,Poush Parbon and Bhogali

Bihu.) in January.
 Basant Panchami in Jabuary-February
 Gudi Padwa in March-April.
 Baisakhi in April.
 Rongali Bihu in April.
 Hareli Festival in July-August.
 Onam in August–September.
 Nuakhai in August–September.
 Nabanna in November

Importance of harvest festival

They are a celebration at the time of year when all the crops have been harvested,
people celebrate to show that they are grateful for all the food that has been grown. Given the
differences in climate and crops, Harvest Festivals can be found at various times in different
parts of the world.
Harvest festivals typically feature feasting, both family and public, with foods that are drawn from crops
that come to maturity around the time of the festival. Ample food and freedom from the necessity to
work in the fields are two central features of harvest festivals: eating, merriment, contests and music
are common features of harvest festivals around the world.

The celebrations and rituals, be it through worship, dance, or music, revolve around thanking the gods
for a good harvest, or praying for one in the next crop cycle. They usually fall in January–February
(with Pongal, Bihu, etc.), April (Baisakhi, Bihu, etc.), August–September (Onam, Nuakhai, etc.) or
November–December (Kut, Tokhu Emong, etc.). Interestingly, in April, these festivals also coincide
with the beginning of the regional new year for many communities. While all these occasions are
marked with an offering to the gods and community feasting, they also have distinct ceremonies, rituals
and customs.

Detail about two harvest festival in India

Makar Sankranti:
Celebrated all over the country, Makar Sankranti is the oldest and the most colorful harvest festival in
India. As per Hindu mythology, this festival marks the end of an unfavorable phase and the beginning
of a holy phase. Particularly in villages of Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Himachal, West
Bengal, and Punjab,
Where: Pan India in different ways but mainly in the north India.
How: people celebrate the harvest of new crops with bonfire, carnivals, songs, dances, kite flying, and
rallies.
Special dishes: various sumptuous sweet dishes made of sesame and jaggery.

Figure 1: A traditional sweet sesame-jaggery

Figure 2: Multicolored sugar halwa surrounded by til-gul (sesame and jaggery) ladoos
Ugadi
The word Ugadi stems from yuga (age) and adi (beginning), signifying the advent of the new year. It
takes place on the first day of Chaitra, the first month of the Hindu calendar.
Where: In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

How: The day is observed by drawing colorful patterns on floor called kolamulus ( Kannada: Rangoli ,
Telugu: Muggulu, ) mango leaf decorations on doors called torana (kannada : torana,Telugu: Toranalu
), buying and giving gifts such as new clothes, giving charity to the poor, special bath followed by oil
treatment, preparing and sharing a special food called pachadi, and visiting Hindu temples.
Special dish: People celebrate Ugadi by preparing special dishes using jaggery, mangoes and leaves
of the neem tree. Bevu-bella, a festive dish which is a mixture of jaggery and neem leaves, signifies
the duality of sweetness and bitterness that one experiences in life.

Figure 3:People celebrate Ugadi by preparing special dishes

using jaggery, mangoes and leaves of the neem tree

Two ways to stop wastage of food during these

festival

1. We should ensure we must cook and consume only what we genuinely need, and if food is
extra, we should give it to the poor and needy.
2. The leftover food can be composted to make manure for plants.