Across the year, Hindu festivals mark the turning of the seasons, the stories of the deities, and the debts of gratitude every household remembers in its own way. This guide gives a season-by-season orientation to when major festivals fall and what they mark, drawn from Avyani's Master Puja & Ritual Catalogue.
The calendar itself is primarily lunar, which is why most festival dates shift each year against the solar (Gregorian) calendar. What follows is a broad orientation only — not a substitute for a local Panchang, which a priest or temple can provide for exact dates in a given year.
Spring
Holi (होली), the festival of colour marking the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil, and Ram Navami, celebrating the birth of Lord Rama — see our Vishnu Rituals guide — fall in this season, alongside regional new year festivals including Gudi Padwa, Ugadi and Baisakhi. Hanuman Jayanti, the birth celebration of Hanuman, also falls here — see our Hanuman Rituals guide.
Monsoon
Guru Purnima honours teachers and spiritual guides. Raksha Bandhan celebrates the bond between siblings. Krishna Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi — two of the most widely celebrated festivals nationwide — both fall in this season; see our Vishnu Rituals and Ganapati Rituals guides respectively. Onam, Kerala's major harvest festival, and Rath Yatra, the grand chariot procession of Jagannath, also fall here.
Autumn
This is the season of the year's largest festival cluster: Sharadiya Navratri and Durga Puja, nine nights of worship of the Divine Mother (see our Devi Rituals guide), followed by Vijayadashami/Dussehra, and then Diwali, the festival of lights, preceded by Dhanteras. Karva Chauth and Chhath Puja — the latter a rigorous multi-day observance to the Sun God (see our Surya Rituals guide) — also fall in this season, along with Pitru Paksha, the fortnight dedicated to ancestral remembrance.
Winter
Makar Sankranti (known regionally as Pongal, Makara Vilakku and by other names) marks the Sun's transit into Capricorn — see our Surya Rituals guide. Maha Shivaratri, the great night of Shiva, is the most significant annual Shiva observance (see our Shiva Rituals guide). Basant Panchami honours Saraswati, and Vaikunta Ekadashi is considered the most sacred Ekadashi of the year for Vishnu worship — see our Vishnu Rituals guide.
Summer
Regional temple festivals mark the summer months in several traditions, including Chandan Yatra and the Chithirai Festival at Madurai, home of Goddess Meenakshi — see our Devi Rituals guide.
Full Festival Calendar
The table below lists every festival in Avyani's catalogue with its typical month and season. Some entries are marked "Varies," meaning their date depends on the lunar calendar in a way not tied to a fixed solar month.
| Festival | Month | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Akshaya Tritiya | April-May | Spring |
| Ambubachi Mela | June | Monsoon |
| Arudra Darshan | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Ashadhi Ekadashi | June-July | Monsoon |
| Attukal Pongala | February-March | Winter |
| Baisakhi | April | Spring |
| Basant Panchami | January-February | Winter |
| Bastar Dussehra | September-November | Autumn |
| Bathukamma | September-October | Autumn |
| Bihu | April / January | Spring / Winter |
| Bonalu | July-August | Monsoon |
| Chaitra Navratri | March-April | Spring |
| Champa Shashthi | November-December | Winter |
| Chandan Yatra | April-May | Summer |
| Chhath Puja | October-November | Autumn |
| Chithirai Festival | April-May | Summer |
| Dev Deepawali | November | Winter |
| Dhanteras | October-November | Autumn |
| Diwali | October-November | Autumn |
| Durga Puja | September-October | Autumn |
| Durga Puja / Navratri | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Dussehra | October | Autumn |
| Dussehra / Diwali | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Dussehra / Vijayadashami | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Ganesh Chaturthi | August-September | Monsoon |
| Gangaur | March-April | Spring |
| Gita Jayanti | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Gopashtami | November | Winter |
| Gudi Padwa / Ugadi | March-April | Spring |
| Guru Purnima | July | Monsoon |
| Guruvayur Ekadashi | November-December | Winter |
| Hanuman Jayanti | March-April | Spring |
| Hartalika Teej | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Holi | March | Spring |
| Jhulan Yatra | July-August | Monsoon |
| Kaal Bhairav Jayanti | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Kali Puja / Diwali | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Karam Puja | August-September | Monsoon |
| Karthika Deepam | November-December | Winter |
| Karva Chauth | October-November | Autumn |
| Krishna Janmashtami | August-September | Monsoon |
| Kullu Dussehra | October | Autumn |
| Maha Shivaratri | February-March | Winter |
| Mahalaya | September-October | Autumn |
| Makar Sankranti | January | Winter |
| Makara Sankranti | January | Winter |
| Makara Vilakku | January | Winter |
| Meenakshi Thirukalyanam | April-May | Summer |
| Mysuru Dasara | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Nag Panchami | July-August | Monsoon |
| Narasimha Jayanti | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Navratri | March-April / September-October | Spring / Autumn |
| Nuakhai | August-September | Monsoon |
| Onam | August-September | Monsoon |
| Panguni Uthiram | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Paryaya Utsav | January | Winter |
| Pitru Paksha | September | Autumn |
| Poila Boishakh | April | Spring |
| Pongal | January | Winter |
| Raksha Bandhan | August | Monsoon |
| Ram Navami | March-April | Spring |
| Rath Yatra | June-July | Monsoon |
| Ratha Saptami | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Sarhul | March-April | Spring |
| Sharad Purnima | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Sharadiya Navratri | September-October | Autumn |
| Shravan Month | July-August | Monsoon |
| Skanda Shashti | November-December | Winter |
| Snana Purnima | May-June | Summer |
| Thrissur Pooram | April-May | Summer |
| Ugadi | March-April | Spring |
| Vaikunta Ekadashi | December-January | Winter |
| Varalakshmi Vratam | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
| Vijayadashami | October | Autumn |
| Vishu | April | Spring |
| Vishwakarma Puja | Varies (see regional calendar) | Varies |
For the specific rituals associated with any of these observances, see our Puja Catalogue, and for the samagri commonly used in festival worship, see our Samagri Catalogue.