Lodged somewhere between Maharashtra and Gujarat is one of our union territories. The Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Lying on the western coasts of India, this is separated in two halves with Gujarat enveloping Dadra and Nagar Haveli floats on the edge of Maharashtra and Gujarat. It is one of the main tourist locations for both locals and non-locals. The far stretched strips of lush greenery amidst a wide range of floral beauty, the open clear sky, the gurgling streams passing by, the soft rivers flowing past or the intriguing silhouette of the mountain ranges clouded by the fog – Dadra and Nagar Haveli is heaven on earth.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli Festivals:
While the scenic beauty is worth worship another interesting fact causing attraction is the festivals that are joyously celebrated widely in this place.
While this urbanized union territory freely celebrates Christmas and new years, the base of the traditional roots are firmly planted on the natives. Both Hindu and Muslim festivals are celebrated with fun and frolic. While some people celebrate id e milad, some people celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi. The Milad is celebrated by offering gratitude to the great prophets by helping out the needy and poor and in the same way; the Chaturthi is celebrated by carrying the idol followed by a large procession.
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In around July or august the Monsoon Magic festival is celebrated by the dadra and nagar haveli natives. The tourism division of this area has organized quite a few number of short quirky fairs and festivals monsoon magic being one of them. The rain conquering the strips of dadra and nagar haveli washes away the dry spirit and along with the monsoon comes the greens and the flowers. Activities like monsoon trekking, monsoon cross country run, monsoon raga or jalsa form an integral part of this festival.
The other festival includes the Tarpa festival conducted on the late Decembers named after the exuberant folk dance regime of the tribes of this place. Events such as folk dance, swimming races, rangoli etc form a part of this.
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On the mid of the year around May the National tribal art and food festival is celebrated. An agglomeration of various tribal art along with the art of various delicious sweet to the eye dishes mashes up together to celebrate this event. A myriad range of palatable tribal food and art finds a strong platform here to express themselves.
While the Craft mela is conducted on November where various hand-made household craft pieces are explored, the kite festival takes place early in the January. Every house gears up with various kites of different shapes and sizes and finds their way to the open sky. A kite flying festival open for all.
The other festival is the Nariyeli Poornima where a coconut is offered to the almighty as a sign of begging for his protection. Generally fishermen and the folk related with water perform this while seeking for protection from the lord. But it is open for celebration to everyone. The coconut is considered pious. The day starts with a puja followed by merry time. This is the very day to celebrate Raksha Bandhan where the sisters and brothers pray for each other’s well-being.
Apart from this there are some other few festivals concerning the tribes such as the Varli and Kokna tribe celebrate diwali as Barash while the Akha-Tij festival only conforms to the females of the Kokna tribe. The Divaso and Baleo are well known amongst the Dhodias tribe.
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Being a religion tolerable territory, Dadra and Nagar Haveli shelters a wide range of people from Hindus to Muslims to Christians and so when it comes to festival, this all year round union territory celebrates them all.
