Festivals
- Bengaluru Karaga: Discover the 9-day Karaga, a tradition started and sustained by a Tamil speaking community of gardeners called Thigalars. The Karaga Festival is held at the Dharmaraya Swamy Temple in Bangalore. Just after dusk on the Karaga day between March and April, a priest dressed in female attire leads a spectacular procession, to the accompaniment of dazzling swordplay by a number of dhoti-clad, bare-chested Thigalars. On his head, he carries a flower-bedecked pyramid. A unique feature of the Karaga is the unbroken tradition of visiting the tomb of an 18th century Muslim saint every year – this custom has become a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity. .
- Karnataka Rajyothsava: Karnataka Formation Day is celebrated as ‘Rajyothsava’ day on 1st of November every year. This celebration marks the birth of Karnataka state, on 1st November 1956 by way of merger of Kannada speaking regions of South India.
- Basavanagudi Kadalekai Parishe: Popularly known as the groundnut festival, the Kadalekayi Parishe welcomes the first yield of the groundnut crop. Karnataka’s farmers congregate at the Bull Temple each year to seek blessings for a good harvest. Heaps of different varieties and qualities of groundnuts spring up in the area surrounding the Bull Temple, the Dodda Ganesha Shrine, and the Bugle Rock Park in Basavanagudi, one of Bengaluru’s oldest suburbs.
- Bengaluru International Film Festival: Usually held in February for about a week, bringing together creative movie makers and audience. https://biffes.in/
- Shree Ramaseva Mandali: The Ramanavami celebrations herald the music season in the Garden City of Bengaluru, when music lovers are treated to a fare of traditional live music concerts at the Fort School Grounds at Chamrajpet. This annual music festival which is organised by Shree Ramaseva Mandali was founded by SV Narayanaswamy Rao 60 years ago, to celebrate Ramanavami with a series of concerts and dance programmes. The Mandali has now become an inseparable part of Bangalore’s cultural landscape, bringing together legendary music maestros like Gangubai Hangal, Bhimsen Joshi, TR Mahaalingam, Veena Doraiswamy Iyengar, Chemmagudi, MS Subhalakshmi, and KJ Yesudas. http://www.ramanavami.org/
Christmas
Celebrated on/during: December
Christmas (or the Feast of the Nativity) is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on…