Marathwada · Deccan Inland Plateau
Festivals
| Festival | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Navratri and Dasara at Tuljapur | Ashwin (September–October) | Nine nights at the Bhavani temple with the goddess brought out of rest, gondhal performed in households across the region, and a town of some thirty thousand absorbing lakhs of pilgrims. |
| Marathwada Mukti Sangram Din | 17 September | Marks 17 September 1948, the date on which Hyderabad State acceded to the Indian Union at the close of the military action of 13–18 September. Observed with a flag-hoisting at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and across the eight districts. |
| Muharram | First ten days of Muharram, lunar | Taziya processions from the Deccani neighbourhoods, noha and marsiya in Dakhni, and khichda cooked in large deghs and distributed. In a number of villages the observance is maintained by Hindu households as well, a pattern found across the Deccan and not unique to any one district. |
| Nath Shashti at Paithan | Phalgun (February–March) | The samadhi observance for Sant Eknath at Paithan, with kirtan, bharud performance and a palkhi. It is the region's largest Varkari gathering and the one occasion when the bharud repertoire is performed at scale. |
| Bail Pola | Bhadrapada Amavasya (August–September) | The bullock's day — working animals are washed, their horns painted and hung with bells, and they are led through the village and not worked. In a bullock-powered dryland economy this is the single most seriously observed agricultural festival of the year. |
| Gurpurab at Nanded | Poh (December–January), and the Gurta Gaddi observance in October | Guru Gobind Singh's birth anniversary and the commemoration of the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib at Nanded in 1708, drawing pilgrims from Punjab and from the Sikh diaspora. |
| Renuka yatra at Mahur | Ashwin Navratri and Datta Jayanti in Margashirsha | A hill-shrine fair drawing from Marathwada, Vidarbha and the Telangana border districts. |
| Ashadhi and Kartiki wari | Ashadh (June–July) and Kartik (October–November) | Palkhi processions leave Paithan and other Marathwada towns and walk to Pandharpur, outside the region, singing abhang the whole way. The region supplies walkers to a pilgrimage whose destination is in the Desh. |
| Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Din | Ashoka Vijaya Dashami (October) | Observed in Buddhist neighbourhoods across the region, which has a Buddhist population of around seven per cent. The principal gathering is at Nagpur, in Vidarbha. |
| Ellora and Ajanta festival | Announced for the winter season, and not held every year | A state tourism music and dance festival staged near the caves. It has run intermittently rather than annually, so check before planning around it. |
The festival calendar of Marathwada — what is celebrated, when it falls and what happens. (10)