Festivals Of Hampi: UNESCO Heritage Site In India

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Karnataka. It is an ancient village which has its own set of festivals. A lot of these festivals attract huge crowd. The dates and schedules are made each year and not fixed. Once the dates are set, they are made public. Here are some of the most popular:

Hampi Festival: This is the largest festival that is celebrated over 3 days in the first week of November. All the programs are sponsored by state and the entry to them is free. The celebrations are packed with dance puppet shows, music and dance and activities like rock climbing, water sports and some cultural sports too. The festivals attracts a lot of crowd from all over the country. In Hampi, the festival is referred to as Vijaya Utsav or Hampi Utsav.

Purandara Dasa Aradhana: This festival is celebrated in January or February. This is a classical musical festival. It is held to commemorate the birthday of the poet Purandaradasa who used to live in Hampi. It is a 2-3 day program and is held as a feast for classical musical enthusiasts.

Virupaksha Car Festival: It is held in the months of March or April and is a religious festival that includes procession with images of gods and goddesses.

Phalapuja festival: It is celebrated in December as a ceremonial betrothal of the couple at the Virupaksha temple.

Shivratri: It is celebrated at all Shiva temples as it is the birthday of Lord Shiva.

By: Neha Maheshwari

Content: http://hampi.in/festivals