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September festivals in India bring communities together through devotion, tradition, and celebration. Ganesh Chaturthi’s grand idols, Onam’s elaborate feasts, and Durga Puja’s artistic displays fill streets with music, colours, and rituals. Some festivals honour gods, while others mark seasonal shifts or historical moments. Families prepare special meals, temples hold prayers, and cultural performances add to the festive spirit. Across cities and villages, these events create a deep sense of belonging, bridging generations through shared customs and stories that continue to shape India’s cultural identity.
10 September Festivals To Celebrate In India
Here are the most popular September festivals in India, marking the month with unique traditions and lively gatherings:
1. Ganesh Chaturthi
Photo: 03Ani03 / Wikimedia Commons
Ganesh Chaturthi marks the birth of Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed god who brings good luck and removes problems. This 10-day festival shows colourful Ganesha clay statues in homes and public areas called pandals. Families pray, offer sweet rice dumplings called modak, and sing holy songs. The festival ends with crowds walking to take the clay statues to water for dipping / visarjan. It’s most loved in Maharashtra but happens all over India in different ways.
Celebrated In: Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka
Main Attraction: Idols of Lord Ganesha, Processions
2. Onam
Photo: Jiteshgt / Wikimedia Commons
Onam is Kerala’s harvest festival that runs for up to ten days. It honours King Mahabali who comes back once a year from the underworld to see his old kingdom. Homes are made pretty with flower patterns called pookkalam, which get bigger each day. Families wear new clothes, eat big meals on banana leaves, and join in boat races, tiger dances, and old-style dances. The big meal has up to 26 plant-based dishes served in a special order.
Celebrated In: Kerala
Main Attraction: Vallam Kali, Onasadya Feast, Pookkalam
3. Radha Ashtami
Photo: Sahadeva / Wikimedia Commons
Radha Ashtami honours the birth of Radha, Lord Krishna’s special friend, on the eighth day of the bright half of Bhadrapada month. People skip meals, wash Radha’s statues with holy water, and say special prayers. This day matters most in Mathura, Vrindavan, and other places linked to Krishna-Radha stories. Temples are covered with flowers, and people sing songs about Radha’s true love. Unlike many other big festivals, this one is quieter and more focused on inner prayer than big public events, showing Radha’s giving love.
Celebrated In: Mathura, Vrindavan
Main Attraction: Devotional Singing, Night Prayers, Celebrating Radha’s Birth
4. Vishwakarma Puja
Photo: AjayDas / Wikimedia Commons
Vishwakarma Puja honours the god builder who made the world in Hindu stories. Workers, tool users, fixers, and builders celebrate it in workshops, factories, and offices. Tools and machines are cleaned, painted, and flowered before being blessed to stop accidents and bring good luck. No work happens on this day after the prayer time. Pictures of Lord Vishwakarma holding tools are prayed to. Big in the east and north India, it shows how important human skills and making things are to society.
Celebrated In: West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha
Main Attraction: Rituals for Tools and Machines, Industrial Prayers
5. Pitru Paksha
Photo: Biswarup Ganguly / Wikimedia Commons
Pitru Paksha is a 16-day time for honouring dead family members. Hindus believe during this time, souls of passed family members come down to Earth looking for food and good wishes. Families do special acts, giving rice balls and water to the souls, often at holy rivers or temples. Many don’t eat meat, drink alcohol, or eat certain plants during this time. The most important day is Mahalaya Amavasya, seen as the best time for these offerings.
Celebrated In: Nationwide
Main Attraction: Ancestral Worship, Pind Daan Rituals
6. Durga Puja
Photo: Joydeep / Wikimedia Commons
Durga Puja celebrates Goddess Durga’s win over the bull demon Mahishasura, showing good beating evil. This 10-day festival gets bigger during the last five days. Big temporary structures called pandals hold amazing Durga statues showing her with ten arms, riding a lion, and killing the demon. Especially big in West Bengal, it has shows, special dances with incense holders, and drums. Women play sindoor khela, putting red powder on each other.
Celebrated In: West Bengal, Odisha, Assam
Main Attraction: Goddess Durga Idols, Cultural Performances, Processions
7. Ladakh Festival
Photo: MaryOfPrag / Wikimedia Commons
The Ladakh Festival shows off the special way of life in India’s high mountain desert area. Held each year in early September, it starts with a street parade through Leh with dance groups in old-style clothes, mask dances, and music. The week-long party includes bow-and-arrow contests, horse games, and old sports. Monks do masked dances in temple yards. Local markets sell handmade things, holy paintings, and local foods. First made to keep tourists coming after summer, it now helps keep alive the area’s Tibetan Buddhist ways and moving herder traditions.
Celebrated In: Ladakh
Main Attraction: Traditional Dances, Music, Polo Matches
8. Nuakhai
Photo: Storysbyharish / Wikimedia Commons / Image For Representation Only
Nuakhai is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in Odisha, marking the first day of the new agricultural season. It is observed with great enthusiasm, especially in rural areas. The festival revolves around offering newly harvested rice to deities as a gesture of gratitude for a good harvest. Families come together for prayers and rituals, and traditional dances like the Rath Yatra are performed. Special meals are prepared, and local delicacies are shared among loved ones.
Celebrated In: Odisha
Main Attraction: First Harvest Offerings, Traditional Feasts, Rituals
9. Bathukamma
Photo: Nagireddy Nagi / Wikimedia Commons
Bathukamma is a popular festival celebrated in Telangana, primarily by women, to honour Goddess Gauri. The festival is marked by creating elaborate flower arrangements known as “Bathukamma,” which are conical in shape. These arrangements are placed in rivers, lakes, or ponds as an offering to the goddess. Women gather to sing traditional songs, dance, and celebrate the beauty of nature. The festival typically spans nine days, and it culminates with the grand immersion of Bathukamma in water.
Celebrated In: Telangana
Main Attraction: Flower Stacks, Traditional Dances, Songs
10. Pola
Photo: abhiriksh / Wikimedia Commons
Pola is a traditional festival celebrated to honour bullocks, which play a significant role in farming. The festival is observed by the rural communities who worship their bullocks for their hard work in the fields. On Pola, the animals are bathed, decorated with colourful beads, bells, and ribbons, and offered special prayers for good health and protection. Farmers participate in processions with their decorated bullocks, and the day is filled with feasting, music, and dances.
Celebrated In: Maharashtra
Main Attraction: Bullock Worship, Processions, Decorated Animals
September festivals in India highlight different traditions, from Maharashtra’s Ganesh Chaturthi processions to Kerala’s Onam feasts. Some are grand and festive, while others focus on prayer and remembrance. Each celebration has its own way of bringing people together. Book with TripXL to experience these unique traditions, rituals, and local celebrations across India.
Cover Photo: Sonika Agarwal / Unsplash
