| Several awe-inspiring rituals are performed during the celebrations of temple festivals in Tamil Nadu. The temples are decorated the main deities in holy shrines are beautified with bright colored costumes and valuable jewelery. Chitri Rai Festival, Mahamagam Festival, Deepavali, Navarathiri and Natyanjali Dance Festival are the famous Tamil Nadu India festivals celebrated in century old temples of the state. |
| Festivals in Tamilnadu |
| Pongal Festival
Harvesting festival of Tamil Nadu, Pongal is the most important of all other festivals. The Pongal Festival is celebrated for four consecutive days. During celebrations, people offer prayers in honour of Sun God, Air, Water, and Earth for a good crop and prosperity. They cook a meal called 'Pongal', made of rice, milk and jaggery. |
| Natyanjali Dance Festival |
| Natyanjali Dance Festival has a great religious significance, dedicated to Lord Shiva in the form of Nataraja, 'The Cosmic Dancer'. The festival is falls in the month of February in the temple city of Chidambaram. Natyanjali Dance festival attracts famous and excellent classical dancers as well as young performers. |
| Karthigai Deepam |
| Karthigai Deepam Festival is the festival of lights. During this nine days of extravaganza, all the houses are illuminated with many lights and lamps. Beautiful processions of many deities are organized during the celebrations. |
| Jallikatu Bull Fight |
| Jallikatu Bull Festival is celebrated on the 4th day of Pongal, in Tiruchirapalli . People tie bundles of money on horns of violent bulls and they try to snatch it from there. |
| Music & Dance Festival, Chennai |
| Music and Dance festival is one of the most famous cultural festivals held in Chennai. The festival attracts large number of performers |
| Vinayaka Chathurthi |
Vinayaka Chathurthi is celebrated in many parts of the country. The rituals and method of celebrations in each part of the country is different. The festival dedicated to Lord Ganapathi and is celebrated in the month of September - October. |
| Navarathiri |
| The festival of Nine nights, Navarathiri is celebrated with great enthusiasm and zeal. During these nine days Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess Durga and Goddess Saraswathi are worshipped for health, wealth and knowledge. |
| Deepavali |
| Deepavali festival symbolises the triumph of good over evil. During the celebrations, people light up their houses with lamps and lights and burn crackers. |
| Saraswathi Pooja |
| The festival is celebrated in the honour of Saraswathi - the Goddess of arts and letters. Educational institutions and academies of art take a lively interest in these celebrations. The goddess is invoked in every home and hearth during the celebrations. |
| Chitri Rai Festival |
| The festival is held in the famous Madurai Temples and lasts for 10 days during the Tamil month of chithirai Major attractions is the procession of lord kallazhagar otherwise known as lord Vishnu from Azhagarkoil to give away his sister goddess Meenakshi, in Marriage to Lord Sundareswarar |
| Mahamagam Festival |
| A holy festival that will bring you to Kumbakonam once in 12 years - the temple city that gets its name from "Kumbha" - the divine pot. Legends believe that Brahma, the Creator, held a pot containing nectar and the seed of creation and Shiva in the form of a hunter shot an arrow at the pot - spilling the nectar into the famous Mahamagam tank at the Adi Kumbeswarar Temple. |
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