Naag Panchami is being celebrated in Dogra households today. Figures of serpents adorn walls and special Dogra delicacies such as babroo, deliya, maal pude, rutt and keyur are cooked up. People also visit temples dedicated to Naag Devta.

Celebrated every year in the sacred city of Varanasi, this festival marks Lord Shiva’s victory over the demon Tripurasur and is celebrated after 15 days of Diwali. It is also known as Tripurotsav and is observed on the day of Kartik Purnima.

Today is MahaShivratri, the most auspicious festival of my homeland, Jammu & Kashmir. My mother, a Lord Shiva devotee, has regaled us with many stories of Bhole Nath. Her stories of Shiva taught me how our festivals are always closely linked with nature. Even our gods and goddesses were found in nature.

Mage Porob, held between January and April, extends through several days. On the first day of Guri porob, homes are thoroughly cleaned with cow dung. This is followed by worshipping of cattle and insects, a dip in the river, feasting, bonfires and cultural performances.

Thanks to the strong will of a bureaucrat and the villagers to provide green cover to a barren plot of land, around an acre of in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district has been modified into a ‘micro-forest’.

Dance, music and worship make up the celebrations in rural Arunachal Pradesh as the Galo tribal community offer thanks to its gods for a good harvest, at the annual Mopin Festival held on April 5.

Sultaniya village in Rajgarh wakes up the day after Diwali to ‘Chhoda Utsav’, reminiscent of the bullfighting in far away Spain or perhaps the Jallikattu of Tamil Nadu.

Present-day festivities are limited by the modern urban life experiences whereas traditionally, festivals in India took an individual to the community and were varied and numerous in their modes of celebrations spread over a fortnight

Despite being launched, it is highly unlikely that the politicians will be able to execute Ayushman scheme successfully. The success of the scheme will hinge upon hospitals, doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and pharmacists, who often abandon patients and go on strikes

Artists recognise no barriers of caste, creed or colour. And Noya village in West Bengal, made up entirely of Muslim Pattachitra artists, stands testimony to this as its nearly 300 inhabitants continue to tell stories of Hindu Gods and Goddesses through their beautiful cloth-based scroll paintings.