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January 15, 2018 Events and Festivals, India

Modhera Dance Festival- Explore the Rich Culture of Gujarat

India is such a diverse country, full of festivals and known for its rich culture. One of the major ways to express its diversity is through its dance. There are umpteen numbers of dance forms are in India differ from state to state.

However, Modhera Dance Festival is one of its kinds. This dance form is originated from Gujarat.

Modhera Dance Festival

Vibrant Gujarat is popular for its colorful dance form and different festivals held there each year. Modhera Dance Festival is a three-day festival of Indian classical dance. One can enjoy these dance forms in the setting in which they were originally performed. Gujarat is known as the land of festivals and cultures. This festival is the best place to explore the traditional and exclusive Gujarati dance and songs. The Ravechi Fair held each September takes place at the Ravechi Mata temple. It is estimated that over 30,000 visitors arrive in Gujarat just to attend the Ravechi Fair. This exclusive dance festival will be happening from 19- 21 January 2018.

The sun temple at Modhera creates an exuberant atmosphere at night and the festival flaunts the glory of that era. This unique place highlights the traditional dance form of the place significantly. This dance form brings the traditional culture of the place together. This place is famous for its fantastic festivals. Modhera is the temple of the sun and the space of the temple acts as a grandiose for the dance performance. The performers bring the rich culture of the place through their dance. The dancers bring life to the place and the three-day festival is organized by the Gujarat tourism.

Modhera Dance Festival, Gujarat — Image credit Flickr

This dance festival is dedicated to Lord Surya and the main aim of the dance form is to bring the classical dance form to the limelight. This famous festival is held every year in the month of January. The sun temple of Modhera is an amazing temple, specially designed such a way that the first rays of the sun illuminate the deity in the temple. This temple embellishes with all kinds of lights and displays as the backdrop during the classical dance festival. Find the marvelous Modhera dance festival this year in Gujarat and attaining the festival you will know more about the rich culture of the place. This festival attracts international and national vacationers every year and the alluring dance festival is becoming more popular day by day.

You may like to read Uttarayan Kite Festival-14th January

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January 11, 2018 Events and Festivals, India

Uttarayan Kite Festival-14th January

The vibrant state of Gujarat, which is a cauldron of various cultures, traditions, and colors, people of the state soak themselves in the enthusiasm of the Uttarayan, the day of the International Kite Festival. People of all age groups find themselves awake and soaring their kites high in the sky since early morning on this day.

The International Kite Festival is held in Ahmedabad every year to coincide with the festival of Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti. Uttarayan is one of the most important festivals for us Indians, as this day marks the change of the winter season to summer and signifies harvest season for farmers. This festival is much eagerly awaited and is celebrated with enthusiasm and fervor by the Gujarati community. Many visitors from across the world visit Gujarat during this time to witness and actively participate in this eccentric and kaleidoscopic festivities.

The History of Kite Flying and International Kite Festival

As per history, it is believed that India is the origin of kite flying, once a legacy of the kings and royalties later followed the Nawabs, who found the sport entertaining and show their power and position. Later, which was once a sport for the kings, became a popular phenomenon among the masses. It has been a regional event in Gujarat for quite a long time, however, in 1989, the first International Kite Festival was celebrated, and people from all across the world gathered to showcase their innovations with kites.

Since Gujarat, has served as a stopover and a center of trade activities from the Persian regions, it serves a true place of the cultural blend of the Hindu and Muslim cultures. Though believed that the Persians introduced the idea of flying kites to celebrate Uttarayan, it has been celebrated with great enthusiasm by the people of Gujarat.

You may also like to read The International Kite Festival

A night lit up on Makar Sankranti Uttarayana Festival with Kites and Lights India
Image credit Bhavishya Goel from Gothenburg, Sweden

The celebrations at the International Kite Festival

On this day, people wake up early before sunrise and arrangements start for the making of delectable Gujarati delicacies as an integrated part of the festivity celebrations. Children and male members of the family gather in groups on the rooftops to reserve their places to fly kite throughout the day. Numerous and indigenously different types of kites are flown with kite experts arrive from different parts of the world and especially in Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, the sky is covered with different kind of kites from Box kites to high-speed sports kites to windsocks and hand painted artistic kites. One of the highlights of the celebration which is a delight for visitors is the kite of master kite maker Rahim Bhai of Ahmedabad, whose 500 kites attached on a single string still remains a top attraction of the festival celebrations.

January 8, 2018 Events and Festivals, India

Mumbai Shopping Festival 2018

Maharashtra Government on the lines of the Dubai Festival has organized 20 days of the Mumbai Shopping Festival.

When is it?

The Festival will start on January 12 and will go on until January 31st.

It is time to celebrate your love of shopping. Mumbai Shopping Festival will be launched by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at Jio Gardens, BKC. The closing ceremony on the 31st will be at Gateway of India.

During the festival period, there are discounts and offers given by various brands, hotels, shopping malls, and streets. Many of these setups will remain open late at night during the festival period.

Shopping partners

Access to major malls in the city- High Street Phoenix, Phoenix Market City, Oberoi Mall, Goregoan, R-City Mall, Ghatkopar, Infinity Mall, Malad, Inorbit Mall, Vashi, Grand Central, Seawoods and Viviana Mall, Thane.
Partnering with restaurants, hotels, multi-brand and single-brand retail outlets, department stores, and petrol pumps.

Haiko Mall, Powai, Mumbai Shopping Festival — Westside-Haiko Mall, Powai
Image credit- magicbricks.com

Major supermarkets in the city – DMart, Big Bazaar, Bombay Store, Haiko Supermarket, Nature’s Basket, Reliance Digital, Reliance Mart, Vijay Sales, and Crossword.
General stores, automobile outlets, movie theatres, airline partners, shopping portals
Well-known shopping areas like Colaba Causeway, Fashion Street, and Linking Road will also be part of this festival.

Prizes

Shoppers can participate in the following category prizes-

Who will perform?

Local musicians, Bollywood, upcoming talent, College bands, Rock and Indie pop, Jazz, Rock, Classical, International EDM artists, and other genres.
There will be Musical Shows, Artists’ Events & screenings of popular movies at discounted rates. 500+ performances, music concerts, and music from all genres
Many of the malls, hotels, and retailers have signed up for Mumbai Shopping Festival in January 2018.
Flash mobs will perform at public hangouts to create more hype about the festival.
Every brand gets a chance to customize their flash mob and communicate their brand message through the medium of song and dance.

Night Bazaar

There will be a defined zone where there will be entertainment which would go on until 4 am only on the weekends, ensuring that there are absolutely no disturbances.

Jio Gardens,BKC, Mumbai Shopping Festival — Jio Gardens, BKC, Mumbai
Image credit-justdial.com

13-14^th– Jio Gardens, BKC

Malad, Mumbai Shopping Festival — MINDSPACE MALAD, MUMBAI (MMR)
Image credit-mindspaceindia.com

19-20^th -Mindspace, Malad

26-27^th– Powai

Khau Galli

Many community delicacies at tourist spots will also be the attraction of the Mumbai Shopping Festival. There will be Food Truck zones set up during the weekends. Food Trucks at famous public hangout spots, during the weekend in association with the Food Truck Association Of India (TFTA)

13-14^th -Worli Sea face

19^th-20^th– Mindspace, Malad

26-27^th– Powai

See you at the Mumbai Shopping Festival!