6 Festivals You Can Enjoy In India In June
By: Karishma-H Tue, 11 Mar 2025 1:03:58
India has long embraced the tradition of celebrating its culture with grandeur. Despite June being one of the hottest months, the festivities continue with enthusiasm. Some spiritual celebrations during this time also mark the anticipation of the monsoon season.
# Shimla Summer Festival
Location: Shimla
Date: To be announced
Like many prominent hill stations in India, Shimla hosts a vibrant summer festival to conclude the peak tourist season. This five-day festival, a tradition since the 1960s, features folk dances, music performances, carnival rides, live shows, and more, making it a key cultural event in Himachal Pradesh.
# Uttar Pradesh Mango Festival
Location: Lucknow
Date: June 8 & June 29, 2025
June marks the peak of mango season, and this festival, initiated in 2013, aims to support small farmers. The event includes orchard visits, a farmers’ market, a mango exhibition, a seminar, cultural programs, folk dance and music, a mango-eating contest, and children’s competitions.
# Saga Dawa
Location: Mount Kailash
Date: June 11, 2025
The full moon in June is significant in Buddhism, symbolizing the birth, enlightenment, and passing of Lord Buddha. Tibetan and Mahayana Buddhist communities in Sikkim commemorate Saga Dawa, with the main celebrations held at Tsuklakhang Monastery. A grand procession of monks and the tradition of lighting butter lamps in homes add to the spiritual essence of the festival.
# Puri Ratha Yatra
Location: Puri Jagannath Temple, Odisha
Date: June 27 – July 5, 2025
The Ratha Yatra, or chariot festival, is an annual event at Puri’s Jagannath Temple. During the festival, the deities—Lord Jagannath and his siblings—are ceremoniously taken to the Gundicha Mata Temple in grand chariots. The celebrations, inspired by Lord Krishna’s journey from Gokul to Mathura, include religious rituals, folk performances, carnival rides, exhibitions, and shopping stalls. The return procession is equally magnificent.
# Sindhu Darshan Festival
Location: Ladakh
Date: June 23–27, 2025
Celebrated on the banks of the Sindhu (Indus) River, this three-day festival highlights the region’s cultural unity and acknowledges the river’s significance in India’s history. The event features folk performances, traditional music, and a unique ritual where water from different rivers across the country is ceremoniously poured into the Sindhu River.
# Ambubachi Mela
Location: Kamakhya Temple, Assam
Date: June 2025 (Exact dates to be announced)
A unique festival with deep spiritual and tantric significance, Ambubachi Mela celebrates the annual menstruation cycle of the temple’s presiding goddess. The temple remains closed for three days, reopening on the fourth day with special rituals. The festival is closely associated with fertility and prosperity, and the temple’s spring water is believed to hold divine blessings. Local farming activities also gain momentum during this time.
