The wear calendar
99 festivals, weddings seasons and craft days of the year, with what is worn on each. Dates are worked out afresh every day; those marked "about" follow the moon or local calendars and can shift by a day.
February 2027
March 2027
about 9 Mar 2027Eid ul-Fitr in BangladeshAfter Ramadan Bangladesh buys new sarees, jamdani and Tangail cotton, applies henna on Chand Raat and dresses up for Eid.
22 Mar 2027HoliThe spring festival of colours, when people dress in white or old clothes and put on something fresh in the evening.
about 22 Mar 2027Dol Jatra and Basanta UtsavBengal plays Holi as Dol Jatra, and at Santiniketan students in yellow basanti sarees dance in the spring festival begun by Tagore.
about 22 to 26 Mar 2027YaoshangManipur's five day spring festival, with the Thabal Chongba dance, and women in phanek and a light shawl.April 2027
7 Apr 2027UgadiThe new year of Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka, with ugadi pachadi of six tastes and new silk or handloom sarees.
7 Apr 2027Gudi PadwaThe Marathi new year, with a gudi of silk cloth raised at the door and women in nauvari or Paithani.
9 Apr 2027GangaurRajasthan's spring festival of Gauri, with processions of women in bandhani, leheriya and bright lehengas.
about 9 Apr 2027SarhulThe spring festival of Jharkhand's Oraon, Munda and Ho peoples, kept in a white saree with a red border and sal flowers.
about 9 to 11 Apr 2027Shad Suk MynsiemThe Khasi thanksgiving dance of Shillong, in which women wear silk jainsem, gold and silver ornaments and crowns.
about 13 to 14 Apr 2027Sinhala and Tamil New Year (Avurudu)Sri Lanka marks the new year in April at auspicious hours set by the almanac, in new clothes, often an osariya or saree.
about 13 to 16 Apr 2027Thingyan, the Burmese water festivalThe Burmese new year is a water festival, with women in a htamein and floral accessories dancing on the street stages.
about 14 Apr 2027Puthandu (Tamil New Year)The Tamil new year in mid April, with a kolam at the door, temple visits and new silk or cotton sarees.
about 14 Apr 2027Odia New Year (Pana Sankranti)The Odia new year is met with a cooling pana drink, a temple visit and new cotton or silk sarees of Odisha.
about 14 to 16 Apr 2027Khmer New YearCambodia's new year in mid April, with temple visits, water and powder play and silk sampot wrapped skirts.
about 15 Apr 2027VishuThe Malayali new year, opening with the sight of the vishukkani and a gift of new clothes in kasavu or colour.
15 Apr 2027Poila Boishakh in West BengalThe Bengali new year is kept in a white saree with a red border, a visit to the temple and a new account book for the shop.
August 2027
about 3 Aug 2027Aadi PerukkuThe eighteenth day of the Tamil month Aadi, when rivers are thanked for the rains and new clothes are worn.
4 Aug 2027Hariyali TeejThe monsoon Teej of north India, with green sarees, glass bangles, henna and swings hung from trees.
13 Aug 2027Varalakshmi VratamMarried women of the south worship Lakshmi on the Friday before the full moon, in silk sarees with gold jewellery.
about 15 Aug 2027Parsi New Year (Navroze)The Parsi new year in August, when women wear the gara, an embroidered saree with Chinese-influenced motifs.
17 Aug 2027Raksha BandhanSisters tie a rakhi on their brothers' wrists, often in a new saree, and receive a gift in return.
20 Aug 2027Kajari TeejA monsoon Teej kept by women of the Hindi belt with fasting, folk songs called kajari, and festive clothes.
25 Aug 2027Krishna JanmashtamiThe birth of Krishna at midnight, kept with fasting, dahi handi in Maharashtra, and yellow and blue clothes.September 2027
3 Sept 2027Hartalika TeejWomen fast a full day, some without water, in red or green sarees, remembering Parvati's penance to win Shiva.
3 Sept 2027Gowri HabbaKarnataka's festival of the goddess Gowri, the day before Ganesha, with silk sarees and gifts of bagina.
about 3 Sept 2027Teej in NepalNepali women fast and dance in red sarees, with green glass bangles and the pote, for the festival of Teej.
4 Sept 2027Ganesh ChaturthiThe birthday of Ganesha, kept for up to ten days, when Maharashtrian women wear the nine-yard nauvari or a Paithani.
12 Sept 2027OnamThe harvest festival of Kerala: women wear the cream and gold kasavu saree or set-mundu, and a flower carpet is laid at the door.
29 Sept to 7 Oct 2027BathukammaTelangana's flower festival: women stack seasonal blooms into a cone, sing around it, and dress in new sarees.
30 Sept to 8 Oct 2027NavratriNine nights of the goddess, with Garba and Dandiya in Gujarat and a chosen colour for each day in many homes.
30 Sept to 8 Oct 2027Navaratri GoluIn Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states, homes set out tiered displays of dolls and women visit each other in silk sarees.
30 Sept to 9 Oct 2027Mysuru DasaraThe ten-day state festival of Karnataka, ending in a palace procession, with Mysore silk the saree of the season.
about 30 Sept to 14 Oct 2027Dashain in NepalNepal's great festival, with new clothes for all, a red tika from the elders and the saree in red and bright colours.October 2027
about 6 to 9 Oct 2027Durga Puja (Saptami to Dashami)Bengal dresses anew for the four great days of Durga Puja, with tant, Dhakai, garad and Banarasi sarees going from pandal to pandal.
9 Oct 2027Dussehra (Vijayadashami)The tenth day after Navratri, kept as the victory of good over evil, with new clothes and silk sarees for the day.
18 Oct 2027Karva ChauthMarried women in north India fast from sunrise to moonrise in bridal reds, with henna and jewellery.
27 Oct 2027DhanterasThe first day of Diwali, when it is auspicious to buy gold, silver and new things, including a festive saree.
about 27 to 31 Oct 2027Tihar in NepalThe Nepali festival of lights, with lamps for Lakshmi, offerings to crows, dogs and cows, and the tika between brothers and sisters.
29 Oct 2027DiwaliThe festival of lights: new clothes, lamps and Lakshmi puja, with silk and zari sarees bought for the season.
about 29 Oct 2027Deepavali in Singapore and MalaysiaA public holiday in Singapore and Malaysia, kept in new sarees and punjabi suits, with lights along Serangoon Road.
about 29 Oct 2027Diwali in LeicesterLeicester holds one of the largest Diwali celebrations outside India, and the sari shops of Belgrave Road are at their busiest.
about 30 Oct 2027Gujarati New Year (Bestu Varas)The first day of the Vikram Samvat year for Gujaratis, kept the day after Diwali, with new clothes and bandhani or Patan patola.
31 Oct 2027Bhai DoojSisters mark their brothers' foreheads with tilak and pray for them, and wear new clothes for the visit.
about 31 Oct 2027Bhai PhontaBengali sisters mark their brothers with a phonta of sandal paste, and the brothers give gifts, often a saree.Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Navratri: Mukerjee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Navaratri Golu: Ksiva21, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mysuru Dasara: Kalyan Kumar, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Dussehra: DiplomatTesterMan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bathukamma: Randhirreddy at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Diwali: Kalli navya, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dhanteras: The original uploader was F16 at Hebrew Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bhai Dooj: SandeshLamsalNepal, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Karva Chauth: Iamwiki001, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Akshaya Tritiya: Fgndgndgnr, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hariyali Teej: Ganesh Paudel at ne.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Raksha Bandhan: Suyash.dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ganesh Chaturthi: Original uploader was MatthieuMoy at fr.wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, source
- Krishna Janmashtami: Nvvchar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Varalakshmi Vratam: B.saketh, Attribution, source
- Onam: Jiteshgt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vishu: Vishnu Kunnathully, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Puthandu: Amila Tennakoon, CC BY 2.0, source
- Karthigai Deepam: SriniG, Public domain, source
- Holi: Jitenderasingh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vasant Panchami: Nitin Das, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gangaur: Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ugadi: Kalyan Kanuri, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Gudi Padwa: Abhijit Tembhekar, CC BY 2.0, source
- Aadi Perukku: Peenumx, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Eid Ul Fitr India: Mohammed Tawsif Salam, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Durga Puja Bengal: Subhrajyoti07, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dol Jatra Santiniketan: Satyabrata sahoo369, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Poila Boishakh West Bengal: Abidhasan00, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Raja Parba Odisha: Saroj Bal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Odia New Year Pana Sankranti: Goutama, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sarhul Jharkhand: Gurpreet Singh Ranchi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hornbill Festival: Vikramjit Kakati, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yaoshang Manipur: GuruBidya, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dashain Nepal: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Tihar Nepal: Sreekumar K. S., CC BY 2.0, source
- Thingyan Myanmar: Pagan era painter(s), Public domain, source
- Khmer New Year: Sam Sith, CC BY 2.0, source