Ganesha
According to Puranic stories, Lord Ganesha sports the head of this majestic mammal after his original head was cut off by Lord Shiva.
What is an elephant?
Kicking off worldwide on September 14, 2026, this vibrant ten-day festival celebrates the birth of the elephant-headed deity Ganesha.
What is Ganesh Chaturthi?
Known as the vibrant "Festival of Colors," this spring celebration involves lighting bonfires and throwing brightly colored powders and water.
What is Holi?
Undertaken during the summer months in Odisha, this famous annual event features massive wooden chariots pulling Lord Jagannath through the streets.
What is the Rath Yatra?
In September 2026, the BAPS organization made major headlines by opening a traditional stone temple in this European capital.
What is Paris?
This steamed sweet dumpling made of rice flour, jaggery, and coconut is famously known as Ganesha's favorite food and is cooked in massive batches for his festivals.
What is a modak?
Tracked later in the summer on August 28, 2026, due to an extra lunar leap month (Adhik Maas), this holiday features sisters tying sacred threads around their brothers' wrists.
What is Raksha Bandhan?
Celebrated in August, this holiday honors the bond between brothers and sisters by having sisters tie a sacred protective thread around their brothers' wrists.
What is Raksha Bandhan?
Opening its high-altitude Himalayan gates in late spring, this revered mountain shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva anchors the famous northern circuit.
What is Kedarnath?
Marking its consecration anniversary on July 4, 2026, the Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapati Devasthanam in Queens is one of the oldest traditional temples in this country.
What is the United States (or New York)?
Ganesha is accompanied by a surprisingly small vehicle (vahana): this tiny rodent, which symbolizes his ability to overcome even the smallest obstacles.
What is a mouse (or rat)?
In July 2026, a high-profile Special Investigation Team cleared former general secretary Champat Rai of wrongdoing following a massive scandal over the theft of devotee donations at this landmark temple in Ayodhya.
What is the Ram Mandir (or Ayodhya Ram Temple)?
Celebrated with midnight devotional singing and fasting, this late-summer festival marks the birth of Lord Krishna.
What is Krishna Janmashtami?
In July 2026, the Chaturdas Devata Temple in Agartala hosted the vibrant seven-day worship of fourteen regional deities during this festival.
What is Kharchi Puja?
The 92-year-old spiritual head of BAPS who traveled to France for the 2026 temple opening bears this formal title.
Who is Mahant Swami Maharaj?
In current events, the massive, ten-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival officially kicked off worldwide on this exact date in September 2026.
What is September 14, 2026?
In September 2026, the global organization BAPS conducted the historic consecration of France’s first traditional stone Hindu temple in this specific commune near Paris.
What is Bussy-Saint-Georges?
Held annually in Puri, Odisha, this massive summer event features colossal, newly built wooden chariots carrying Lord Jagannath and his siblings through the streets.
What is the Rath Yatra?
Pilgrims traveling through Jharkhand visit Deoghar to worship at this type of sacred, radiant shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva.
What is a Jyotirlinga?
To verify precise muhurat timings for festival worship while living abroad, Hindu families rely on this traditional astrological calendar.
What is the Panchang?
According to scripture, Ganesha broke off his own tusk to use as a pen so he could continuously write down this massive, ancient Indian epic poem dictated by the sage Vyasa.
What is the Mahabharata?
A private tour by BAPS members at this famous Parisian landmark in September 2026 sparked a worker strike and intense political debate after female staff alleged they were asked to step aside for the group.
What is the Eiffel Tower?
Unique to Tripura, this ancient seven-day royal festival involves the formal worship of fourteen presiding ancestral deities (Chaturdas Devata) inside a specific Agartala temple.
What is Kharchi Puja?
Alongside Yamunotri, this sister mountain shrine marks the high-altitude glacial source of a holy river in Uttarakhand.
What is Gangotri?
Set for early November 2026, this major autumn festival of lights will be celebrated by diaspora communities worldwide with evening lamps.
What is Diwali?