Plan your trip · Kausani

What's on in Kausani

Kausani has no big festival of its own, but the Kumaon calendar around it is full. These are the dates that shape a visit.

Nothing dated is confirmed for Kausani right now, so here is the year instead — the fixtures that come round annually, and what each one means for a visit.

The year in Kausani

Kausani's calendar runs through most of the year, with the busiest weeks in the clear, comfortable months and a quieter stretch in the heaviest rain. Broadly, Oct – Mar and Apr – Jun is when visiting is most comfortable here, and that is when the calendar is busiest — which also means accommodation is most expensive and books furthest ahead.

Most of these follow lunar calendars and move by weeks from year to year, so treat the windows below as the season rather than the date, and confirm the year’s dates before you book around one.

Nationwide

Diwali

🗓️ October–November

The biggest holiday of the year — lamps, sweets, fireworks and a week of visiting family. Cities are lit up and markets stay open late.

Holi

🗓️ March

Coloured powder and water, thrown at anyone within reach, mostly through the morning.

Navratri and Dussehra

🗓️ September–October

Nine nights of fasting, music and dance, ending with Dussehra. What it looks like changes completely by region — garba in Gujarat, pandals in Bengal, processions in the south.

Eid al-Fitr

🗓️ shifts ~11 days earlier each year

The end of Ramadan. The old quarters of Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Bhopal are at their best in the evenings through the preceding month, when food streets run past midnight.

Makar Sankranti and Pongal

🗓️ mid-January

The harvest turn, marked with kites in the west and north and four days of Pongal in Tamil Nadu.

Uttarayani fair, Bageshwar (January)

The largest fair in this part of Kumaon is held at Bageshwar, about 40 km away, around Makar Sankranti in mid-January. Pilgrims bathe at dawn where the Saryu and Gomti rivers meet, beside the Bagnath temple, and the fair runs for about a week with stalls, music and folk dance. It also has a place in history: in January 1921 it was the scene of the protest that ended forced porter labour, known as coolie begar, in Kumaon. Roads and buses to Bageshwar are crowded that week.

Maha Shivratri (February or March)

The Baijnath temples and Bagnath in Bageshwar draw large crowds for Shivratri, and Baijnath holds a fair over several days. The date follows the lunar calendar; check it for your year.

Kumaoni Holi (February to March)

Holi in Kumaon is known for its songs. In the weeks before the festival, groups gather in homes to sing classical-style Holi songs, and on the days before Holi men and women sing and dance through the villages. It is gentler than Holi in the plains, though you will still get coloured.

Pant's birthday (20 May)

Sumitranandan Pant was born in Kausani on 20 May 1900. His childhood home is now a museum. Ask locally whether any readings or events are planned for the date.

Harela (July)

Harela is Kumaon's festival of the monsoon sowing, held in July. Families sow seeds in small baskets some days before, and on the day the green shoots are placed on heads and in doorways. Many people also plant trees.

Gandhi Jayanti (2 October)

Gandhi's birthday falls at the start of Kausani's clearest season. The Anasakti Ashram, where he stayed in 1929, is the natural place to be. Ask the ashram whether special prayers are planned that year.

Diwali (October or November)

Diwali brings lamps to village homes and falls in the peak season for clear views, so hotels fill up. Book early.

Checking dates

Most of these follow the lunar calendar and shift each year. Confirm dates before you plan around them, and see the best time to visit for weather.

Questions

Kausani — FAQ

When is the Uttarayani fair in Bageshwar?

Around Makar Sankranti in mid-January, with the main bathing day on Sankranti itself. The fair usually lasts about a week.

What is Harela?

A Kumaoni festival in July that marks the monsoon sowing. Families grow seedlings for it and many people plant trees on the day.

Is there anything special in Kausani on Gandhi Jayanti?

The Anasakti Ashram, where Gandhi stayed in 1929, is the focus. Ask the ashram about prayers or events planned that year.