Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights with its variations also celebrated in other Indian religions. It symbolises the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance". Diwali is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar months of Ashvin and Kartika. In Hinduism it generally lasts five or six days.
Bhai Tika, Bhai Dooj, Bhaubeej, Bhai Phonta or Bhratri Dwitiya is a festival celebrated by Hindus on the second lunar day of the Shukla Paksha of Kartika, the eighth month of the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar or the Shalivahana Shaka calendar. It is celebrated during the Diwali or Tihar festival and Holi festival. The celebrations of this day are similar to the festival of Raksha Bandhan.
Bhil or Bheel is an ethnic group in western India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages.
Gudi Padwa is a spring festival marking the start of the traditional new year primarily for Marathi and Konkani Hindus, but for other Hindus as well. It is celebrated in and around Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu at the start of Chaitra, the first month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar. Padava or paadvo comes from the Sanskrit word pratipada, which is the first day of a lunar fortnight. This festival is observed with colourful floor decorations called rangoli, a special Gudi dvaja, street processions, dancing, and festive foods.
The Marathi people or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a Marathi-speaking state of India in 1960, as part of a nationwide linguistic reorganization of the Indian states. The term "Maratha" is generally used by historians to refer to all Marathi-speaking peoples, irrespective of their caste; however, now it may refer to a Maharashtrian caste known as the Maratha.
Saptashrungi or Saptashringi is a site of Hindu pilgrimage situated 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Nashik in Indian state of Maharashtra. According to Hindu traditions, the goddess Saptashrungi Nivasini dwells within the seven mountain peaks. It is located in Nanduri, Kalwan taluka, a small village near Nashik in India. The Marathas and some Hindu tribes worship the goddess from a long time and some worship as their kuldaivat. There are 510 steps to climb the gad. Devotees visit this place in large numbers every day. The temple is also known popularly as one of the "three and half Shakti Peethas" of Maharashtra. The temple is also one among the 51 Shakti Peethas located on the Indian subcontinent and is a location where one of Sati's limbs, her right arm is reported to have fallen. Its half shaktipeeth among three and half shaktipeeth of Maharashtra.
Dhanteras, also known as Dhanatrayodashi, is the first day that marks the festival of Diwali in most of India.
Banashankari Devi Temple is a Hindu shrine located at Cholachagudda near Badami, in Bagalkot district, Karnataka, India. The temple is popularly called 'Shakambhari' 'Banashankari or Vanashankari' since it is located in the Tilakaaranya forest. The temple deity is also called the Shakambhari, an incarnation of the goddess Parvati.
The Warli or Varli are an indigenous tribe of western India there related ethnic groups are Konkani people, Marathi people. living in mountainous as well as coastal areas along the Maharashtra and Gujarat border and surrounding areas. The Warli have their own animistic beliefs, life, customs and traditions, and as a result of acculturation they have adopted many Hindu beliefs. The Warli speak the unwritten Varli language which belongs to the southern zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. Waralis have sub castes such as Murde varli, Davar varali.
The Banjara are a nomadic ethnic group of India. They may have origins in the Mewar region of what is now the Rajasthan state of India.
The Sikhs are adherents to Sikhism the fifth largest organized religion in the world, with around 25 million adherents. Sikh History is around 500 years and in that time the Sikhs have developed unique expressions of art and culture which are influenced by their faith and synthesize traditions from many other cultures depending on the locality of the adherents of the religion. Sikhism is the only religion that originated in the Punjab region with all other religions coming from outside Punjab. All the Sikh gurus, many saints and many of the martyrs in Sikh history were from Punjab and from the Punjabi people. Punjabi culture and Sikhism are mistakenly considered inseparably intertwined. "Sikh" properly refers to adherents of Sikhism as a religion, strictly not an ethnic group. However, because Sikhism has seldom sought converts, most Sikhs share strong ethno-religious ties as therefore it's a common stereotype that all Sikhs share the same ethnicity. Many countries, such as the U.K., therefore misconcievingly recognize Sikh as a designated ethnicity on their censuses. The American non-profit organization United Sikhs has fought to have Sikh included on the U.S. census as well, arguing that Sikhs "self-identify as an 'ethnic minority'" and believe "that they are more than just a religion".
Maharashtra is the third largest state of India in terms of land area and second largest in terms of population in India. It has a long history of Marathi saints of Varakari religious movement, such as Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Chokhamela, Eknath and Tukaram which forms the one of bases of the culture of Maharashtra or Marathi culture. Maharashtra had huge influence over India under the 17th-century king Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj of the Maratha Empire and his concept of Hindavi Swarajya which translates to self-rule of people.
Bir Kuar or Birkuar, also known as Birnath, is a Hindu god worshipped by Yadavs of western Bihar in India. He is considered to be a form of god Krishna and was born in Krishnaut clan of Ahir. He is worshipped in form of wooden posts that depict him standing arms-akimbo. Bir Kuar is honoured as the protector of cattle.
The Gamit are Adivasi, or indigenous Bhil people of Gujarat, India. They are mainly found in Tapi, Surat, Dang, Bharuch, Valsad and Navsari districts of Gujarat and some parts of Maharashtra. They are included in state list of scheduled tribes.
Koshta are a Hindu caste found in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
The tribal Kukna (Kokna) peoples speak a Kukna dialect and Dhodia peoples speak a Dhodia dialect in parts of Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Here is a list of glossary of Culture of India in alphabetical order:
The culture of the city of Nashik, in northwestern Maharashtra, is centred around Hindu customs and festivals.
Waghoba is an ancient tiger/leopard deity worshipped by a number of tribes in India for centuries. Depending on the region of India, the deity is either described exclusively as a tiger or a leopard as a deity that can take both forms. There are several temples for the deity throughout India.
![Dhodia Female wearing Kachhedo / Dhadku and holding Baaj [ disposable dish made of palash tree leaves] Dhodia girl.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Dhodia_girl.jpg/220px-Dhodia_girl.jpg)
