Cincy MultiFaith Calendar

Navaratri (Hindu)
2025-09-22 - 2025-10-02, 2026-10-11 - 2026-10-20
The festival literally means “nine nights” in Sanskrit and occurs over ten days and nine nights. It is celebrated differently in various parts of India with prayer, elaborate pandals (platforms), fasting, folk dances, displays of dolls, sharing of sweets, and bonfires. The festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil and the restoration of righteousness, accomplished through the victory of the Goddess Durga over the buffalo demon Mahishasura.
More information can be found here.

Dussehra (Hindu)
2025-10-02, 2026-10-21
Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami, Dasara, or Dashain) is a Hindu festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil. It specifically commemorates when Lord Rama killed Ravana, as told in the Hindu epic Ramayana. It is a gazetted holiday in India, which is marked on the 10th and last day of Navratri, according to the Hindu calendar.
Celebrations can include burning effigies of Ravana, setting off fireworks, reenactments of segments of the Ramayana, or processions to bodies of water to dissolve clay images of deities.
More information can be found here.

Diwali (Hindu / Jain)
2025-10-20, 2026-11-08
One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, Diwali symbolizes the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.” Light is a metaphor for knowledge and consciousness. During the celebration, temples, homes, shops and office buildings are brightly illuminated, often with rows (avali) of clay lamps (deepa), for which the festival is named. The preparations and observances typically last five days.
Diwali, also known as Deepawali or Mahavir Nirvana, is of special significance in Jainism, as it also marks the anniversary of Nirvana (final release or liberation) of Mahavir, the 24th and the last Jain Tirthankara. It is celebrated at the same time as the Hindu festival of Diwali or Deepawali.
More information about the Jain celebrations of this holiday can be found here.
More information about Hindu celebrations of this holiday can be found here.

Makar Sankranti (Hindu)
2026-01-14
The festivities associated with Makar Sankranti are known by various names in different parts of India and the Hindu world. Names include Magh Bihu, Maghi (preceded by Lohri), Thai Pongal and so on. It also marks the day of Winter Solstice as per the Hindu tradition.
Makara Sankranti is observed with social festivities such as colorful decorations, rural children going house to house, singing and asking for treats in some areas , melas(fairs), dances, kite flying, bonfires and feasts. The Magha Mela is mentioned in the Hindu epic Mahabharat. Many observers go to sacred rivers or lakes and bathe in a ceremony of thanks to the sun. Every twelve years (marking one complete revolution of Jupiter around the Sun) the Hindus observe Makar Sankranti with one of the world’s largest mass pilgrimages, with an estimated 40 to 100 million people attending the event. At this event, then they say a prayer to the sun and bathe at the Prayaga confluence of the River Ganga and River Yamuna at the Kumbha Mela.
More information can be found here and here.

Holi (Hindu)
2026-03-02
This is the “festival of colors” or the “festival of love.” Holi signifies the victory of good over evil and the arrival of spring. It is also celebrated as a thanksgiving for a good harvest. People celebrate this day by meeting together and tossing colored powders or colored water on each other.
More information can be found here.

Puthandu (Hindu)
2026-04-14
Today is Puthandu (also called Puthuvarudam or Tamil New Year). Many Hindus consider today the solar new year and mark the occasion by thanking God/Universe for another new year and new beginnings.
Traditional celebrations include an elaborate feast with 6 different tastes – sweet, sour, spice (hot), salt, bitter and ‘thuvarpu’ (like Umami). This is to symbolize that our life is filled with different experiences and emotions and remember to embrace and enjoy them all. Celebrants will typically make one dish with all of these tastes in it. The recipe is all about balancing each of the ingredients, like the recipe to a balanced life.
You can learn more about this holiday here.
Traditional Tamil greetings include: “Puthāaṇdu vāazhthugal!” or “Iṉiya puthaandu nalvāazhthugal!”, which is equivalent to “Happy new year”.

Annual Tribute to Vivekananda (Vedanta)
2026-07-04
July 4th marks the annual tribute to Vivekananda.
Learn More:
https://vedantasociety.net/vivekananda

Raksha Bandham (Hindu)
2026-08-28
Also called Rakhi or Rakhi Purnima, this day celebrates the bonds between sisters and brothers. Sisters of all ages tie a sacred thread, called the rakhi, around the wrists of their brothers, symbolically protecting them, and in return they receive a gift from their brothers. Traditionally, brothers also promise to take a share of the responsibility for ensuring the well-being of their sisters.
More information can be found here and here.
