Last updated August 6, 2026
Back to all festivalsHarela
July (Shravan month)10 days
An agricultural festival celebrating the sowing season
Cultural Significance
Marks the beginning of the rainy season and agricultural activities. Seeds are sown in baskets as a symbol of good harvest.
Celebrations & Activities
- 1Sowing seeds in baskets
- 2Cutting the grown shoots after 10 days
- 3Placing shoots in hair and behind ears
- 4Traditional songs and prayers for good harvest
Traditional Rituals
- •Five to seven kinds of seeds are sown in baskets ten days before the festival and kept in a dark room
- •On Harela day, the yellow-green shoots are cut and offered to family deities
- •Elders place shoots behind the ears and in the hair of younger family members as a blessing
Mythology
Harela — literally "day of green" — marks the start of the Shravan month and is associated with Lord Shiva; the sown and sprouted shoots symbolize the greening of the earth at the onset of the monsoon and are treated as a living blessing for a good harvest, distinct from any single scriptural origin story.
Regional Variations
Harela is more prominently observed in Kumaon than in Garhwal, and is also treated as a day for tree-planting and environmental awareness in modern Uttarakhand, with government offices and schools often holding plantation drives to mark the occasion.
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