5 ecotourism festivals in India that worship nature

Festivals form an important part of Indian culture, heritage, tradition, and biodiversity. Many of these festivals are attached to nature and celebrate the environment and harvest times. These festivals increase awareness among people about climate change and environmental damage and inspire them to celebrate and worship nature. Here are five popular Indian festivals that have emerged out of ecological roots to celebrate nature.

A well-renowned ecological festival in India, Van Mahotsav was started in 1950 by KM Munshi, the then Union Minister for Agriculture and Food in an attempt to encourage forest conservation and planting trees. This one-week festival is celebrated from July 1-July 7. The event organizes several plantation drives for citizens. Every Indian citizen is expected to plant a sapling on this day.

Held in Panaji, Goa, the Konkan Fruit Festival is organized in April by the botanical society of the state. The festival celebrates the lesser-known and rare fruits of the Konkan and features local and exotic fruits and their seeds and saplings for sale by local farmers. It also organizes several fruit-based competitions. The festival was started in 2003 to preserve Goa's endangered food diversity.

Celebrated at Talakaveri in Kodagu district, Karnataka during the Kodava month of Toleyar in October, Kaveri Sankaramana celebrates and worships the Kaveri River which is the major source of water for electricity, drinking, and agriculture. The festival is usually celebrated in agricultural fields and temples in the state. During worship, devotees dress a vegetable in clothes and jewelry to honor the river.

Celebrated in the coastal town of Maharashtra every year, the Dahanu festival is organized by the Dahanu Municipal Corporation to promote sustainable tourism and local culture. The event also celebrates the agriculture of the land which comprises large hectares of palm trees, chikoo farms, and rose plants. Usually celebrated in March, the festival features boat rides, village tours, and chikoo safaris for visitors.

Started in 2001 by the Deccan Development Society (an agriculture-based NGO), the Mobile Biodiversity Festival in Telangana is a month-long moving festival that is known as one of the longest cultural campaigns in the voluntary sector of India. The festival features bullock carts filled with local seeds that move around 28 villages of Hyderabad in one month. It takes place between January and February.