Dahanu's Festival Calendar: What Happens When

Two reasons to know this. If you want to see the area at its liveliest, come during one. If you want a quiet beach weekend, these are the dates to avoid — accommodation fills and the town gets considerably busier.

A note on dates: most of these follow the lunar calendar and move each year. Months below are reliable; exact dates need checking annually.

Quick calendar

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Chikoo Festival — February, Bordi

The one most outside visitors plan around. Chikoo products and food, local culture, performances and crafts.

The 2025 edition ran 8–9 February; Maharashtra Tourism lists it as an annual February event. Check the current year's dates — they move.

Open to everyone. Book Bordi accommodation early if you're coming for it.

Dahanu Festival — March

A celebration of local culture, heritage, food and tourism. The 2026 edition runs 20–22 March, 10am–10pm.

Public event, and the town gets much busier for it.

Mahalaxmi Yatra — March/April

The big one. A roughly 15-day yatra beginning around Hanuman Jayanti, at the Mahalaxmi temple near Charoti.

Temple worship, large crowds, stalls, substantial tribal participation and Tarpa dancing. If you want to see living Warli culture rather than a staged version, this is the time.

Visitors are welcome. Expect major crowds, plan transport and accommodation well ahead, and be patient with queues.

Navratri — September/October

The Mahalaxmi temple becomes particularly busy and long queues are likely. Devotional rather than a tourist event, but visitors are welcome.

Village jatras from Gudi Padwa — March/April

Palghar district notes that several Dahanu-area village fairs begin around Gudi Padwa, including at Chinchani, Gholvad, Narpad and Vivalvedhe.

These are mostly locally focused. Visitors can respectfully attend the public parts — just go as a guest rather than as an audience.

Warli, Tarpa and Bhavada traditions

Timing varies village to village. Tribal dances, local deities, processions and rituals.

Some are public celebrations; others are primarily community traditions that happen to be visible. The distinction matters. Don't enter ceremonies, homes or sacred areas for photographs without permission — and if you're unsure which kind of event you've walked into, that's your answer: watch from a distance or move on.

The Mahalaxmi yatra is the most straightforward way to see Tarpa dancing as a visitor, because it's a public festival where outsiders are expected.

Holi — March

Important in the tribal villages, but customs vary a lot between them.

Village Holi is not a tourist spectacle, and shouldn't be treated as one. If you're invited, go. If you're not, enjoy it where you're staying.

Diwali — October/November

Celebrated across Dahanu much as elsewhere. Nothing distinctive enough to make it a reason to travel here specifically.

Parsi observances at Udvada

Udvada's religious calendar matters enormously to the Parsi and Zoroastrian community.

These are not tourist festivals and shouldn't be planned around as though they were. Non-Parsis cannot enter the Atash Behram at any time, and photography restrictions apply throughout the sacred precinct.

Visit Udvada for the town, the architecture and the food. Let the religious calendar belong to the community it belongs to.

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Planning around it

Want the liveliest version of Dahanu? February (Chikoo Festival) or March–April (Dahanu Festival and the Mahalaxmi yatra).

Want it quiet? Avoid those, and avoid Navratri. A weekday outside festival season is about as peaceful as this coast gets.

Either way, book earlier than you think you need to during any of the dates above.

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