SSC
'Bestu Varas', celebrated on the day after Diwali, is the:
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Answer: Option D — Gujarati New Year
Detailed Solution
Bestu Varas (also called Nutan Varsh) is the New Year of the Gujarati community. It is celebrated on the first day of the bright half of the month of Kartika (Kartika Shukla Pratipada), the day after Diwali, in October or November. It is the first day of the new year in the Vikram Samvat calendar followed in Gujarat.
On Bestu Varas, people wake up early, take a bath, wear new clothes and visit temples to pray for a prosperous new year. They greet each other with "Saal Mubarak" or "Nutan Varshabhinandan" (Happy New Year), and younger people seek the blessings of elders. Families visit friends and relatives and exchange sweets and gifts. Homes are decorated with rangoli and lamps. Many people perform the Annakut (mountain of food) offering in temples, presenting a large variety of vegetarian dishes to the deity. The day coincides with Govardhan Puja, celebrated in North India in memory of Lord Krishna lifting the Govardhan hill to protect the people of Vrindavan from the anger of Indra.
For the business community of Gujarat, the New Year is especially important. On Diwali, the day before, traders worship their new account books in a ritual called Chopda Pujan, praying to Goddess Lakshmi for success in the new year, and they begin using the new books from Bestu Varas.
Different communities of India celebrate their New Year on different days:
- Gudi Padwa (Maharashtra and Goa), Ugadi (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka) and Cheti Chand (Sindhis) in Chaitra.
- Puthandu (Tamil Nadu), Vishu (Kerala), Pohela Boishakh (West Bengal), Pana Sankranti (Odisha), Rongali Bihu (Assam) and Baisakhi (Punjab) in mid-April.
- Navreh in Kashmir and Losar in the Himalayan regions.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Marathi New Year is Gudi Padwa, in Chaitra.
- ✗Tamil New Year is Puthandu, in mid-April.
- ✗Bengali New Year is Pohela (Poila) Boishakh, in mid-April.
Quick tip
Remember: Bestu Varas = the Gujarati New Year, the day after Diwali (Kartika Shukla Pratipada), "Saal Mubarak" and Chopda Pujan.
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Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.