The Kumaoni calendar turns on its festivals — sowing and harvest, spring and new year, each with its own rituals, songs and foods.
Seeds sown ten days before, harvested at dawn and placed on the foreheads of the family — Harela is the calendar anchor of Kumaon's ritual year.
On Chaitra Sankranti, young girls collect rhododendron and seasonal flowers at dawn and bless every threshold — the first festival of the Kumaoni new year.
Two forms of Holi — one sung sitting indoors with classical ragas from January, one sung standing in the street. Kumaoni Holi runs for weeks.