The Sherp goes alternative with the idea of βtrippyβ by bringing to you 6 Indian festivals that promise you unique trips of diverse kinds!
For a long time, the word βtrippyβ has been associated with everything that has anything to do with psychedelic festivals, drugs and mind-altering. Whereas The Sherp strongly believes in the idea, that most things can give you the trip, when consumed in the manner most conducive to cultural growth. Today, we have a list of festivals that deliver possible the most trippy experiences to their audience, in the most diverse and unique manner.
Zambhala
A music festival with the backdrop of yoga and wellness, the Zambhala Festival is one that encourages you to experience the trip that is healthful awakening. Zambhala is the true creative pursuit a yoga follower can get. Taking place in Bardo, Panjim in December every year, Zambhala follows an expressive outlook, as it brings together yoga practitioners, healers, artists and musicians together, for a getaway unlike any other. It claims to be Indiaβs largest yoga and spirit festival, with a turnover that hits thousands. The community of Zambhala is niche, as it comes together to promote interaction and belonging.
(Source: Zambhala Facebook)
Ziro Festival of Music
Each year, the Ziro Valley in Arunachal Pradesh witnesses a breathtaking spectacle of music and culture. As the North East graciously invites music enthusiasts from all parts of the country, people explore community gathering, independent, global and homegrown, musical talent, the unexplored cultural diaspora of North East India and the great Indian travel. For those of you who donβt know, the picturesque valley is home to the Apatani community, an agrarian tribe whose relationship with nature is tender and loving. In three years, the festival has been as much about indie music as it has been about the Apatani valley and the people indigenous to it. Local dance and music go hand in hand with bigger artistes; a curious and happy mix, if you will.
(Source: Nicole Alice Photography | North at Zero)
(Source: Nicole Alice Photography | North at Zero)
Jodhpur Riff
For music enthusiasts of the colloquial, itβs rarely bound to get as diverse as Jodhpur Riff. The festival, of which one patron happens to be Mick Jagger of Rolling Stones fame, prides itself on musical synchrony by bringing together exceptional acts from the spectrum that is folk and world music. Acts include little known culturally poignant folk groups from India, to Grammy award winning musicians of global sound systems. Taking place at the unflinchingly beautiful Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, the festival is a wonderful confluence of folk music from around the globe; truly the only festival in India that witnesses interesting jugalbandis, between Indian rhythms and global tunes.
Hill Top Festival
For puritan lovers of the ‘trip,’ Hill Top Festival might be India’s best offing. Psychedelic music finds takers aplenty in India, because the genre itself finds its outtakes from traditional Indian music. And Indiaβs growing stake in psytrance festivals proves just that! Hill Top Festival in Goa is one of the countryβs most intriguingly vibrant psytrance festivals. The festival, so literally called as it takes place on top of a scenic hill at Goaβs Vagator Beach, sees an idiosyncratic gathering of psy music lovers and ravers and is quite the event to be at!
(Source: Hill Top Festival Facebook)
Ragasthan
Rajasthan has always been a hotbed for cultural tourism, with its rich, colourful vibrancy always a draw for foreign tourists. Rajasthanβs deserts too have been a major draw, in that space. Bringing music, folk and independent to Indiaβs great desert is the festival of Ragasthan, which combines the love for traveling, tourism, camping, culture and music to make for a ethereal passage! Ragasthan is India’s passage to a fusion of local and global sentiments, where the charm of the old fits in perfectly well with the appeal of the new, thereby being a cultural experience, hitherto unparalleled.
(Source: Ragasthan Facebook)
Kumbh Mela
The Kumbh Mela is the largest cultural gathering in India, as it brings together devoted pilgrims from all parts of the country and beyond in a vibrant display of religious celebration. The Sherp honestly considers Kumbh Mela as India’s answer to Burning Man, with its scenic location near the ghaats, extensive marijuana usage, offing of spirituality and traditional sartorial choices proving to be benefactors of the idea. The Kumbh is an absolute trip, not just because of the ample opium present, but also because of deeply intensive an experience it can be. There is a great amount of self-reflection that can be experienced at the religious gathering.Β Even if youβre not religious, the cultural poignance of the Kumbh Mela is bound to move you emotionally.
(Source: Porter Yates)
(Source: gqindia)