Shravana (month)

The month of Shravana is very important for the entire Indian subcontinent, as it is connected to the arrival of the south-west monsoons.

Devotees observe various rituals and practices during this time to seek blessings and spiritual growth.

In the coastal regions of Maharashtra i.e. Konkan, a coconut is offered to the sea for calming it down after the monsoon season.

[clarification needed] In southern and central parts of India including Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Odisha, Shravana Purnima day is when many communities perform the rituals of Avani Avittam or Upakarma.

Various kinds of country-made cakes called pitha and sweets, mitha, are made and distributed within families, relatives and friends.

Brahmins perform the sacred thread changing ceremony on this day and it is also known as Yajurveda Nutanasahitha Upakarma.

[22][23] In Haryana and Punjab, in addition to celebrating Raksha Bandhan, people observe the festival of Salono.

[27] In Haryana, the festival of Salono also involves sisters tying threads on brothers to ward off evil.

It is celebrated in Maharashtra to acknowledge the importance of bulls and oxen, who are a crucial part of agriculture and farming activities.

Shravani Mela is a major festival time at Deoghar in Jharkhand with thousands of saffron-clad pilgrims bringing holy water around 100 km on foot from the Ganges at Sultanganj, Bihar.

[31] Shravana is also the time of the annual Kanwar Yatra, the annual pilgrimage of devotees of Shiva, known as Kanwaria make to Hindu pilgrimage places of Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand to fetch holy waters of Ganges River[32] Hindu saint Guru Raghavendra Swami, who advocated Madhvacharya's Dvaita philosophy, achieved Videha Mukti on Sraavana Bahula Dwitiya in 1671.

In Hindustani classical music, many songs are themed around Radha and Krishna during the rainy season, and also Bollywood songs, e.g., Sawan ki Ritu Aai, Sawan ka Mahina Pawan kare Sor' and 'Rim jhim gire Saawan'.

During Shravana, the Hindu community in the regions of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka practice a vegetarian diet.