Hindu farmers across central India have participated in an annual festival to celebrate their livestock by dressing up their bulls with colourful garlands.

The festival of Bail Pola is marked seasonally and was celebrated on August 18 this year, with footage from the city of Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh showing many animals dressed up and decorated for the festival.

Oxen and bulls play an important part in the life of farmers. To thank these animals and to celebrate their hard work, the farmers across Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka celebrate the festival of Bail Pola. The festival of Bail Pola is usually marked after the monsoon sowing and field work, which falls between late August and early September. This year, the festival will be celebrated on Tuesday, August 18.

Pola is a festival in which Indian farmers, especially tribes, those from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharshtra, decorate/prepare their oxen to celebrate their gratitude, so that they can help farmers further in their agriculture. The bull (Oxen) is also a symbol of Nandi, the vehicle of Lord Shiva. This is one of the series of festivals in which hindu people, those who follows Shaivism, worship all beings associated with Lord Shiva. Which begins with the worship of Lord Shiva in the spring (savan), then the worship of Snake (Nag Panchami), the third Nandi worship (Pola), the fourth Ganesh worship (Ganesh Utsav), and finally the worship of all forms of Mata (Navadurga)