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Date: 21-22 Mar 2006
Reason: Spring festival of color
Learn more about Holi festival at: http://www.hindilearner.com/holi.html

It’s March. It’s springtime. It’s Holi! The time to get drenched in a riot of colours, indulge in festivities and make merry with your loved ones.

Wish you a Happy Holi

Date: 06 Mar 2008
Reason: To remember the marriage of Lord Shiva.

In Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva is considered to be the god of destruction.

It is also accepted that creation and destruction are two sides of natural phenomena by which the nature maintains a fine balance which helps all living as well as non-living organisms in nature to grow and stay healthy.

Maha Shiva-ratri (meaning - the night of mighty Shiva) is celebrated by Hindus to remember the marriage of Lord Shiva with Parvati, the daughter of Himalayas.

In most parts of India, and particularly in Northern part, shiv-bhakts observe fasts, clean up shiv-idols and temples with water from river Ganges (one of the big rivers in North India which is revered for it’s water qualities), and offer prayers to Shiva.

Another practice which has gained prominence is that of ‘Kanwarias’. If you happen to be in anywhere near river Ganges, you will find swarming mass of people wearing red/maroon colored garments walking barefoot, carrying water from Ganges to their native places just prior to Shiva-ratri. Their devotion, enthusiasm, and determination is towards the completion of task is praiseworthy.

This whole celebration is male dominated and females are advised to stay away from shiv-bhakts. Instances of shiv-bhakts misbehaving under influence of bhang/gaanja (extracted from canabbis) is not uncommon.

In essence, it is a mark of respect to all natural forces which govern our everyday life. With the growing concern over global warming and related natural changes taking place, I think it is worth-while to pay a little heed to preserving our natural resources.

Purpose: To give due importance to the power of knowledge and learning.

To be celebrated on: 11 Feb 2008

Basant Panchami marks the arrival of spring season in Indian sub-continent; and is celebrated by all but more so by student community. It’s time for all students to offer prayers to Goddess Saraswati who is considered to be the goddess of wisdom and learning.

She represents “shakti(power)”, “creativity”, and “inspiration”; and presents herself in the form of complacent weather of spring season and natural grandeur of flowers in bloom.

The celebrations are held in most of North Indian states, Bengal and Orisa. Traditionally, we wear dresses of golden yellow color, use flowers of marigold to offer prayers to Goddess Saraswati. Educational institutes too organize Saraswati pooja which is performed with great reverence by students.

So,wish you all some more learning and wisdom till next Basant Panchami.

Makar Sankranti

Makar Sankranti comes when the sun is in the rasi (zodiac sign) known as ‘Makar’ (Capricorn).

This is considered as most auspicious time. It always falls on 14th January.

Makar Sankranti is celebrated all over India, the manner of celebration may differ, but the sanctity of the occasion is accepted by all Hindu as the Surya (sun) moves into the Northern hemisphere known as “Uttrayan”, an auspicious time.

Lohri
Lohri is a harvest festival of northern India. It is celebrated on the 13th of January every year. Crops, such as wheat, are planted in October and harvested around March or April. January is when the fields begin to show signs of a good harvest and farmers celebrate Lohri before the cutting and gathering of crops. Lohri is thanking God for a good crop and thanking the Sun God for bringing warmth.

To celebrate Lohri, usually a bonfire is lit in the evening and it is considered holy to walk around the fire.

Lohri is one of the most zestful festivals of Punjab. It always falls on 13th January. It is essentially a festival of the farmers of Punjab.

On this occasion the young women have a field day & get intricate mehndi decorated on their hands and feet. They buy colourful bangles, bindis & garments. “Salwar Kamees as Ghaghras” are the favoured clothes for this day.

Food served during Lohri is non-veg. All sons & daughters-in-law of the house get together to celebrate, eat together & dance the Bhangra & Gidda.

Pongal

Pongal is most important festival of Tamilians. This is an harvest festival honouring the sun god & Indra, the god of rain. The festival is celebrated for four days which starts from 13th Jan.

Few days prior to Pongal Festival, every house is cleaned, whitewashed & dusted.

First day is dedicated to Lord Indra, which is also calked as ‘Bhogi’,

Second day is known as ‘Thai’, an this day the outside of the house is decorated with mango leaves. The ‘rangoli’ is prepared with the outline in white flour. Later the outlines are filled with colourful powder. New clothes are donned on this day after early bath.

The third day is dedicated to cow & bulls. The horns of cows & bulls decorated with ‘haldi’ & ‘kum kum’, small bells are field around their necks. Then they are paraded along the streets.

The fourth and last day is for relaxation, nothing new is started on this day as it is believed to be inauspicious day.

Diwali falls just after monsoons are over in Indian region. It is a opportune time to clean up our houses and surroundings. This is a major task undertaken by all.

As in case of all festivals, wearing traditional outfits adds to the festival spirit. Such outfits can be purchased from most Indian stores.

Sweets and confectioneries of different varieties are next important item to be purchased. It’s a tradition to gift sweets-packets to near and dear ones during this festival.

Diwali - the festival of lights - can not be complete without elaborate arrangements for lighting our places. So we shop for kandeels, earthen diyas, wax candles and fireworks of various kinds - rockets, sprinklers, chakras etc.

Kandeels - lantern made of wooden framework covered with color papers or colored glossy papers - are kept afloat high in front of the houses from the first day of month of Diwali. Kandeels are traditionally built in a crystal shape with tails at the bottom (as in the card sketch above). In recent times, creativity has given way to different shapes such as stars, globes and airplanes. Opaque papers cut into a complex design give more beauty to Kandeels by blocking the light emerging out.

Hindus in earlier days set Kandeels afloat high, a gesture to invite the spirits of their ancestors moving around to come back home and be with them during the festival time. Hence the name AkashaDeepa (lantern of the sky).

A tradition of placing bets (or call it a minor form of gambling) is also followed apparently for fun but indirectly to instill a sense of temporary nature of all our material possessions. This cultural tradition enables one to cope up with financial setbacks with calm and courage.

After fun and festivities, it’s time to get back to work with renewed vigor and a resolve to perform better which gets manifested in cleaning, maintenance and repair of tools of profession by most Indians.