Holi is a spring
festival and is a festival of colours, celebrated with enthusiasm. It
celebrates the arrival of spring & death of holika, it is a
celebration of joy & hope.
Ramanavmi:
Birthday of Lord Rama, the hero of great epic Ramayana, celebrated as
a day of great piety, with chanting of prayers. Lord Rama was born on
the ninth day of the month of chitra, hence we celebrate his birthday
as a 'Navmi'.
Raksha Bandhan: Festival to honour the Sea God Varuna.
Brother & sister exchange gifts, sisters tie 'rakhis' or
beautifully decorated threads on their brother's wrists. It signifies
the brother's responsability of protecting his sister all her life.
Independence Day:
August 15, commemorates the day in 1947, India's biggest secular
celebration, on the anniversary of her independence from British in
1947. It is celebrated all over the country with meetings &
flag-hosting ceremonies.
Vijayadashami
or Dussehra celebrates the homecoming of Rama the hero of the
epic Ramayana, after his victory over Ravana, the king of
Lanka. In vast open spaces, Ramleela, the folk play with music and
spontaneous dialogues, retelling the story of the life of Rama, are
enacted till the wee hours. People wash their vehicles clean on this
day and decorate the entrances of their homes with torans, flower
studded strings, and worship the tools of trade, vehicles, machinery,
weapons and even books. Sweets are made. As the evening falls, the
villagers cross the border, a ritual known as Simollanghan, and
worship the Shami tree.
Dussehra
is also reminiscent of the end of the exile and banishment of the
Pandava princes in the Mahabharata and their return with their weapons
to reclaim their kingdom. In memory of this epic story, people in
Maharashtra worship the implements of their professions and distribute
the leaves of the Shami tree as gold and express their goodwill.
Diwali
or Deepawali means a row of lights, five day festival to
celebrate Rama and Sita's homecoming in the Ramayana. It signifies the
victory of good over evil. The most beautiful of all Indian festivals,
Diwali is a celebration of lights. Streets are illuminated with
rows of clay lamps and homes are decorated with rangoli (coloured
powder designs) and aakash kandils (decorative lanterns of different
shapes and sizes).
Diwali is celebrated with new clothes, spectacular firecrackers
and a variety of sweets in the company of family and friends.
Dhanatrayodashi; Narakchaturdashi, Amavasya (Laxmi poojan),
Balipratipada and Yamadvitiya (Bhaubeej) are the five days which
comprise Diwali, and each day has a peculiar religious significance.
Christmas began to
be celebrated on 25th December, this festival is for the birth of
Christ, and is widely celebrated all over world. As every where in the
world, in India also the celebration of Christmas has always
been, and continues to be, a season time to spend golden moments with
family and friends, make new resolutions and receive the much coveted
gifts of their choice.
Id-ul-Zuha is one
of the most important festivals of the Muslims. It is called Id-ul-Adha
in Arabic and Bakr-Id in the Indian subcontinent, because of the
tradition of sacrificing a goat, or bakr in Urdu. It is celebrated
from the10th to the 12th day in the month of Dhul Hijjah. The word id
derived from the Arabic iwd means 'festival' and zuha comes from
uzhaiyya which translates to 'sacrifice'.