|
Others
Indian Fairs & Festivals |
|
- Holi
Holi continues to be celebrated with great
vigour through out India. Countless Hindi films have brought the
vibrant colours of the festival to the screen. Indians all over the
world eagerly await the Festival of Colours, as bonfires are lit to
banish the cold dark nights of winter and usher in warmer spring.
Dhuleti, day after Holi, is the actual festival of colours, when
everything in sight is covered in a riot of colours. Celebrations
start a week earlier than rest of India. Men of Nandagow raid
Barsana with hopes of raising their flag over Shri Radhikaji's
temple. They receive a thunderous welcome as the women of Barsana
greet them with long wooden sticks. The men are soundly beaten as
they attempt to rush through town to reach the relative safety of
Shri Radhikaji's temple. Men are well padded as they are not allowed
to retaliate. In this mock battle the men try their best not to be
captured. Unlucky captives can be forcefully lead away, thrashed and
dressed in female attire before being made to dance!!
Holi
ranks as the most colourful. It celebrates the arrival of spring and
death of demoness Holika, it is a celebration of joy and hope. Holi
provides a refreshing respite from the mundane norms as people from
all walks of life enjoy themselves. In a tight knit community, it
also provided a good excuse for letting off some steam and settling
old scores, without causing physical injury.
- Ladakh Festival
Ladakh
Festival The blend of various cultures of Central Asian, Tibetan,
Northern India are found in Ladakh.The duration of Ladakh festival
is of 15 days i.e From the 1st to the 15th of September.Various
sports such as polo and archery are conducted. Folk dances and
songs, its age-old social And cultural ceremonies, its art and
handicrafts, all come alive in a colorful kaleidoscope.
- Teej
Teej is one of the most
important festivals celebrated in Rajasthan. After the scorching
heat of summer months, Teej welcomes the monsoon showers in
Rajasthan. Teej is celebrated in the month of July-August and is an
important festival of the womenfolk of Rajasthan. The festival marks
the onset of festive season in Rajasthan. Teej is celebrated with
all the gusto and fervour in Jaipur. If you are in Jaipur during
Teej festival, you can see young girls and married women dressed in
their best clothes. Teej is primarily women's festival and women
pray to Goddess Paravati during this festival. There is a mythical
legend attached to Teej festival and it is believed that after years
of penance, Goddess Parvati was united with Lord Shiva on Teej. On
the day of Teej festival, married women pray for the well being of
their husbands and martial bliss.
- Elephant Festival
The
Elephant Festival is a unique event held annually in Jaipur, the
capital of Rajasthan. Groomed to perfection, glittering in gold, row
upon row of elephants catwalk before an enthralled audience. The
elephants move gracefully in procession, run races, play the regal
game of polo, and finally participate in the spring festival of
Holi. It is festival time for the elephants.
- Dussehra Kullu
Dussehra
of Kullu has got its own significance. Dussehra at Kullu commences
on the tenth day of the rising moon, i.e, on 'Vijaya Dashmi' day
itself and continues for seven days. There is no 'retelling' of the
Ramayana. On the first day, the idol of Raghunathji saddle on a
gaily attired chariot and attended to by village gods mounted in
cofourfuI planquins, is pulled from its fixed place in Dhalpur
Maidan to another spot across the Maidan by big ropes. The pulling
of ropes is regarded sacred by the local people. This forms a huge
procession. All the gods of the valley have to visit Kullu on
Dussehra in order to pay their homage to Raghunathji. On the
following days in the mornings and evenings the gods are invoked and
paraded. The people remain busy buying, selling, singing and dancing
during all the seven days of the festival which concludes with the
burning of Lanka.
- Diwali Festival
Deepavali or
Diwali, is one of the most popular festivals of India and of Hindus.
It is also one of the most eagerly awaited festivals in the Indian
subcontinent. Business men and commercial establishments, consider
it as an opportunity to boost their sales and increase profits,
while individuals use the occasion to celebrate life and strengthen
relationships. For children it is a great opportunity to experience
the joys of growing up and get acquainted with all types of fire
crackers. It comes in the Hindu month of Ashwayuja, (also known as
Ashwin or Aippasi), as per the lunar calendar and corresponds
roughly with either October or November depending upon the movement
of the sun and the moon and their relative positions in space and
time.
- The first day of the festival is known as Dhanteras or
Dhantrayodashi. Dhan means wealth and Trayodashi means 13th day.
- The second day of the festival is known as Naraka Chaturdasi.
Narak means purgatory or hell and chaturdasi means the
fourteenth day).
- The actual Diwali is celebrated on the third day of the
festival, when the moon completely wanes and total darkness sets
in the night sky. It is in this darkness, that Diwali finds its
true expression. On this day people worship Lakshmi, the goddess
of wealth and express their gratitude for previous favors.
Usually the pooja is performed both in the morning and again in
the evening when the sun is ready to set or has already set. It
is believed that the Goddess would not visit a devotee's house,
if it is not kept clean and properly lighted. So every one
strives to keep their houses clean, the doors and windows open
and all the lights and lamps glowing brightly. During the
worship, devotes make offerings to Lord Vinayaka and Mother
Goddess also, in addition to the principal deity, with
traditional chants, rituals, purified water, new clothes, fruit
and flowers, sweets, light, sandal paste, incense, rice,
turmeric and vermillion. Money and valuables are placed before
the principal deity during the invocation.
- Christmas
Christians in
India decorate banana or mango trees. They also light small
oil-burning lamps as Christmas decorations and fill their churches
with red flowers. They give presents to family members and
baksheesh, or charity, to the poor people. In India, the poinsettia
is in flower and so the churches are decorated with this brilliant
bloom for the Christmas Midnight Mass. In South India, Christians
put small clay lamps on the rooftops and walls of their houses at
Christmas, just as the Hindus do during their festival called
Diwali.
- Sindu Darshan Festival
Many
rivers and river valleys worldwide have played a significant role in
the evolution, sustaining and development of civilisations. Notable
amongst these are the Nile, Tigris - Euphrates, Sindhu (Indus) and
Hwang Ho-Yang Tse Kyang. Mighty civilisations grew up on the banks
of these great river systems. These rivers not only catalysed the
production of crops but also facilitated their growth of trade by
providing convenient transport lines. The mighty Sindhu (Indus)
River symbolises the power and permanence of the ancient Indian
civilization, which evolved over a period of thousands of years. The
archaeological discovery of the Indus Valley civilization, which
flourished along its banks, has reinforced the antiquity of the
Indian civilisation.
- Kumbh Mela
Kumbha Mela is
the largest religious gathering in the world. According to
astrologers, the 'Kumbh Fair' takes place when the planet Jupiter
enters Aquarius and the Sun enters Aries. Kumbha (Kumbha means pot)
Mela (means fair) is a sacred Hindu pilgrimage that takes place at
the following four locations of India:
- Prayag, Allahabad (in the state of Uttar Pradesh) at the
confluence of three holy rivers - Ganga (Ganges), Yamuna and
Saraswati
- Haridwar (in the state of Uttar Pradesh) where the river
Ganga enters the plains from Himalayas
- Ujjain (in Madhya Pradesh), on the banks of shipra river, and
- Nasik (in Maharashtra) on the banks of Godavari river.
The pilgrimage occurs four times every twelve years, once at
each of the four locations. Each twelve-year cycle includes the Maha
(great) Kumbha Mela at Prayag, attended by millions of people,
making it the largest pilgrimage gathering around the world.
 |
- Best
of Rajasthan Tours (14 Days)
Destinations
Covered : Delhi - Jaipur - Bikaner - Jodhpur -
Jaisalmer - Udaipur - Jaipur
- Char Dham
Yatra (12 Days)
Destinations
Covered : Haridwar - Syana Chatti - Yamunotri -
Uttarkashi - Gangotri - Rudraprayag -Guptakashi -Kedarnath -
Joshimath - Badrinath - Devprayag - Rishikesh - Haridwar - Delhi
|
 |
|
 |
