India is pre-dominantly a Hindu country and a large number of Hindu festivals are celebrated across the nation. The largest Hindu festival is Diwali - the festival of lights.Diwali festival, India is celebrated throughout the nation in different ways and patterns. However, there are certain rituals and traditions associated with Diwali that are commonly followed throughout the country. The festival is celebrated in the months of October or November and marks the defeat of evil Ravana at the hands of Lord Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The festival is celebrated for five consecutive days and also marks the end of Narkasura at the hands Lord Krishna. The festival is mainly celebrated to mark the end of the evil and disperse darkness and spread the light of peace, goodwill and knowledge.
Diwali also consists of Lakshmi Puja, wherein Goddess Lakshmi, the deity of power, prosperity and wealth is worshiped.Diwali festival, India is more than just a Hindu festival and has cut religious boundaries to be celebrated at a national level. For Diwali, people clean their homes and adorn them with bright and colorful lanterns of various shapes and sizes. The homes are also adorned with numerous oil lamps and other colorful electric lights, which illuminate the homes and make them, look very pretty. One of the major attractions of Diwali is the firecrackers and aerial fireworks, which are especially popular among children and youngsters. It is the time when families indulge in shopping for new clothes, appliances and other home decor. The magnitude of the festival has grown in size and the festival is now celebrated even in different countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and several other countries. Dussehra Janmashtami Makar sankaranti/ Basant panchami Independence day
Dussehra is one of such festivals that commands immense popularity all over the country and thus earns a public holiday. Dussehra is a Hindu festival celebrated during the month of September and October.
Dussehra Festival, India is celebrated to mark the victory of good over the evil. The celebration is based on the mythology that Goddess Durga won over the demon Mahishasura somewhere in the southern parts of India. Another mythology attached to the Dussehra is the victory of Lord Rama over the demon Ravana because he abducted his wife Sita. Thus from ages the festival is celebrated with equal zeal as it was there with the victorious. The festival is also called as "Vijayadashami" because this word signifies victory in the Sanskrit language.
Dussehra festival, India follows the ten-day Navratri festival. The Navratri festival is marked in different style in different parts of India. Generally in many parts of India this festival see worshipping of various forms of Goddess Durga. The culmination of the ten-day festival results in the Dussehra. On this day the idol of the goddess is drowned in the local water body. The other important part of the celebration is the burning of the effigy of the demon Ravana. In the interiors of the country the countrymen stage a show called Ram Leela. Generally the actors of this show enact the story of Ram fighting against Ravana and emerging victorious.Dussehra Festival, India is one of the biggest festivals celebrated all over the country with almost all the regions participating. It brings along joy and happiness for all and sundry.
Makar Sankranti is a festival of India that comes on January 14 every year. Sankranti is spelled and pronounced as Sankranthi in South India. Hence it is called Makar Sankranthi in South India. The Hub pages also spell it as Makar Sankranthi.Makar is a rashi (Zodiac) and Sankranti means transition. Hence, Makar Sankranti means transition of the Sun from the zodiac Makar. People go to Ganga sagar near Kolkata, West Bengal, to take a bath on Makar Sankranti. Kumbh Mela also starts on the day of Makar Sankranti and people go for bath in holy Ganga. Large numbers of people are expected to assemble in Haridwar this year for Kumbh bath on January 14, 2010, the day of Makar Sankranti. Kumbh Mela will start from Makar Sankranti at Haridwar.
Makar Sankranti is also a kite flying festival or kite festival in many parts of India. Gujarat and Jaipur in Rajasthan is famous for their kite festivals. Jaipur organizes international kite festival every year. Makar Sankranti is a popular word in Rajasthan where as Utran (derived from Uttarayan in Sanskrit language) is in Gujarat. Basant Panchami is also popular for kite festival in some places of India. Kolkata celebrates kite festival on Vishwakarma puja but not on Makar Sankranti.Kite is called Patang in Hindi language. Hence the festival is also referred as Patang utsav in India. Patang is also called guddi in many places in northern India. Special type of thread is used to fly kites and that is called Manjha.
Janmashtami is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Krishna. It is a sacred, holy and important day for the Hindu. Krishna Janmashtami is observed on the Ashthmi, the eighth day of the dark half or Krishnapaksh of the month of Shravan in the Hindu calendar. Janmashtami usually falls in the mid of August or the early September. One of the biggest religious festivals in the world, Janmashtami is celebrated by nine hundred and thirty million people around the world--and two million in the US alone.
The devotees visit to temple at the night and offer devotions to lord Krishna. The celebrations are spiced up with the Krishna Raslila. It is represented as dramatic enactments of the life of Krishna in regions of Mathura and Varindhavan. Some places even practice the Dahihandi tradition. Lord Krishna was a mischievous child and he loved to eat butter even if he can steal it in his childhood so people in some areas hung up a matki filled with butter on a rope and a human group/ pyramid is formed to break that matki. This celebration is really a fun to watch.
Temples look impressive with full of lights and decoration. In the temple everybody do Kirtan and sing songs of lord Krishna like prayer. In some areas, devotees cook meal of over one hundred dishes, while others perform drama and dance. Some clothe and decorate the deity of Krishna while others string enormous flower garlands and other decorations for the temple. Incense burns, scriptures are read. In most of the roads or in temple, children can play with dramatic drama and people come out from home and see them.
India is a nation with a very rich historic background. The Independence Day, India (Swatantrata Divas) is celebrated on the 15th August to commemorate its independence from the 150 years British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation on that day in 1947. It is one of the 3 national holidays in the country. Flag hoisting and distribution of sweets is done all over the country. This is a proud day for the Indians. The prime minister raises the national flag at the Red Fort in New Delhi, and delivers a nationally televised speech from its ramparts, which is viewed by millions of nationals. He highlights achievements of the government, important issues and gives a call for further development through his speech. On third June, Lord Mountbatten announced the partitioning of the British Empire into an India and Pakistan under the Independence Day, India act 1947. At the stroke of midnight 1947, India became an independent nation, which was preceded by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's spine chiller speech titled Tryst with destiny.
Celebrations: In the capital New Delhi most of the Government Offices are lit up. Flag hoisting ceremonies and cultural programs take place in all the state capitals. In the cities around the country the Flag Hoisting Ceremony is done by politicians belonging to that constituency. Schools and colleges around the country organize flag hoisting ceremony and various cultural activities within their respective premises. Housing colonies, cultural centers, clubs and societies hold entertainment programmers and competitions, usually based on the freedom theme. Most of all is that the people flu colorful kites in the sky. It is a long traditional thing, and the skies look very beautiful and colorful.Hence, Independence day in India is a very important and cheerful occasion.
