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    The Festivals of India
    The Festivals of India
    The Festivals of India
    Ebook101 pages1 hour

    The Festivals of India

    By Mahesh Dutt Sharma

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    About this ebook

    India has a number of festivals. There are said to be more number of festivals in India, than days in a year. The religious and national ones are celebrated with great gaiety. The cultural ones attract many great artists from all over India. Hardly a day passes without a festival taking place somewhere in India. They range from small one-day village or temple functions to weeklong art functions.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMahesh Dutt Sharma
    Release dateApr 16, 2013
    ISBN9781301460731
    The Festivals of India
    Author

    Mahesh Dutt Sharma

    Mahesh Sharma, a prestigious author and journalist, has written more than 1550 Hindi and English books. His book, "Mahatma Gandhi," won the M.P. Govt. Gandhi Darshan National Award in 2010. He also won Purvottar Hindi Academy, Meghalaya, Shilong Award twice, Natraj Author Award etc.. He is a freelance writer and writing is his passion.

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      Book preview

      The Festivals of India - Mahesh Dutt Sharma

      The Festivals of India

      By Mahesh Sharma

      Published by Mahesh Dutt Sharma

      Smashwords Edition

      © mds e-books 2013

      Smashwords License Statement

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Preface

      India has a number of festivals. There are said to be more number of festivals in India, than days in a year. The religious and national ones are celebrated with great gaiety. The cultural ones attract many great artists from all over India. Hardly a day passes without a festival taking place somewhere in India. They range from small one-day village or temple functions to weeklong art functions.

      For the men, festivals mean display of valour and virility through various races like the boat races of Kerala, or wrestling matches and animal fights. For the women it means cleaning the house and decorating it according to their artistic inclinations and proving their culinary skills to satisfy their wards and their hubbies. For the children, it is a time to be away from the tedious schools, with savouries to munch all the time, new costumes and plenty of free time to roam around with their friends. Festivals also reinforce the presence of God in the life of the individual, the family and the community as a whole.

      —Author

      Table of Contents

      (1) Ganesh Chaturthi

      (2) Lohri

      (3) Pongal

      (4) Makar Snakranti

      (5) Vasant Panchami

      (6) Maha Shivratri

      (7) Holi

      (8) Durga Pooja

      (9) Baisakhi

      (10) Rath Yatra

      (11) Ram Navami

      (12) Nirjala Ekadashi

      (13) Janmashtami

      (14) Raksha Bandhan

      (15) Teej

      (16) Onam

      (17) Dussehra

      (18) Karva Chauth

      (19) Diwali

      (20) Bhai Dooj

      (21) Guru Purab

      (22) Christmas

      (23) Eid

      (24) Akshya Tritiya

      (25) Bihu

      (26) Buddha Poornima

      (27) Cheti Chand

      (28) Chhath Pooja

      (29) Easter

      (30) Gaungaur

      (31) Ganga Dussehra

      (32) Good Friday

      (33) Gudi Padwa

      (34) Guru Poornima

      (35) Hanuman Jayanti

      (36) Hola Mohalla

      (37) Independence Day

      (38) Republic Day

      (39) Sharad Poornima

      (40) Thaipusam

      (41) Tulsi Vivah

      (42) Vat Savitri

      (43) Children's Day

      (44) Father’s Day

      (45) Goa Carnival

      (46) International Kite Festival

      (47) Mother's Day

      (48) Valentine's Day

      (1) Ganesh Chaturthi

      Ganesh Chaturthi or Ganesh Festival is a day on which Lord Ganesh, the son of Shiva and Parvati, is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees. It is also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi is Sanskrit, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu, Chavath in Konkani and as Chatha in Nepali. It is celebrated as it is the birthday of Lord Ganesh. The festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhadrapada, starting on the Shukla Chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). Typically, the day usually falls between 20 August and 15 September. The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi.

      Ganesh, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, is widely worshipped as the supreme god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.

      While celebrated all over India, it is most elaborate in Maharashtra, Goa (Biggest festival for Konkani people all over the world), Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and other areas which were former states of the Maratha Empire. Outside India, it is celebrated by Nears in Nepal and Tamil Hindus in Sri Lanka.

      According to the legend, Lord Shiva was away at a war. His wife Parvati, wanted to bathe and having no-one to guard the door of her house, conceived of the idea of creating a son who could guard her. Parvati created Ganesh out of the sandalwood paste that the used for her bath and breathed life into the figure. She then set him to stand guard at her door and instructed him not to let anyone enter.

      In the meantime, Lord Shiva returned from the battle but as Ganesh did not know him, stopped Shiva from entering Parvati's chamber. Shiva, enraged by Ganesh's impudence, drew his trident and cut off Ganesh's head. Parvati emerged to find Ganesh decapitated and flew into a rage. She took of the form of the Goddess Kali and threatened destruction of the three worlds of Heaven, Earth and the Bottom Word (Patal Lok).

      Parvati was in a dangerous mood. Seeing her in this mood, the other Gods were afraid and Shiva, in an attempt to pacify Parvati, send on this ganas, or hordes, to find a child whose mother is facing another direction in negligence, cut off his head and bring it quickly. The first living thing they came across was an elephant. That elephant was facing north (the auspicious direction associated with wisdom). So they brought the head of this elephant and Shiva placed it on the trunk of Paravati's son and breathed life into him. Parvati was overjoyed and embraced her son, the elephant-headed boy whom Shiva named Ganesh, the lord of his ganas. Parvati was still upset so Lord Shiva announced that everyone who worships Ganesh before any other form of God is favoured by Him. So Ganesh is worshipped first in all Hindu occasions and festivals.

      In 1893, Loksmanya Tilak, social reformer and freedom fighter reshaped the annual Ganesh festival from private family celebrations into a grand public event. It is interesting to note that the festival was not celebrated in a public manner till then but was a family affair among Hindus, who used to celebrate it in a traditional manner.

      Tilak was the first to install large public images of Ganesh in pavilions, and the established the practice

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