India believes in a lot of traditions, legends and cultures which are intriguing and interesting. The Tulsi Vivah is one such Indian festival with a lot of pomp and glory. Celebrating the wedding of the holy basil or Tulsi to the Indian God Lord Vishnu is a great festival for all. This Indian festival is performed on the 11the lunar day of the Hindu Month of Kartik. It can be done upto the Kartik Purnima or the full moon of the Kartik Month. But people normally prefer to do it on the 11th day. The wedding of Tulsi indicates that monsoon has ended and the Hindu wedding season can begin. Tulsi in Hindu mythology is Lord Vishnu's wife. Also known by the name of Vishnupriya the tulsi plant was actually a lady called Vrinda. This lady was married to Jalandhar a demon who was a king. Because of her  [...]

Why is winter so pristine and so calm? Why is the winter season so welcome after the blazing hot sun of summer? Why is winter the best friend for Mother Nature? Well whatever the reason be, each season has its own beauty and its own way of expressing its features. Winter is the season when there is cold, lot of snow and of course there are those festivals which you can celebrate. So now that it is the month of October and winter is just round the corner, wouldn’t you want to know what the winter festivals in India are? Well if you are in the western part of India during winter then do head for Mt. Abu. For here is the place which is historically also known as the summer capital of the state of Rajasthan. This is the hill station in the northwestern part of India, and thus forms the oasis  [...]

Come to India during Diwali and you will feel you are a star in the twinkling sky of Diwali festival. Visit West Bengal during Diwali and you will see the celebrations of Kali Puja. So exactly why worship Goddess Kali and why is it done in West Bengal.Let us understand that Kali Puja coincides with Diwali. A lot of energy and enthusiasms loaded with a lot more verve is what Kali Puja is all about. The difference is that while rest of India worships Goddess Lakshmi, it is Goddess Kali who is worshipped in West Bengal. She is the chief deity for this occasion.Goddess Kali according to Hindu myth is one of the first incarnations that Goddess Durga took to come to earth. Kali has a very terrifying look and she is revered as the aggressive form of Goddess Durga. The Kali image is one that shows  [...]

Come the month of Shravan and the states of Maharashtra, West Bengal and South India see a lot of celebration. This is the time of Nag Panchami, the festival of the Hindus. Hinduism has many facets but the common search is the search for the truth and Hindus mainly believe that it is a way of life and follows the simple form of worship of nature. So all the cults, beliefs and deities centre around this. Nag Panchami is a very important festival in India and is celebrated on the fifth day of the month of Shravan which is in the months of July and August. At this time, the serpents come out after getting drenched in the rain water and therefore find a better place to take shelter in the gardens etc. So they pose a danger at times. So Nag Panchami is a worship of the snakes. When mankind started  [...]

Diwali festival and Wall hangings When Diwali comes, it is the time to make everything look beautiful. This is the time, when the houses are decorated and cleaned well and everyone gets busy doing this. This is also the time when you can give gifts to everyone and surprise them. So wall hangings are a good way of giving Diwali gifts. This beautifies the entire house. Wall hangings are a way of ensuring that the entire house looks beautiful. Wall hangings show the best designs and patterns and are a way of ensuring you celebrate the festival well. The enthusiasm and zeal with which you would make the wall hangings sometimes with the extra materials available at home is a way of doing the best wall hangings. Diwali festival and sweets Diwali festival is synonymous with sweets. This is the time  [...]

Let us know some of the traditions attached to the Diwali festival which is on October 26, 2011. Diwali means a row of lamps. Clay lamps filled with wick and oil is a tradition in India. It denotes the bid to drive away darkness and also ignorance from our life. Again there is the process of getting the house cleaned during Diwali. This is to make the entire atmosphere fit enough for Goddess Lakshmi to enter our house. It is said that Goddess doesn’t like to enter dirty houses. The beautiful colourful motifs that dot the house outside is to welcome the Goddess with a lot of colour. There is a tradition of drawing Laxmi’s footprints all over the house. Lamps are kept burning all through the night. The tradition of Laxmi Puja is done with keeping the things ready for the puja. There are  [...]

Come October and the state of Andhra Pradesh in India gears itself for the time to enjoy with food and dance. It is the time of the Rayalaseema Food and Dance Festival. This is one of them most important celebrations in this part of India. It is mainly based on food and dance. It is also a major tourist attraction in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The reason this festival is celebrated is to respect the prosperity and the popularity of art in the area of Tirupati. It is also celebrated to respect the cuisine of Rayalaseema which lies in Tirupati in the district of Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh in India. Andhra Pradesh is around 400 years old. The Festival gives a chance to bring back all the old forms of cosine and art that were prevalent here. These are made and presented in a great way. There  [...]

So how ready are you for Diwali? All set with all the dresses and the gifts purchased. With all the finery and the grandeur of the festival, the Diwali festival or the festival of lights is one of the festivals that people look forward to. But after the festival of Diwali is over, there is another festival that is celebrated with a lot of fervor and enthusiasm and a lot of devotion too – The Vishwakarma Puja. This is the puja that is celebrated in many parts of India and is celebrated on the fourth day of the festival of Diwali. This festival is observed in the Kanya Sankraman day in the Indian states of Bengal and Orissa. In the State of Gujarat, the Vishwakarma Puja is celebrated on the Kartik Shukla Padyami on the first day of the New Year according to the lunar calendar. Also celebrated  [...]

Come October and everyone is going to be in the midst of celebrating Diwali – the Festival of Lights. But this is also the same time when sisters and brothers strengthen their bond in India. Yes Bhai dooj the festival of the brothers for the sisters is a festival that is much awaited by all sisters and brothers in India. This year in 2011 Bhai Dooj falls on October 28. So come this day and we can see everyone celebrating the occasion with a lot of love and bonding. What is bhai dooj? This is a great festival of bonding and enhancing relationships. The sibling relation is something that is special and incomparable. It is beyond all relations in the world. In India, the culture of the Hindus has encouraged a lot of glory and greatness to this sibling relation and Bhai Dooj is just one form  [...]

Yes you are all ready to celebrate Diwali. Amidst all these  celebrations, when the festival of Diwali gets over, the party has not ended. Yes the day after Diwali is celebrated as Govardhan Puja. Have you heard of this? If you have, then go ahead and celebrate it on October 27, this year as the year 2011 sees the Govardhan Puja date as October 27. This is the day when the mountain Govardhan is prayed and worshipped for in India. Well, this is the mountain that Lord Krishna had once picked up. So in Mathura the people normally stay awake the whole night. They actually cook around 56 types of food. It is called Bhog.. The entire ceremony of feeding Lord Krishna with the Bhog is called Annakut meaning a mountain of food. The entire ceremony is called the Govardhan Puja. The food includes cereals,  [...]

In the land of kaziranga and the one horned rhino lies the heart of true culture and tradition too. Yes, Assam, the land of the lovely Assamese and the bright festivals associated  with them. The Bihu is the main festival of the Assamese and this is time when the Assamese celebrate the entire year to the ultimate. Symbolizing the culture and tradition of the Assamese in the best way possible, Bihu is of three kinds – The Rongali Bihu, the Bohag Bihu, and the Kati Bihu. Kati Bihu is linked to agriculture and is celebrated in the month of Kati in the calendar. This is that time of the year when the paddy is ready for harvest. The cultivators work very hard, and the period sees a lot of prosperity. The Bihu festival is thus called Kongali Bihu as Kongal means poor. Bihu is actually celebrated  [...]