Raksha Bandhan

One of the most profound and loved festival to be celebrated in the Indian Culture is Raksha Bandhan. This festival has huge importance for the brothers and sisters of all ages. Raksha Bandhan is a commitment from a brother to take care and protect his sister from any kind of trouble or situation for life long.




On the day of Raksha bandhan the girls and sister's of the family go to their brothers and tie a band called “Rakhi” on the wrist of their brothers and serve them sweets to express the gratitude towards their brothers. In return the Brother's are expected to give a gift to their sisters with a promise to be on their side in the time of need and be united for lifetime.

Such festivals shows the bonding, love and affection between the Indian families, and maintains a level of respect for everybody either big or small.

Easter

Easter is on of the most important festival of Christians and is celebrated with equal vigor as that of Christmas. Easter is celebrated as the day of resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is on this day that Jesus Christ relives from the dead.



A month before Easter a ceremony of lent days are performed for period of 30 days. During these lent days fasting and communal masses are conducted. The reason behind performing these ceremonies are that it was during these days that Jesus Christ was punished and was ill treated before being crucified. Thus in order to give respect for the troubles Jesus Christ bore for our sins, lent days are celebrated.


Good Friday is the day Jesus Christ was crucified and third day form this is Easter celebrated. At the time of Easter, Mass are conducted in Churches and people get together to give thanks to the lord.

Easter is famous for its Easter eggs and Easter lilies. Easter generally comes in the spring season and thus is a welcome to the pleasant weather.

Pushkar Fair

Pushkar is a Holy place in Rajasthan and is very popular for its beautiful temples, ghats and lakes. The ghats are a pilgrimage for those who come here to get their sins washed away in the holy water of the Pushkar lake. Pushar's Brahma Temple is world famous for its enchanting beauty and monuments.



It is believed that those who visit and offer prayers in the temple, get forgiveness from their sins. It is due to this reason this place receives huge number of guests and visitors.Pushkar is also famous for its Pushkar Fair which is held every year.

This fair is conducted to provide a common place for the buying and selling of Camels, which is also the State animal of Rajasthan. It is a five days fest where the trading of livestocks takes place. To attract more tourists many other activities and competitions are conducted some of them are Matka Phod, Longest Moustache, Bridal competition, Turban tying and many more.

The place is near Ajmer and has fair amount of staying and lodging facility. Pushkar would also offer rajasthani food which is exquisite and delicious.

Festival of Colors "Holi"

Holi also known as the festival of colors is celebrated as a welcome of the Spring weather and farewale to the winters. A day before Holi a bonfire takes place made out of the dried leaves and branches of the winters.

There is another mythological reason behind performing the bonfire which is the destruction of evil, in the form of burning of "Holika" an evil character in the myths.



It is the festival of color during which people apply abeer and gulal to each other, earlier these color was made in home by using the petals of palash and other flowers. The morning of Holi starts with the worship of Lord Krishna who according to the Old stories use to play Holi with the beautiful girls of his town with flower petals. To this day In Mathura People inact a play in which Holi is played between Lord Krishna and Gopikas the beautiful girls.

Holi is generally celebrated a day after the full moon appears in the month of march every year. It is the time when new harvest is to be sown thus it is also celebrated as a prayer to bless the new harvest.

Kites i n the Sky Sankranti

It mesmerizes me to see the sky full of colorful Kites flying like birds and people hovering around their terrace flying their own kites or appreciating their favourite kite up in the sky. Well this picture is common in the days of an Indian festival known as "Sankranti".

Sankranti is generally celebrated during winters and is based on the solar calender.The reason behind celebrating Sankranti is to welcome the Suns Sovereignty as it enters the northern hemisphere.



Almost every state in India has a different style and reason to celebrate Makar Sankranti and this is due to the difference in culture and practices followed in general. Makar Sankranti apart from being a kite flying festival also has a special cuisine which is specifically based on the cold weather therefore pakwans are made of such ingredients which are warm in nature.

Haryana and Punjab celebrate Sankranti as Lodhri. These states have a dominance of farming and thus Lodhri is celebrated on the occasion of the harvesting of winter crops. The celebartion is done in the form of a Bonfire in which a percentage of harvest is burned as a sacrifice to god. In Bengal and Orissa Sankranti is Celebrated in order to get moksh and forgiveness from sins. This is done by taking a dip in the holy river of Ganga.

Christmas in India

India is a country where all religions have their significance and presence. Here every religion is given equal rights and privileges which allows every group of community to exercise their traditions and cultures. People here are loving and open minded which makes it easier to accept other cultures.



In India Christian community was introduced by missionaries who came to India with Britishers. Even after independence christian practices, culture and religion was accepted by many Indians and this was how a new festival was added to the list of Indian festivals. Christmas like in other nations is celebrated on the 25th of December as the birth day of Jesus Christ.

Due to globalization western practices of celebrating Christmas are getting prevalent in India as well providing huge opportunities to the related businesses. Every religion is open to the new practices and thus Christmas is now being celebrated by everybody.

India has many beautiful churches built all across the country. During the Christmas week many programmes are organised to bring in cultural harmony. The houses are being decorated with Christmas trees, Pakwans and cakes are made for the guests and masses are held to bring people together.

A week before Christmas all the Christians come together for praise and worship, a day before Christmas Midnight masses are held to give thanks to the god. On the day of Christmas a morning mass takes place at the church where every body dresses up in new clothes and greets each other.Christmas is a festival for Harmony and thus everybody enjoys the festive time.

Christmas Colorful Festival

Christmas is a festival of joy and happiness people give gifts to there loved one, it is one of the most exciting festival of the year. This is the festival which is celebrated all over the world with full enthusiasm and excitement.



It is celebrated annual holiday on 25th December to honor the birth of Jesus of Nazareth or he is most popular as Jesus Christ. Basically Christan is celebrated through out the Christian among world wide and celebrated by Non- Christian people also as a cultural festival. It is a time when all people come together and enjoy the celebration time.

The English word Christmas is derived from word Cristes maesse (from middle English) or Christ Mass means Mass of Christ's day. The term Xmas have been used for Christ of Rome. This festival is known from different names also nativity, Yule Tide, Noel and many more.



During the long ten days people sing Christmas Carol, to welcome or celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. As a integral part of tradition associated with, Christmas Tree. This tree is decorated beautifully with balloon, ribbons, chocolates are hand on it and lots of decorative items and it is places inside or outside the house for decoration.

Its is great time for food lover, who love to eat various kind of food it is great time at Christmas. The food traditionally includes apples cider, turkey, custard, candy, champagne, cookies, cake, hot chocolate and many more.

Santa Claus is also known as popularly as Saint Nicolas, father of Christmas bring joy and gifts for all. It is said that Santa Claus give gifts to good children across the world, Santa is considered as historical figure to give gift.

Christmas is celebrated all over the India but in Goa it is celebrated in huge platform because in Goa there is a great influence of Christianity it is supposed to be semi Portuguese colony during Britisher time.

Pushkar Mela

Pushkar ka Mela or Pushkar Fair is a five day camel and livestock fair,organised annually in the town of Pushkar,Rajasthan,India.It hs become a major tourist attraction besides being a day for selling and buying livestock.The "Bridal Competition","Longest Moustache" and "Matka Phod" are the main attractions of th fair which gather a huge crowd.




The festival is celebrated for five days from Karthik Ekadashi to Karthik Poornima,a full moon day in the hindu calendar.The full moon day is considered auspicious for the festival because legend has it that Hindu God Brahma ascended from the waters of Pushkar lake.

People in large numbers(in thousands) go to the banks of Pushkar lake where the fair takes place.Menfolk buy and sell their livestock including camels,sheep,cows and goats.It is a tradition to decorate one's camel to make it appealing to the prospective buyers.The women on the other hand set up stalls with clothes,jewellery,textiles and fabrics.

The fair kicks off with the camel race and is followed by music,songs and exhibitions.Between the events,the most awaited moment is when the crowds gather to see how the camels bring the items.

Now a days,the fair also includes a cricket match between the local Pushkar club and a team of randomly selected foreigners.

Pushkar Lake:
It is a sacred spot considered as old as the Hindu scriptures themselves.The lake is surrounded by 52 bathing ghats where devotees take a dip during the Pushkar mela.

According to Padma Purana (a Hindu religious text),lord Brahma was looking for a suitable place for a vedic Yagna.meanwhile,the lotus in his hand fell on earth and water spurted from three places,one of which was Pushkar.Lord Brahma then decided to perform his Yagna there.

Bihu-Celebrating New year

Bihu is taken from the Sanskrit word "Visuvan " which defines a series of festivals in India that are related to the occurrence of equinox. Equinox happens two times in a year when the Earth's axis is neither close nor far from the Sun. Bihu is a celebration of three different types of Bihu in a year Bohaag Bihu or Rongali Bihu,Kati Bihu or Kongali Bihu and Bhogali Bihu or Magh Bihu.




Like most Indian festivals, Bihu is a celebration related to farming.

Kongali Bihu or Kat Bihu is celebrated in mid October when the paddy grown in Assam is in the growing stage. This particular Bihu has less fun and frolic attached to it as compared to other Bihus, as the granaries are void of any grains. One can see people lighting earthen lamps on the foot of the house, near the tulsi plant and the paddy fields. The tradition of whirling a piece of Bamboo and chanting "Rowa Khowa" to save the maturing crops from the evil eye.
The practice of lighting lamps on the tip of a Bamboo pole is also done to show the way to heaven to souls of the dead.

Bhogali Bihu or Magh Bihu is celebrated in mid-January.The word Bhog in Bhogali Bihu comes from "Bhog" which means eating and making merry. This marks the end of the harvesting season. A huge feast is prepared as the granaries at this time of the year are full. In the evening, the men folk build a temporary cottage known as Bhelaghar and “Meji” with hay bales. The night is spent singing bihu songs on dhol and dancing around bonfire. The night when the singing and dancing takes place is called “Uruka”.

The morning that follows the “Uruka” has people offering prayers to the God of Fire by burning the main “Meji” and throwing beetel nuts and rice cakes known as Pithas.The residue of the burnt meji is taken home and the same is thrown around the fruit trees for prosperous results. Games like cock fight and buffalo fight are played to continue the merry making.

Rongali Bihu or Bohaag Bihu is the most popular Bihu of the three Bihus. It is celebrated in mid April marking the onset of spring and Assamese New Year which is around April 15 as the first day of the Hindu Solar calendar.
Paddy grown on the fields is cultivated and there is a blissful feeling around. “Larus” which is made out of rice and coconut , “pitha” and Jolpan as delicacies are prepared to celebrate the season. The first day is the Rongali Bihu is called as “Goru Bihu” where cows are washed thoroughly and worshipped. “Goru Bihu “ is followed by “Manuh Bihu”(when people wear new clothes and celebrate new year) and “Gosai Bihu” (statues of Gods are worshipped in every house).