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.