Festivals of India: Gangaur

Posted on April 4, 2022 by memoriesandsuch

Celebrated as colourfully as the festival of Holi, the festival of Gangaur is celebrated in Rajasthan as well as some parts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal. One of the most important festivals in Rajasthan, it is celebrated by women who worship Gauri, the wife of Lord Shiva during March–April. Gangaur is a celebration of spring, harvest, marital fidelity, and childbearing. The name comes from a portmanteau of Gana and Gaur where Gana is a synonym for Lord Shiva and Gaur stands for Gauri or Parvati who symbolises saubhagya or marital bliss. For the people of Rajasthan, Goddess Parvati represents perfection and marital love and so the Gangaur festival is very important.

The festival also marks the celebration of spring and harvest. Gana signifies Lord Shiva, and Gangaur symbolises Lord Shiva and Parvati together. As per legends, Gauri won Lord Shiva’s affection and love with her deep devotion and meditation. And after that, Gauri visited her paternal home during Gangaur to bless her friends with marital bliss. The festival rituals start right after the day of Holi and attract a large number of visitors and tourists.

Married women pray for a happy married life as well as the welfare, health, and long life of their husbands while those unmarried worship Gauri to be blessed with a good husband. Migrants to Kolkata started celebrating Gangaur and this celebration is more than a century old in Kolkata.

The festival commences on the first day of the month of Chaitra, the day following Holi, and continues for 16 days. For a newly-wedded girl, it is binding to observe the full course of 18 days of the festival that comes after her marriage. Even unmarried girls fast for the full period of 16 days and eat only one meal a day. Festivity consummates on the 3rd day of the Shukla paksha of the Chaitra month. Fairs or Gangaur Melas are held throughout the 18 days.

Images of Isar or Shiva and Gauri or Parvati are made of clay and in some Rajput families, permanent wooden images are painted afresh every year by reputed painters called matherans on the eve of the festival. A distinct difference between the idols of Teej and Gangaur is that the idol will have a canopy during the Teej Festival while the Gangaur idol would not have a canopy. These figures are then placed within baskets along with wheatgrass and flowers; wheat plays an important role in the rituals as it signifies harvest. People also buy earthen pots known locally as Kunda, and decorate them in a traditional Rajasthani painting style called maandna. It is customary for married women to receive gift hampers from their parents known as Sinjara, which comprises clothes, jewellery items, makeup and sweets which are generally sent on the second last day of the festival which the women use to get ready on the final or main celebration day. The ladies decorate their hands and feet by drawing designs with Mehndi or Henna.

Ghudlias are earthen pots with numerous holes all around and a lamp lit inside them. On the evening of the 7th day after Holi, unmarried girls go around singing songs of ghudlia carrying the pots with a burning lamp inside, on their heads. On their way, they collect small presents of cash, sweets, jaggery, ghee, and oil and this continues for 10 days i.e. up to the conclusion of the Gangaur festival when the girls break their pots and throw the debris into the well or a tank and enjoys a feast with the collection made.

The festival reaches its climax during the last three days. The images of Gauri and Isar are dressed in new garments specially made for the occasion. Unmarried girls and married women decorate the images and make them look like living figures. At an auspicious hour in the afternoon, a procession is taken out with the images of Isar and Gauri, placed on the heads of married women. Songs are sung about the departure of Gauri to her husband’s house. The procession comes back after offering water on the first two days. On the final day, she faces in the same direction as Isar and the procession concludes in the consignment of all images in the water of a tank or well. The women bid farewell to Gauri and turn their eyes and the Gangaur festival comes to an end.

Celebrated throughout Rajasthan, however, the most notable festivities happen in Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Nathdwara and Bikaner. In Udaipur, this festival coincides with the Mewar Festival which takes place during the two days following it.

In Jaipur, a sweet dish called a ghewar is characteristic of the Gangaur festival with people buying the sweet to eat and distribute. A procession, with the image of Gauri, commences from the Zanani-Deodhi of the City Palace, then passes through Tripolia Bazaar, Chhoti Chaupar, Gangauri Bazaar, Chaugan stadium and finally converges near the Talkatora. Old palanquins, chariots, elephants, bullock carts, and folk performances make this procession all the grander.

In Udaipur, there is a dedicated Ghat named after Gangaur. The Gangaur Ghat or Gangori Ghat is situated on the waterfront of Lake Pichola and serves as the prime location for the celebration of multiple festivals, including the Gangaur festival. Traditional processions of Gangaur commences from the City Palace, and several other places, which passes through various areas of the city. The procession is headed by old palanquins, chariots, bullock carts and performances by folk artists. After the processions are complete, the idols of Gan and Gauri are brought to this ghat and immersed in Lake Pichola. Women try to balance brass pitchers on their heads, which is another attraction of this fiesta. The celebration is concluded with fireworks on the banks of the lake.

In other parts of the state, on the final day, colourful parades carrying bejewelled images of Goddess Parvati proceed all over the villages and cities, and this is accompanied by local bands.

Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 14, 2022 by memoriesandsuch

Today is Valentine’s Day which worldwide is celebrated as the day of love. Also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, Valentine’s Day is celebrated annually on February 14 and originated as a Christian feast day honouring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, through later folk traditions, has become a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.

There are several martyrdom stories associated with the various Valentines connected to February 14, including an account of the imprisonment of Saint Valentine of Rome for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire in the third century. According to an early tradition, Saint Valentine restored sight to the blind daughter of his jailer and numerous later additions to the legend have better related it to the theme of love. An 18th-century embellishment to the legend claims he wrote the jailer’s daughter a letter signed “Your Valentine” as a farewell before his execution while another addition posits that Saint Valentine performed weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry.

The Feast of Saint Valentine was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD to be celebrated on February 14 in honour of Saint Valentine of Rome, who died on that date in 269 AD. The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries when notions of courtly love flourished, apparently by association with the lovebirds of early spring. In 18th century England, it grew into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards, known as valentines. By the 1900s printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one’s feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greetings. The Valentine’s Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. In Italy, Saint Valentine’s Keys are given to lovers as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver’s heart, as well as to children to ward off epilepsy, also known as Saint Valentine’s Malady. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, after Christmas.

An official feast day in the Anglican Communion and the Lutheran Church, the day is not a public holiday anywhere. Many parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day on July 6 in honour of the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and on July 30 in honour of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna in modern-day Terni, Italy.

While the European folk traditions connected with Saint Valentine and St. Valentine’s Day have become marginalised by the modern Anglo-American customs connecting the day with romantic love, some remaining associations connect the saint with the advent of spring. While the custom of sending cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts originated in the UK, Valentine’s Day remains connected with various regional customs in England. In Norfolk, a character called Jack Valentine knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children with many children scared of this mystical person. In Slovenia, Saint Valentine or Zdravko was one of the saints of spring, the saint of good health and the patron of beekeepers and pilgrims as the belief is that plants and flowers start to grow on this day and has been celebrated as the day when the first work in the vineyards and the fields commences. The day is also said to mark the beginning of spring.

The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. (The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.) Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

Cupid is often portrayed on Valentine’s Day cards as a naked cherub launching arrows of love at unsuspecting lovers. But the Roman God Cupid has his roots in Greek mythology as the Greek god of love, Eros. Accounts of his birth vary; some say he is the son of Nyx and Erebus; others, of Aphrodite and Ares; still others suggest he is the son of Iris and Zephyrus or even Aphrodite and Zeus, who would have been both his father and grandfather. According to the Greek Archaic poets, Eros was a handsome immortal who played with the emotions of Gods and men, using golden arrows to incite love and leaden ones to sow aversion. It wasn’t until the Hellenistic period that he began to be portrayed as the mischievous, chubby child he’d become on Valentine’s Day cards.

Giving red roses may be an obvious romantic gesture today on Valentine’s Day, but it wasn’t until the late 17th century that giving flowers became a popular custom. The practice can be traced back to when King Charles II of Sweden learned the language of flowers which pairs different flowers with specific meanings on a trip to Persia and subsequently introduced the tradition to Europe. The act of giving flowers then became a popular trend during the Victorian Era, including on Valentine’s Day, with red roses symbolising deep love.

So here’s wishing everyone a very Happy Valentine’s Day. Remember, where there is love, there is life!

Festivals of India: Vasant Panchami

Posted on February 9, 2022 by memoriesandsuch

Spring is in the air and over the weekend, the festival of Vasant Panchami, which marks the arrival of spring was celebrated last Saturday. Also known as Saraswati Puja in honour of the Goddess of learning, Goddess Saraswati, the festival is celebrated across the Indian subcontinent in various ways depending on the region. Vasant Panchami also marks the start of preparation for Holika and Holi, which take place forty days later. The Vasant Utsava or festival on Panchami is celebrated forty days before spring, because any season’s transition period is 40 days, and after that, the season comes into full bloom.

Vasant Panchami is celebrated every year on the fifth day of the bright half of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Magha, which typically falls in late January or early February. It is generally winter-like in northern India, and more spring-like in central and western parts of India on Vasant Panchami, which gives credence to the idea that spring is actually in full bloom 40 days after the Vasant Panchami day.

Not just observed by the Hindus, Vasant Panchami has been a historical tradition of the Sikhs as well and is known as Sri Panchami in the southern states. On the island of Bali and among the Hindus of Indonesia, it is known as Hari Raya Saraswati and marks the beginning of the 210-day long Balinese Pawukon calendar.

Vasant Panchami is dedicated to the Goddess Saraswati who is the Goddess of knowledge, language, music and all arts. She symbolizes creative energy and power in all its forms, including longing and love. The season and festival also celebrate the agricultural fields’ ripening with yellow flowers of mustard crop, which Hindus associate with Goddess Saraswati’s favourite colour with people dresssing in yellow saris or shirts and accessories, sharing yellow-coloured snacks and sweets. Some add saffron to their rice and then eat yellow cooked rice as a part of an elaborate feast.

The main reason for yellow being the dominant colour during Vasant Basant Panchami is because at this time, bright yellow flowers of ripe mustard plants can be spotted in the fields of rural North India as well as many seasonal flowers are yellow, including marigold and daffodils which are offered to the Goddess. Though Goddess Saraswati is seen wearing a white saree with white flowers and pearls, it is said that yellow is her favourite colour which is why the Goddess is decorated with yellow flowers and sarees of the same colour, though people also sometimes use white symbolising purity and wisdom. Another reason behind using yellow is said that on this festival the sun starts moving northwards or on its Uttarayan path and the yellow colour symbolises and teaches everyone to become serious and sharp like the sun.

Many families mark this day by sitting with babies and young children, encouraging their children to write their first words with their fingers, and some study or create music together. On the day before Vasant Panchami, Goddess Saraswati’s temples are filled with food so that she can join the celebrants in the traditional feasting the next morning. In temples and educational institutions, statues of the goddess are dressed in yellow and worshipped with many educational institutions arranging for special prayers in the morning to seek the blessing of the Goddess. Poetic and musical gatherings are held in some communities in reverence for Goddess Saraswati.

In Nepal, Bihar and the eastern states of India such as West Bengal including the north-eastern states like Tripura and Assam, people visit temples dedicated to the Goddess and worship her by performing the Saraswati Puja with most schools arranging special Saraswati pujas for their students on their premises. In Bangladesh, all major educational institutes and universities observe it with a holiday and a special puja. In Odisha, the festival is celebrated as Basanta Panchami, Sri Panchami or Saraswati Puja with prayers performed in schools and colleges across the state. Children aged four and five years old start learning on this day in a unique ceremony named Khadi-Chuan or Vidya-Arambha. In southern states such as Andhra Pradesh, the same day is called Sri Panchami where Sri refers to her as another aspect of the one Goddess Devi. In Tamil Nadu, Goddess Saraswati is celebrated on the penultimate day of the ten-day Dusshera festival. On this day, books belonging to all members of the family are kept in front of a photograph or statue of the Goddess and prayed. The next day, every one of the books are opened and a few lines from each read. Children starting school also have a Vidya Arambam ceremony where parents help them trace a word on rice. GG & BB also had this ceremony when they were about two, just before they started pre-school.

The festival is associated with the emotions of love and emotional anticipation in Kutch in Gujarat and is celebrated by preparing a bouquet and garlands of flowers set with mango leaves, as a gift. People dress in saffron, pink or yellow and visit each other with songs about Lord Krishna’s pranks with Goddess Radha, considered to mirror Kama-Rati sung which also symbolises Lord Kamadeva and his wife Rati. In Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, after bathing in the morning, people worship Shiva and Parvati and make offerings of mango flowers and the ears of wheat. In the Punjab region, Basant is celebrated as a seasonal festival by all faiths and is known as the Basant Festival of Kites. Children buy dor or thread and guddi or patang or kites for the sport. The people of Punjab wear yellow clothes and eat yellow rice to emulate the yellow mustard or sarson flower fields, or play by flying kites.

Namdhari Sikhs have historically celebrated Basant Panchami to mark the beginning of spring and other Sikhs treat it as a spring festival, joyfully celebrating it by wearing yellow-coloured clothes, emulating the bright yellow mustard flowers in the fields. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire, encouraged the celebration of Basant Panchami as a social event in the Gurdwaras. In 1825 he gave 2,000 rupees to the Harmandir Sahib Gurdwara in Amritsar to distribute food and held an annual Basant fair and sponsored kite flying as a regular feature of the fairs. Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his queen Moran would dress in yellow and fly kites on Basant Panchami and also hold a darbar or court in Lahore on this day which lasted ten days when soldiers would dress in yellow and show their military prowess. In the Malwa region, the festival of Basant Panchami is celebrated with wearing of yellow dress and kite flying. In Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur, a Basant Panchami fair is held where people attend wearing yellow clothes, turbans or accessories. Sikhs also remember the martyrdom of the child Haqiqat Rai on Basant Panchmi, who was arrested by the Muslim ruler Khan Zakariya Khan after being falsely accused of insulting Islam. Rai was given the choice of converting to Islam or death and, having refused conversion, was executed on the Basant Panchami of 1741 in Lahore, Pakistan. Nihangs go to Patiala on Basant Panchami and dress in Pink and Yellow on the month of Vaisakh and not only on the day of Basant Panchami.

In Bali and among Indonesian Hindus, Hari Raya Saraswati which is the festival’s local name, is celebrated with prayers in family compounds, educational institutions, and public venues from morning to noon. Teachers and students wear brightly coloured clothes instead of their usual uniforms, and children bring traditional cakes and fruit to school for offerings in a temple.

In Pakistan, kite flying in Lahore goes back centuries and evolved into a highly competitive sport after partition and the creation of Pakistan, not limited to spring only. Given the shared history and culture in the Indian subcontinent, the Punjabi Muslims in and around Lahore also celebrate kite flying as a sport in Pakistan from home rooftops during the Basant season.

Another legend behind Vasant Panchami is based on the Hindu god of love called Kama. Pradyumna is Kamadev personified in Krishna’s Book. Thus Vasant Panchami is also known as Madana Panchami with Pradyumna the son of Rukmini and Lord Krishna who awakens the passions of the earth and its people and so the world blooms anew. It is remembered as the day when the Rishis or sages approached Lord Kama to wake up Lord Shiva from his yogic meditation. They support Goddess Parvati who is doing penance to get Lord Shiva as a husband and seek Kama’s help to bring Lord Shiva back from his meditation to worldly desires. Lord Kama agrees and shoots arrows, made of flowers and bees, at Shiva from his heavenly bow of sugarcane to arouse him to pay attention to Goddess Parvati. Lord Shiva awakens from his meditation, but when his third eye opens, a fireball is directed to Lord Kama who is burnt to ashes. Vasant Panchami is hence remembered not only as the day Kamadeva was asked to stir Lord Shiva’s desire for Goddess Parvati but also as the time of year Kamadeva stimulates the passions of both the earth and its people, as the lands come alive with new blossoms.

Festivals of India: Makar Sankranti

Posted on January 14, 2022 by memoriesandsuch

A harvest festival celebrated across India and the subcontinent, Makar Sankranti, Uttarayan, Maghi, or just Sankranti, which is celebrated today is also known as Poush Sankranti in Bangladesh or Tirmoori in Pakistan, is a harvest festival day, dedicated to the Sun God Lord Surya. It is observed each year the day the Sun enters the zodiac sign Capricorn, which corresponds to January as per the Gregorian calendar and marks the first day of the sun’s transit into the Makara Rashi or Capricorn.

It is celebrated on either 14 or 15 January due to the addition of the extra day in leap years. The festival, which is a harvest festival is celebrated with colourful decorations, children singing and asking for treats, fairs, dances, kite flying, bonfires and feasts. Some go to sacred rivers and lakes and bathe in a ceremony of thanks to the sun and every twelve years, the Kumbh Mela, the largest mass pilgrimage festivity is observed in conjunction with Makar Sankranti. Here, devotees pray to the Sun God and bathe at the confluence of the Rivers Ganga and Yamuna, known as the Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, a tradition attributed to Adi Shankaracharya.

Makar Sankranti is known by various names across the country. It is known as Magh Bihu in Assam, Maghi, in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh, Sukarat in central India, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Uttarayan in Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, Ghughuti in Uttarakhand, Makara Sankranti in Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal where it is also known as Poush Sankranti, and as Sankranthi in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Outside of India, it is known as Maghe Sankranti in Nepal and Tirmoori in Pakistan.

Makar Sankranti is set by the solar cycle and corresponds to the exact time when the sun enters the sign of Capricorn and usually falls on 14 January or 15 January during a leap year according to the Gregorian calendar.

Makar Sankranti is dedicated to the Sun God, Surya whose significance is traceable to the Vedic texts, particularly the Gayatri Mantra, a sacred hymn found in the Rigveda. It marks the termination of the winter season and the beginning of a new harvest season. From this day, the sun begins its northward journey or Uttarayan or the northern hemisphere and so the festival is also known as Uttarayan.

As per legend, Sankranti killed a devil named Sankarasur and so the day after Makar Sankrant is called Karidin or Kinkrant. On this day, she slew the devil Kinkarasur. As per another legend, the Sun God, Lord Surya forgave his son Shani who visited him on Sankranti. And that’s why people distribute sweets and urge everyone to let go of any negative or angry feelings. On this day people take a holy dip in rivers, especially the Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri because bathing in the rivers on this day is believed to result in merit or absolution of past sins. The Sun God is also prayed to and thanked for successes and prosperity. For most parts of India, this period is a part of the early stages of the Rabi crop and agricultural cycle, where crops have been sown and the hard work in the fields is mostly over. The time thus signifies a period of socialising and families enjoying each other’s company, taking care of the cattle, and celebrating around bonfires. On Makar Sankranti, people wear black which is otherwise a huge no-no on other festival days. As Sakranti falls in the winter months, wearing black adds to body warmth which is the reason for the colour.

In Assam, Makar Sankranti is known as Magh Bihu and the festival is marked by feasts and bonfires. Young people erect makeshift huts, known as Meji and Bhelaghar, from bamboo, leaves, and thatch, and in Bhelaghar they eat the food prepared for the feast and then burn the huts the next morning. celebrations also feature traditional Assamese games such as tekeli bhonga or pot-breaking and buffalo fighting. In Goa, people distribute sweets in the form of granules of sugar-coated sesame seeds among family members and friends and newly married women offer five sunghat or small clay pots filled with newly harvested grains, betel leaves areca nuts and tied with black beaded threads tied around them, to the deity. Uttarayan, as Makar Sankranti is called in Gujarati, is a major festival that lasts for two days. Kites made of special light-weight paper are flown and the festival is eagerly awaited.

In Haryana and Delhi, the festival is celebrated similarly to Western UP and the border areas of Rajasthan and Punjab. This includes ritual purification by taking a holy dip in rivers with sweets like kheer, churma, halwa and distributing a sesame and jaggery sweet called til-gud. Brothers of a married woman visit her home with a gift pack, called Sindhara or Sidha with gifts of clothing for her and her family. In Jammu, it is celebrated as Uttrain and is celebrated a day before Lohri by the Dogra community to commemorate the end of the Poh or Pausha month. Among the Dogras, there is a tradition of Mansana or charity of Khichdi of Maah Dal and that is why this day is also referred to as Khichdi wala Parva. There is also a tradition of sending Khichdi & other food items to house of married daughters and fairs are organised in holy places and pilgrimages are taken. In Karnataka, it is celebrated as Suggi and on this day, girls wear new clothes to visit near and dear ones with the Sankranti offering on a plate and exchange the same with other families in a ritual called Ellu Birodhu. The festival signifies the harvest of the season since sugarcane is predominant in these parts. Gifts are exchanged by women and newly married women give away bananas for five years to married women from the first year of their marriage. Kite flying, drawing rangolis, giving away red berries known as Yalchi kai are some of the intrinsic parts of the festival. In rural Karnataka, a display of decorated cows and bulls and their procession is done and they are also made to cross a flame and this custom is known as Kichchu Haayisuvudu. In Maharashtra, on Makar Sankranti day people exchange multicolored halwa and sweetmeats made from sesame seeds and jaggery known as til-gul laadoo. Married women invite friends and family and celebrate with guests given til-gul and some small gift, as a part of the ritual and women make it a point to wear black clothes on this day.

In Odisha, on the day of the festival, people prepare makara chaula and along with uncooked newly harvested rice, banana, coconut, jaggery, sesame, rasagola, Khai/Liaa and chhena puddings offer It to the Gods and Godesses. The Sun God at the Konark Sun Temple is worshipped with many starting the day with a ritual bath while fasting. In Puri special rituals are carried out at the temple of Lord Jagannath. In Punjab, Makar Sankranti is celebrated as Maghi which is a religious and cultural festival. Bathing in a river in the early hours on Maghi is important with Hindus light lamps with sesame oil as this is supposed to give prosperity and drive away all sins. A major fair is held at the Sri Muktsar Sahib on Maghi which commemorates a historical event in Sikh history. In Rajasthan and Western Madhya Pradesh, the day is celebrated with special Rajasthani delicacies and sweets. Women in this region observe a ritual in which they give a gift to 13 married women. The first Sankranti experienced by a married woman is of significance as she is invited by her parents and brothers to their houses with her husband for a big feast. Kite flying is traditionally observed as a part of this festival.

In Tamil Nadu, Makar Sankranti is celebrated as the four-day festival of Pongal with day one celebrated as Bhogi Pongal, day two as Thai Pongal, day three as Maattu Pongal and day four as Kaanum Pongal. On Maattu Pongal, many villages in the state will have a Jallikattu, or taming the bull, contest, which is an ancient Pongal tradition. In Uttar Pradesh, the festival is known as Kicheri and involves ritual bathing. Over two million people gather at their respective sacred places for this holy bathing such as Allahabad and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. In Uttarakhand, Makar Sankranti is known by various names in the different parts of the state. In the Kumaon region the festival is known as Ghughuti, Ghughuti Tyar, Ghughutia, Kale Kauva or Uttarayani with the famous Uttarayani fair held in Bageshwar town. During the fair, people bathe before daybreak at the confluence of the Saryu and Gomati rivers, followed by an offering of water to Lord Shiva inside the Bagnath Temple. Those who are more religiously disposed of, continue this practice for three days in succession, which is known as Trimaghi. On this day, people also give khichdi, a dish made by mixing pulses and rice in charity, take ceremonial dips in holy rivers, participate in Uttarayani fairs and offer deep-fried sweetmeats consisting of flour and jaggery to crows and other birds as a way to pay homage to the departed souls of their ancestors. In West Bengal, Sankranti is also known as Poush Sankranti. The freshly harvested paddy and the date palm syrup in the form of Khejurer Gur is used in the preparation of a variety of traditional Bengali sweets made with rice flour, coconut, milk and khejurer gur or date palm jaggery and known as Pitha. Goddess Lakshmi is usually worshipped on the day of Sankranti. In Darjeeling, the festival is as known as Magey Sakrati and is associated with the worship of Lord Shiva.

The Hindu Sindhi community in western regions of India and southeastern parts of Pakistan, celebrate Makar Sankranti as Tirmoori. On this day, parents send sweet dishes and ladoos and chiki or Laaee made of sesame seeds to their married daughters. In Bangladesh, Makar Sankranti is known as Shakrain and is observed with the flying of kites. In Nepal, Maghe Sankranti as it is known in the country, is celebrated as the new year and is a major festival of the Magar community. Observant Hindus take ritual baths during this festival and the oldest female in each household wishes good health to all family members.

So here’s wishing you a very Happy Makar Sankranti with a greeting from my home state of Maharastra which goes like this: “Til gud ghya, god god bola” which means eat the sweet made from sesame and jaggery, say good and positive thoughts and words and leave all the bitterness and negativity of the past behind.

Festivals of India: Vaikuntha Ekadashi

Posted on January 12, 2022 by memoriesandsuch

One of those festivals which are rarely celebrated by many, Vaikuntha Ekadashi, which coincides with the Moksada or Putrada Ekadashi is a special Ekadashi that comes mostly once a year, but sometimes twice and is generally associated with Shukla Paksha or the 11th lunar day of the Margashirsha month in the Lunar calendar corresponding to the Dhanur month in the Solar calendar sometime between 16 December of the current year and ending on 13 January of the next year. Vaikuntha, which is paradise, is where there is no lack, or shortage; only abundance.

Ēkadashi which means the eleventh is the eleventh lunar day or tithi of each of the two lunar phases which occur in a Vedic calendar month, the Shukla Pakṣha or the period of the brightening moon also known as the waxing phase and the Kṛiṣhṇa Pakṣha or the period of the fading moon also known as the waning phase, according to the Vedic medical texts of Ayurveda and is mentioned in detail in many original treatises such as the Charaka Samhita and the Susruta Samhita.

In Hinduism or Sanatan Dharma, Ekadashi holds great importance. A favourite tithi of Lord Krishna, his devotees observe upavas or fasts to be closer to him. In Nepal and India, the day is considered a day to cleanse the body, aid repair and rejuvenation and is usually observed by a partial or complete fast. High protein and carbohydrate-containing foods such as beans and grains are not consumed during the fast as it is a day to cleanse the body, instead, only fruits, vegetables and milk products are eaten. This period of abstinence starts from sunrise on the day of the Ekadashi to sunrise of the following day with rice is not eaten at all during this 24-hour period.

Followers of Lord Vishnu or the Vaishnava believe that the gates to the Lord’s inner sanctum or the Vaikunta Dwaram is opened on this day with the Margashirsha Shukla Paksha Ekadashi in the Lunar calendar known as a Mokshada Ekadashi. Vishnu temples all across the world offer special prayers, yagnas, discourses and speeches. Those who follow Lord Shiva or the Shaiva sect observe the day as Trikoti Ekadashi, a day where all the deities in the Hindu pantheon pay obeisance to Lord Shiva at the same time.

According to the Vishnu Purana, fasting on Vaikuntha Ekadashi is equivalent to fasting on the remaining 23 Ekadashis of the year. However, according to the Vaishnava tradition, fasting is mandatory on all Ekadashis of both the Shukla and Krishna pakshas with fasting on an Ekadashi holier than any other religious observation. Because complete fasting has to be observed on Ekadashi, the meal on the Dwadashi or the 12th day is designed to be wholesome, nutritious, and filling. When observed, it is said to bestow liberation from the cycle of birth and death. On this day, the Vaikuntha Dwaram or the Vaikuntha Vaasal, the Gates of Vaikunta are believed to be kept open. The area encircling the sanctum is referred to as the Vaikuntha Vaasal and devotees throng this doorway to gain entry into the temple, to seek Lord Vishnu.

Legend says that Lord Vishnu opened the gate of his home, Vaikuntham, for two asuras or demons in spite of them being against him. They also asked for the boon that whoever listens to their story and sees the image of Lord Vishnu coming out of the door called Vaikunth Dwar, will reach Vaikunth as well. This is why temples all over India make a door kind of structure on this day for devotees to walk through.

According to the Padma Purana, the Devas, unable to bear the tyranny of Muran, a demon, approached Lord Shiva, who directed them to Lord Vishnu. A battle took place between Lord Vishnu and the demon and Lord Vishnu realised that a new weapon was needed to slay Muran. In order to take a rest and create a new weapon, Lord Vishnu retired to a cave for the Goddess named Haimavati in Badarikashrama. When Muran tried to slay Lord Vishnu, who was sleeping, the female power that emerged from him burned Muran to ashes with her glance. Lord Vishnu, who was pleased, named the goddess Ekadashi and asked her to claim a boon. Ekadashi, instead, beseeched Vishnu that people who observed a fast on that day should be redeemed of their sins and Lord Vishnu thus declared that people who observed a fast on that day and worshipped Ekadashi, would attain Vaikuntha. Thus, came into being the first Ekadashi, which was a Dhanurmasa Shukla Paksha Ekadashi.

The demon Muran stands for the Rajasic and Tamasic qualities in people, attributed to lust, passion, inertia and arrogance. When one conquers these tendencies, one attains the purity of mind or Satva which is indispensable for the attaining of moksha, the liberation or the realisation of the self. For realizing the self as pure awareness, purity of mind is required and fasting helps to keep at bay the tendencies that could be triggered by intake of certain foods. Keeping vigil in the night is symbolic of awareness, or being watchful of the contents of the mind. When the mind is looked at, it becomes still. To abide in the stillness is to attain freedom or peace, acquired through the merging of the mind with the self. This is symbolic of the mind automatically being absorbed in the sight of Vishnu after the arduous fast and vigil. The belief that rice is prohibited, because Muran dwells in it, symbolically signifies that the eating of rice makes one feel heavy and hampers the vigil. This signifies that entertaining negative tendencies could hamper one’s progress towards awareness or consciousness. Observance of the rituals on this auspicious day even without understanding their importance is beneficial. Hence the merit accrued through observing them with piety is believed to be immeasurable. In the Mahabharata, the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna at the beginning of the Kurukshetra War about the Bhagavad Gita is said to have occurred on this day.

At the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, the Srirangam Vaikuntha Ekadashi celebrations last 20 days, divided into two parts, the Pagal Pathu or the morning part lasting ten days and the Ira Pathu or the night part comprising the other ten days. Lord Vishnu as Lord Ranganatha Moolavar will bless devotees in Muthangi or armour of Pearls on all 20 days. On the 10th day of Pagal Pathu, which is the day before Vaikuntha Ekadashi, the Utsavar Namperumal will bless devotees in the Mohini Alankaram. Very early on Vaikuntha Ekadashi, the Utsavar Namperumal will bless devotees in the armour of diamonds and gems and is brought to the Thousand-Pillared Hall from the sanctum sanctorum through the northern gate known as the Paramapada Vasal, the gate to Vaikuntha. This gate is opened once a year, only on the Vaikuntha Ekadashi day. It is said that anyone who goes through the Paramapada Vasal will reach Vaikuntha. On the 8th day of Ira Pathu, the Namperumal will bless devotees in a Golden Horse Vahanam in the evening & the Thirumangai Mannan Vedupari Ritual will be held.

At the seven hills of Tirupati, the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple also has a similar concept to celebrate Mukkoti Ekadashi, as it is known in the region. Tirumala has a special entrance called Vaikuntha Dwaram that encircles the sanctum sanctorum. The dwaram or passage is opened only on Vaikuntha Ekadashi and it is believed that any person who passes through this Vaikuntha Dwaram on this particular day attains salvation. The temple witnesses a heavy inflow of pilgrims and dignitaries for Vaikuntha Ekadashi and all Arjitha sevas are cancelled on this day and only the Sarva Darshanam is allowed on Vaikunta Ekadashi.

On the auspicious day of Vaikuntha Ekadashi, which falls tomorrow, chant the Lord’s name, visit the temple and try and enter the Vaikuntha Dwar at a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu and keep a fast if that is possible.

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