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, vegetables, fruit, chutneys, salads and [...]

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 in the evening and the Assamese [...]

When we speak about India, we think only of tradition and culture, and of the lovely festivals and traditions that rock this place all through the year. Come October 15, 2011 and it is again going to be a time of festivals, colours, traditions and a whole lot of devotion. Devotion? Yes. Because it is going to be the festival of women praying for their husbands – the festival of Karva Chauth.
This is an annual festival and it is there for a single day. All the Hindu and the Sikh women dress in their best finery and fast from sunrise till the moon is seen and they pray for the long life and success of their husbands. It is majorly celebrated in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan. It is usually celebrated on the fourth day after the full moon appears in the Hindu [...]

Yes as October 11, 2011 is drawing near the Hindu Calendar would see yet another popular date being celebrated by all. This is the day of the full moon in the Ashwin month of the Hindu calendar. It is believed that on this day Sri Krishna performed the Raas Lila with all the Gopis.
It is said that there is a great link between the Sharad Purnima day and the moon. It is said that the moon is closest to the earth on this day and the rays of the moon on this day have great nourishing values. It is said that human beings are benefitted by these rays so all the people spend the evening under these rays or under moonlight on the day of Sharad Purnima thus giving the winter festival all its reasons to be so popular.

 
This day is also observed as the day of the Kaumudi [...]

With many festivities  and lot of merriment and pomp, Manipur is a place to go and really one where you should attend all the festivals here. There is no month of the year when this place doesn’t celebrate. It is celebration time here perennially. This place has immense culture, a great social life and the religious beliefs are given a lot of importance in this lovely little land nestled in the norhteastern part of India.

With a lot of recreation, and fun, these festivals is an outlet for these hardworking people called Manipuri’s living here.
The Lai Haraoba is a festival that is celebrated for the deities called the Umang Lai and is a festival for the deities of the past and also for the ancestors. There are a lot of dances done by men and women and these invoke the divinities of the past generations. The ruling deity of Moirang is [...]

Yes it is the time of the Number Nine. Nine days and nine nights of fun, pleasure, celebration and reverence. The time when you would pray to the Goddess of Power Durga, the Goddess of Learning Saraswati and the Goddess of Wealth Lakshmi. The time when you would get success over evil. The time when only goodness prevails and the evil vanishes into thin air.
Yes this is the time of Navratri. And Navratri 2011 is just round the corner. Starting September 28, just enjoy all the pleasures of this festival of power. But did you ever know why Navaratri is celebrated and what is the significance?

Well navratri is the festival of Hindus and it is the time of festivities. It means literally nine nights. Nava means nine and ratri means night. In these nine nights, the victory of good over evil is revered and the final day is Vijayadashami or [...]

The Buddha – a picture of peace, calm, tranquility and charm. Isn’t wonderful to be like him and isn’t it a great achievement to attain enlightenment? Yes it was at Sarnath that Buddha the learned one taught the Dharma and also the place where the Sangha for Buddhists was first formed. This is thus one of the four major places of pilgrim. There is the deer park here which is where the Buddha is said to have rested and taught the first Dharma. Lying around 13 km from the city of Varanasi, Sarnath lies around 13 km from the main city.
In the deer park you would find the stupa constructed by the Emperor Asoka in the year 249 BCE. There are many more such Buddhist structures in the park that were constructed much later and the ages between the 3rd century BC and the 11th Century CE saw a lot [...]

When the Indian god Rama was born, there was a miracle that took place in this world and the miracle saw him winning over the demon king of Lanka Ravan and creating the mythological epic Ramayana. Till today India celebrates the birth of their lord with lot of pomp and glory. Ram navami as it is called is the celebration of the birth of Lord Rama. Born with royal parents like King Dasaratha and Queen Kausalya, Ram in Hindu belief is said to be the seventh incarnation of the Indian God Lord Vishnu. Then Lord Rama got married to Goddess Sita and this was on the Panchami day. Navami which is the ninth day on the month of the Chaitra as per the Hindu calendar is the day Rama was born and is celebrated as Ram navami.
Many Indian states have nine days of Ram navami. This period is known as [...]

Whenever you feel you have to see stars during day, then just wait for the one Indian festival Diwali. This festival is so important for all the religions in India that come October and November the whole of the country gets ready to celebrate one of the grandest festivals ever in this part of the world. For the Hindus, the festival signifies a lot of activities that are done together traditionally. For the Jains, the festival of Diwali is the time of getting salvation. It is believed that the Jain guru Mahavira attained enlightenment at this time. The Sikhs celebrate Diwali as the freedom day of Guru Hargobind who saved around 52 kings from the captivity of the Mughal Emperor.
Across the world, the festival is celebrated in the countries of Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Guyana, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago and Malaysia besides, Suriname and Singapore. Diwali is actually “Deepavali” which [...]

So Navrathri is round the corner and you would certainly be getting ready to get involved with all the fun, enjoyment, and celebrations that are related to it. Come the month of September and India is agog with activity and entertaining activities. Indians indulge themselves in lot of festivities and the festive mood is what energizes them to carry on with the day to day activities at other times. Festivals are the way they take a break from their monotonous life and get to meet friends, relatives and enjoy with their near and dear ones. Dussehra is one such festival which the Indians celebrate with a lot of enthusiasm and happiness.

Occurring normally in the Hindu month of Ashvin, that would be around September or October of the Gregorian calendar, this festival signifies the triumph of good over evil. It symbolizes the victory that Lord Rama had over the demon king [...]

If you happen to be in the southern part of India in the month of January or February then be prepared to see the spectacle of your life as it is that time of the year when the pot spills over. The Pot? Yes, Pongal the festival is a harvest festival where they boil milk in a pot and let it spill over. This boiling of milk in the pot signifies inviting a lot of financial and material wealth in the house. It also indirectly is a silent token of gratitude offered to the Indian sun God for all the material wealth he gives us and for taking care of the farms and fields thus making a good harvest.

Occurring on 13th January, the Pongal festival is a very important festival in Tamil Nadu in India. People here donate their first grain to the Sun god. The Pongal day starts with [...]