Digambara and the Shwetambara Jains observe the birthday of Lord Mahavir, the
Jain Teerthankar, on 13th day of the bright half of the Chaithra month as Mahavir
Jayanthi. (March- April).
Though it is celebrated by Jains throughout the country,
it is celebrated with great style and fervor in Rajasthan and Gujarat where
the Jains are settled in large numbers. On this day Jain pilgrims from all over
the country congregate at the ancient Jain shrines at Girnar and Palitana in
Gujarat and at Mahavirji in Rajasthan, and Pawapuri, Vaishali in Bihar. Vaishali
being the birthplace of Lord Mahavir, a grand festival is held here and it is
known as Vaishali Mahotsava.
auspicious and holy day, grand chariot processions with the images of Mahavir
are taken out. Rich ceremonies are held in the temples and fast and charities
to the poor and the needy are done. On this day the Jain scriptures are devotedly
read and in some places big fairs are held.
Hanuman is known to give quick solutions to problems. He is also known
as Sankat Mochan or the remover of distress and affliction. There is hardly
any place in North India where there is no temple for the Lord Hanuman.
So, his birthday is celebrated with great devotion. On chaithra Shukla
Purnima- full moon day, generally falling between 15th March and 15th
April, Hanuman Jayanthi is celebrated all over the country.
is believed to be the son of the monkey chieftain, Kesri and his wife
Anjaani. He is also called Shankar- Suvan. It is widely held that during
the great churning of the Oceans, the gods and the Demons began to fight
over the ownership of the great "Amrita".
came in the form of a beautiful Lady to deviate the demons and let the gods
have the Amrita. Lord Shankar was so much attracted to the Lady that he chased
her and prematurely ejaculated. The sages and seers did not want to waste the
seed of shankar that they collected it and implanted it in the womb of Anjani
and thus Lord Hanuman was born.
anniversary of Hanuman is celebrated with great devotion. Devotees visit Hanuman
shrines, observe fasts, offer prayers and puja and read the Ramayana. On this
day the idols of Hanuman are given a special coating of vermilion mixed with
clarified butter. People offer "besan Ladoo" or "Boondi" as prasad and chant
various hymns eulogizing his glory.
a women's festival, Ganagur is celebrated on the third day of the bright half
of Chaithra (March-April). It is a local festival in Rajasthan and is also celebrated
in many parts of northern India with great fervor. Ganagaur is actively an 18-day
festival culminating on the final day. The celebrations commence right from
the next day of Holi with the worship and prayers to Gauri. Gauri is an epithet
of Parvati, the eternal spouse of Lord Shiva.
married and the unmarried girls worship the Goddess everyday during the festival
with durva grass, fruits and bright glass pots filled with fresh water. The
married woman seeks the blessings for faithful conjugal happiness and bliss
while the virgins pray for a suitable handsome husband and future marital prosperity.
final day of Ganagaur festival, the ladies keep strict fast, worship the Goddess,
wear colorful raiment and ornaments, exchange sweets and the earthen or wooden
images of Ganagaur (Shiva- Parvathi) are taken out in processions through the
main streets to the accompaniment of music for the immersion of the idols in
the nearby lake. Normally Ganagaur is celebrated at the daybreak.
a great festival celebrating the marriage of Lord Sundareswarar with the
fish-eyed goddess Meenakshi is held with great enthusiasm in the month of
Chaithra (March- April). It lasts for 10 days and centers on the famous
Meenakshi temple, an extraordinary temple of Dravidian architecture.
The deities are taken around the temple in chariots. Thousands of devotees
from all over the country gather in the city of Madurai on this occasion.
anniversary is called as Meenakshi Kalyanam, which is the most spectacular festival
of Madurai. According to the legends, Indra set out on a pilgrimage to atone
for the misdeeds he has done unknowingly. During his pilgrimage when he came
near Madurai, he felt that the burden has lightened and he found a Shiv Linga
lying there. He immediately built a beautiful temple there and installed the
lingam there. Then he desired to perform a puja and so Lord Shiva caused a Golden
lotus to appear in the nearby pool, and that day happened to be a chaithrapoornima.
The golden lotus lake is still inside the temple premises.
the birthday of Lord Rama is a major Hindu festival celebrated all over the
country by all sects of the Hindu fold. Ram, the seventh incarnation of Lord
Vishnu was born on the ninth day of the bright half of the lunar month chaitra.
preparations start early in the morning with people taking bath in the holy
waters and coming to the temple of Lord Ram. They keep fast till 12, noon, when
the avatar is supposed to have taken place. People take "Phalagar" only in the
afternoon. It consists of a sweet made of khoya, potatoes or calacosia made
in any form without the use of Haldi, garlic and onion. All kinds of root vegetables
are consumed and no green vegetables. Fruits are allowed. The puja is done in
the noon by singing various slokas, hymns and ending with the distribution of
Panjeeree, chranamrita, fruits and sweets.
the birthplace of Sri Ram, the temples are heavily decorated and great festivities
take place. Ramayana is read and recited and great fairs are held here on that
day. Ran Navami is also celebrated as the Vasanta Navarathri festival with the
celebrations starting from the first lunar day of the bright half of the chithrai
typical rural festival of north India, it is a very prominent one for
the State of Punjab. This is an agriculture-based festival and it signifies
the happiness of the farmers after their crops have been harvested. It
is celebrated with gusto and fervor by all the sturdy people of Punjab
known to be great connoisseurs of all good things in life.
harvest festival of Baisakhi is celebrated with the joy being expressed
by the famous Bhangra dance. It is very important for the Sikhs, Buddhists
and Hindus alike and is marked by the ritual bathing at Haridwar.
falls on the 14th April and marks the beginning of the solar year for
the north Indians, and it is called so because after this day, the month
Baiskhi starts. But when an extra month is added to the year, this festival
falls on the month of Baiskhi.During this festival the clime is very enjoyable
and also the farmers have sufficient amount of money in their hands for
the celebrations, since the harvests are over and the produce sold.
In the morning
of Baisakhi, people take bath at rivers and tanks. Then dressed in new attires
they go the Gurdwaras. There they give thanks for the good yield and pray for
a similar result, the coming year. The day is considered very auspicious and
big cattle fairs are conducted in many village grounds. Giant wheels and merry-go-rounds
dot almost all the villages.
It was on
this day that Guru Gobind Singh initiated the "Panch
Piyara" or the five loved ones. He decorated the Khalsa at Anandpur
sahib near Chandigarh and gave five people from five different states the rules
on how to be like a true Sikh. One of the sacred places for the Sikhs is the
Amritsar, Golden Temple. It has a huge tank in it and there is popular belief
that anyone bathing in it gets purified of all his sins. On Baisakhi day, water
is brought from all the sacred rivers of India and poured into that tank.
fruits like ber and lookat and mithai are sent to the houses of the daughters
and sisters as gifts. Visitors are given lassi and mithai and many other festive
the most sacred day for the Buddhists all over the country. This full- moon
day of the month of Vaisakh (April- May) has special significance, because on
this day the Great Buddha was born, attained enlightenment and attained Nirvana
or death. This strange, three-fold coincidence, gives Buddha Purnima its unique
On the full
moon day of Vaisakh the Buddha's mother, Queen Mahamaya, happened to be on her
way from Kapilavastu to her parents home in Devdaha. During the journey itself
she gave birth to her son under the shade of two Sal trees. And then this Gautama
grew up but he was nor attached to worldly pleasures and sought a way out. Then
on another full moon night of Vaisakh, on his thirty-fifth birthday he attained
day, the Buddhist people take bath and wear white clothes and visit the viharas
and give alms to the monks there. Then they attend discourses on the life and
teachings of the Buddha from the Buddhist monks there. On this day they refrain
from eating meat. Their special forms of charity include kindness to animals;
many of them buy caged birds and let them free. They make "Vaisakh Valkats"
out of bamboo and decorate their houses with them. To the Buddhists it is not
a day of great rejoicing but of deep reflections on the travails of human life
in particular, because Buddha was the first to find a solution to the great
causes of human grief.
is believed to be the most pious day in a month in general for the devout Hindu.
It comes twice in a month according to the Hindu calendar. It falls on the eleventh
day of the waxing of the moon and again on the eleventh day of the waning of
the moon. The observance of the rituals connected with this day are said to
wipe away the sins that may have been done in the past fortnight. The very religious
observe a fast on both the Ekadashis. The regulations for the fasts are nor
very strict. Fruits, milks, sweets, tea and coffee can be taken along with water
and a full meal can be taken in the night.
Ekadashi" comes in the Hindu month of Jyeshta, the 11th day of "Sukul Paksh"
and comes sometimes in the month of June. The origin behind this festival goes
like this; Bhim, the son of Kunti, was a great Gourmet. He hated the idea of
fasting on every Ekadashi. So his mentors felt that atleast he should absolve
of his sins and that it should be a total "Vrat".
In the morning
of this day people get up early, take bath and wear ordinary clothes and perform
puja. It is not a festive occasion but a sober one, where one is supposed to
think of the humble and the poor. Everyone does the puja with water first and
then with aipun and roli and lastly with rice, worshipping Ganesh and the appropriate