Holidays Around The World � hindu symbol

Ram Navami is a religious observance for Hindus

Noel — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:27:02 +0000

Ram Navami: March 31

Ram Navami is a religious observance for Hindus.

The Hindu festival of Ram Navani is the celebration of the birthday of Lord Rama, believed to be the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The festival falls on the ninth day of the bright phase of the moon, or shukla paksha, in the lunar month of Chaitra, that is April or May in the Gregorian calendar. and it ususally falls on the same day of the Indian New Year celebrations.

History of Ram Navami

Ravan was a demon king feared by all. But he could not be killed by the gods because he had received a blessing from Lord Brahma that he would never die at the hands of a god, or demigods or demons. So Ravan did not fear anyone and ruled with an iron fist over his kingdom and warred with his neighboring kings.

This is when Brahma declared that Ravan would die then at the hands of a man, but there was no man on earth that would dare face Ravan with the thought to kill him. So the gods went to Lord Vishnu and asked for his assistance, their request was that he would be born as a man, son of King Dasarath, who had at the time 3 queens and no born son.

Dasarath was one day praying, and at the end of his prayer a shining figure appeared to him and gave him a drink called payasam for him to give to his wives: Kausalya, Kaikayi, and Sumitra. When the time came, the three women gave birth to four babies. Kausalya gave birth to Rama, Kaikayi to Bharat and Sumitra to Laxman and Shatrugna.

Rama is considered one of the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, along with Krishna he is one of the most popular ones. Much later when it came the time for Rama to be crowned, his stepmother asked the father of Rama to send him and his wife, Sita, to the forest for 14 years, and so Dasarath did, and sent the two away. Rama, Sita and his brother Lakshmana stayed in the forest.

Ravan did not like Raman because the young prince was beautiful and perfect in every way, he hated the prince and desired him dead. One day Ravan looked for Rama in the forest and found Sita, who he kidnapped and brought to his kingdom in Lanka. Rama went after Ravan to free his wife Sita. The battle between the two was near.

Rama entered the city of Ravan and waited for him, Ravan came to meet his opponent followed by hordes of followers that at the sight of Raman abandoned Ravan alone in the open ground where he would finally meet his death. Rama fights with Ravan and in a stroke of mercy against his opponent he fires an arrow straight to his heart and Ravan dies at the hands of a man. Rama frees his wife and returns home to be crowned king.

Ram Navami Traditions, Customs and Activities

Ram Navami celebrates the birth of Lord Shivnu as prince Rama, who killed the demon king Ravan. It is celebrated with great joy by all devotes of Lord Rama, who usually hold fasting for nine days.

On the day of Ram Navami everybody wakes up very early to take bath and pray to the God Sun. In the morning there are mantra prayers and offering of fruits and flowers to Lord Rama. Homes are cleaned and pictures of Lord Rama, his wife Sita and his brother Lakshman are held in the walls and the offerings are placed in front of them with lightened candles.

A special ritual is done on his day, a puja to Lord Rama. The youngest female member of a family will apply teeka to all the males in the family, and a red bindi is applied on the foreheads of the males. Everyone then sprinkles water, roli and aipun to the images of the gods on the walls, and then hands filled with rice are showered unto the deities. Everyone then stands and performs the arti, and at the end water is sprinkled over the whole family. Singing of bhajans is done while performing the puja, and finally prasad, some food that literally means a generous spirit, is offered to everyone who was present during the puja. Puja is a religious ceremony of gratitude done in the home of a family.

Nyepi is a religious observance for Hindus in Indonesia

Noel — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:37:00 +0000

Nyepi Day: March 23

Nyepi is a religious observance for Hindus. It is also a public holiday in Indonesia.

Nyepi is the celebration of New Year in the Hindu Saka calendar. It is a lunar calendar and New Year is celebrated on the first day of the 10th lunar month, that is March or April of the Gregorian calendar, in 2010 will be on March 16.

History of Nyepi

Hindus in Bali use two calendars, the Pawukon system and the lunar Saka calendar. The Saka calendar is used by Hindus and has 12 months, and each month ends with the new moon. The New Year is celebrated with the new moon of the end of the 9th month. This day falls on March or April in the Gregorian calendar. To mark the New Year Balinese Hindus celebrate the day of Nyepi, or Day of Silence.

It is a day for strict meditation, fasting and silence, starting at 6am and ending the next day at 6am, there are strict rules when it comes to observing silence in Bali. You cannot light a fire, and you lights should be kept low, no work, no entertainment, no TV or music, no travel, the airport is closed during the whole day, and if you are a hardcore follower of these practices you will not eat or talk the whole day. Everybody is to stay at home and reflect on the past year and pray for blessings for the New Year that has started.

But Nyepi starts much before the actual New Year day; there are several festivals and rituals that are performed in preparation for Nyepi. If you manage to be faithful to the prohibitions during Nyepi, you will start the New Year purified and blessed, you will be Kedewaan, or like having the qualities of a deity.

Nyepi Traditions, Customs and Activities

There are several traditions that are included in the Nyepi celebrations and that start before the actual day.

Melasti is a day for colorful processions of the images of the Gods to the waters of the oceans from their temples, it is done three or four days before Nyepi. There are prayers in the beach before returning the images of the Gods to their temples, in the city. It has the meaning of cleaning all impurities from humans and the whole universe with the waters of the ocean.

Tawur Kesanga and Caru are sacrifice rituals on the eve of Nyepi. There are sacrifices of all kinds of animals, chickens, ducks, dogs, goats or cows and bulls. These are offered with plants to the Gods. On the same day, there is also a traditional running around the houses or villages for protection with a torch and a bell to make noise. In a village there are processions with a giant doll called Ogoh-Ogoh, that is like a giant puppet monster, which in the end is burned.

Then on the day of Nyepi, total silence is to be observed. The religious prohibitions are: no fire, no work, no entertainment or pleasure, no travelling. Everybody is to stay at home and is not allowed to come out in the streets, there are actual government officials that patrol the streets to make sure that no one is outside. Exceptions of course for emergencies.

After the Nyepi there is a day that is called Ngembak Geni, it is a day for forgiveness, everybody gets out of the house to visit relatives and friends and share the happiness of the New Year with clean spirits. And they are received with cakes and sweets that are prepared especially for this day.

Vasant Panchami is a Hindu religious observance

Noel — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:03:33 +0000

Vasant Panchami: January 28

Vasant Panchami is a religious observance for Hindus and it is a national holiday in Nepal.

Vasant Panchami is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birthday of Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, art and music. It is celebrated on the fifth day of the Indian month of Magh.

History of Vasant Panchami

Saraswati is the daughter of Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga. She represents wisdom and consciousness, she is the goddess of knowledge and arts. Her gifts to humans are wisdom, speech and learning. Saraswati has four arms that signify mind, intellect, alertness and ego. With one hand she holds sacred scriptures and within another she has a lotus, that is a symbol of true knowledge, while with the other two she is playing an instrument called veena, and she is said to be playing music about life and love. Vasant Panchami is the celebration of this goddess birthday, and also the beginning of Vasant Ritu, or spring season.

According to Hinduism, the oldest sacred texts Vedas, are Saraswati’s children. Legends say that Saraswati was born from the forehead of her father, Lord Shiva, like greek god Athena who was born from the head of Zeus. It is told that the god Brahma fell in love with Saraswati the moment he saw her, but she did not like him so she kept running from him. Brahma trying not to let her escape grew four faces in his head so that he could see her wherever she was, but still Saraswati was intelligent enough to escape Brahma.

Legend says that somehow Brahma managed to marry her and from the marriage the Vedas came to being. One day a great sacrificial fire was setup by Brahma, as the time of the offering approached he asked his wife not to be late and be by his side as the sacrifice was to be offered by them as husband and wife. But Saraswati is somewhat absent minded and was late. Brahma was furious and threw the wife in the fire as the sacrifice itself. Saraswati then remained forever alone, she is said to have a fiery temper and independent will, and living in a perpetual self imposed exile.

Vasant Panchami Traditions, Customs and Activities

Families on this day wake up early to bathe and dress in new white or yellow clothes to celebrate the festival. It is tradition for Hindu families that during this festival their children will be taught to write their first words. Brahmins, who are educators, law makers, scholars and preachers of Dharma in Hinduism, on this day, are offered gifts. It is also customary to worship ancestors, since they are the guardians of knowledge that was passed from generation to generation. And schools, colleges and universities organize special prayer rituals for Saraswati.

The predominant color on the festival is yellow, as people dress in yellow to adore Saraswati and also sweets are colored yellow and offered on this day as gifts. Yellow signifies the beginning of spring time and the blossoming of flowers in the fields. Flowers are offered in the temples to images of the goddess, and also students are to place their books in front of statues of Saraswati and do not do any studying on this day. Also musical instruments and different artist’s tools are placed in front of the goddess to receive her blessing of inspiration and wisdom.