Holidays Around The World � hindu symbol

Nyepi is a religious observance for Hindus in Indonesia

Noel — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:37:00 +0000

Nyepi Day: March 16

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.

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.

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Ram Navami is a religious observance for Hindus

Noel — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:27:02 +0000

Ram Navami: March 16

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.

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Vasant Panchami is a Hindu religious observance

Noel — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:03:33 +0000

Vasant Panchami: February 8, 2011

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.

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Diwali is a Hindu festival celebrated all over the world

Noel — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:45:35 +0000

Diwali Festival: November 5

Diwali is a religious 5 day festival celebrated by Hindus all over the world. It is also a public holiday in Fiji, India, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago.

Diwali is a beautiful Hindu festival that is celebrated during 5 days and is known as the Festival of Lights. It literally means Row of Lights in Sanskrit. It begins late in the month of Ashwin with Dhan Teras the first day, and ends in the beginning of month Kartika, the last day is called Yama Dvitiya.

History of Diwali

There are many stories and legends behind the celebrations of Diwali. Mainly it marks victories over evil.

First victory is the return of Lord Raama to Ayodhya after fighting and defeating demon king Ravana. The legend says that the wife of Raama, Sita, was kidnapped by Ravana, king of Lanka. To free his wife, Raama faced Ravana in a fight, the fight between the two caused a great war between their kingdoms, Lanka and Ayodhya. During the war Raama managed to defeat Ravana in combat and free Sita. When the two of them returned to their kingdom of Ayodhya, the people was filled with joy for the victory, they decorated their homes and streets with small lights called diyas to welcome their victorious king.

Another story is told to be behind the celebrations of Diwali. Demon King Nakasur, ruler of Pragjyotishpur, was victorious over Lord Indra in a war. As winner he decided to take as his spoils the earrings from Mother Goddess Aditi, who was a relative of Satyabhama, wife of Lord Krishna. Not happy only with this, he took prisoner in his harem thousands of daughters from the Gods. Satyabhama wasn’t the least happy with what had happened, so together with her husband, Lord Krishna, they went after Narakasur and defeated him without mercy. The women were freed from the harem and the earring returned to Mother goddess Aditi.

One final story, and that is behind the biggest celebration of Diwali, is about the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and prosperity. There was a time when gods and demons were at war, like always they seem to be in an eternal fight between good and evil, and the ocean was churned because of their fights, this was called the Samudra Manthan. So, to prevent greater evils to come from that war, Lakshmi incarnated as a beautiful woman that managed to distract all the demons.

Since the festival has 5 days, each day has its own celebrations and reasons to be and all of these divinities are adored and praised with the lighting of diyas in their house and all over the cities.

Diwali Traditions, Customs and Activities

Diwali is celebrated by days, and in each of the 5 days there different activities.

The first day is the festival of Dhanteras. It is day to worship Lord Yamaraj, God of Death, by lighting a Yama-Diya durng the night and offer prayers. By tradition people on this day a utensil for their houses, any kind of utensil for the kitchen or anything else.

On the second day there is the festival of Choti Diwali, it celebrates the victory of Lord Krishna over Narakasur. On this day the tradition is to take baths and receive massages with oils, if you do not take a bath on this day you will go to Hell, at least that is what traditional sayings foretell.

The third day is the festival of Lakshmi Puja and is the main day of celebrations. Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped on this day and prayers are offered to her for wealth and prosperity. People clean their homes the best they can and decorate the homes with beautiful lights and in the streets there are great fireworks displays.

The fourth day is the festival of Govardhan Puja, Lord Govardhan is worshipped on this day for joining Lord Krishna in protecting the people of Vraja from heavy rains.

The fifth and final day is dedicated to brothers and sisters, legend says that on this day Lord Yamaraj visited his sister Yamuna and blessed her, so if brothers visit their sister son this day like Lord Yamaraj, they will also be blessed and be liberated from all their sins. Sisters also get sweets on this day and not only spiritual gifts.

During the festival there are many other activities, it is tradition to play card games to pass the time. Everyone likes to play with fireworks and it seems like New Year at night during the festival days as everybody lights fireworks on the streets. Great dinners and lunches are prepared on these days for the whole family, while it is tradition to offer sweets to women on these days, and especially to your sisters on the last day.

As preparation for the festival, and for the main day of Diwali, houses are thoroughly cleaned and decorated with flowers, wall pictures of the gods and placing diyas, or little lights, on the house to light them all throughout the five days. Children especially like to prepare different ways to make decorations with things that they find in the streets or in the house, so that they can also please the gods.

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Dussera is a religious observance for Hindus

Noel — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:16:55 +0000

Dussera Festival: October 17

Dussera is a religious observance for Hindus.

Dussera is the culmination of the Festival of Navaratri, and it is celebrated on the tenth day of this festival dedicated to Mother Goddess Durga and Lord Rama.

History of Dussera

There are different sources why Dussera is celebrated. It is mainly dedicated to the victory of Rama over the nine head demon Ravana. But also dedicated to Mother Goddess Durga victory over Mahishasura, and other legends.

According to the Hindu epic sacred text of Ramayana, Lord Rama faced the evil demon Ravana in a fight to free his wife Sita. He managed to win his fight and kill Ravana, and the celebration of his victory is known as Vijayadashmi or Dussera.

Another story tells that the Mother Goddess Durga, to whom the nine days previous to Dussera are dedicated, killed the tyrant demon Mahishasura. Even the powerful Hindu trinity of Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva were not strong enough to defeat Mahishasura. All the gods came together and joined their forces to create Goddess Durga who came to life and kill Mahishasura. Her victory is also celebrated during the Dussera.

Another story goes like this. There was a student by the name of Kautsa, that at the end of his years of studying with brahma named Rishi Varatandu, decided out of gratefulness to offer something to his guru. At first he rejected the offer, and the student kept on making the same offer. So the brahma asked from him 140 million gold coins. The student was surprised by the request, but he still told his brahma that he would fulfill the request to his brahma that taught him so much for years. Without knowing where to go, the only person who may have that much money would be the king and Kautasa knew that the king had a generous heart.

He told his story to the king and asked for the gold coins, the king in his turn decided to ask the God of Wealth for the coins. And passed three days there was a rain of gold coins near apati and shanu trees where they both had lessons. Kautsa brought enough coins to his brahma, and still had coins to give to the needy. This happened in the day of Dussera. There are other stories behind the reason why Dusserra is celebrated, but these are the most famous among Hindus.

Dussera Traditions, Customs and Activities

Dussera is celebrated with Great joy all over India, and the celebrations are a bit different from each region, even though all over the world Hindus celebrates Dussera with the same bases of adoration and rituals.

In north India there is the Ramila, a ritual that depicts the life of Lord Rama, focusing on the encounter of Rama with his brother Bharat, the death of Ravana and the return of victorious Rama to his kingdom Ayodhya. There are huge dolls built to personify Rama and other characters that in the end of Ramila are burnt. There are huge processions with the images of the Gods and people make offering in temples of flowers and fruits.

In south India families prepare little altars in their homes with images of Durga and Rama, and they decorate them with flowers and lamps. There is storytelling and food is offered to the gods, and eventually is offered to anyone who joins the families in their homes for the purjas. The day of Dussera is a day that school children leave their books in front of the Goddess image and ask for wisdom, as well as artists leave their books and tools and ask for inspiration for their work. In the city of Mysore there is a procession with decorated elephants and the streets and illuminated by bright lights.

In East India the celebration twirls around the victory of Durga over Mahishasura. The image of Durga is immersed in water in a ritual called visarjan, as a huge procession of devotees follows the rituals. At the end of this ritual another one follows at the end of the day where an image of Mahishasura is burnt and lights the night sky.

In West India, images of the Goddess and other gods are also immersed in waters of rivers or lakes. And the victory of Rama over Ravana is celebrated. It is a day to visit friends and relatives and exchange sweets.

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Navaratri is a religious observance for Hindus

Noel — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:21:12 +0000

Navaratri Festival: October 8

Navaratri is a religious observance for Hindus.

Navaratri literally means Nine Nights, and it is a Hindu festival of worship and dance. During these days the various forms of Mother Goddess Durga are celebrated with joy and devotion. The festival is celebrated four times a year, and in October it is the Sharana Navaratri, the most important of Navaratris.

History of Navaratri

Navaratri is a time to celebrate and worship God in the form of Durga, the universal mother, which name literally means the one who removes miseries from life. It is Durga who helps God to continue the work of creation, preserve life and needed destruction. In Hindu beliefs, God is above all and he is motionless, he does not change, it is Durga, the Goddess Mother, who does all the work.

Navaratri is divided in 3 sets of 3 days, making it a festival that spreads through 9 days in all, and with a special tenth day at the end. In the first three days Durga is adored under the form of Khali, it means black and force of time, and it is a god that on these days comes to destroy and purify. On the second three days, Durga ia adored as Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, and she protects all from miseries and wealth related problems. The last three days, Durga is adored under the form of Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom.

In this way, Hindus try to receive through Durga on these 9 days all these aspects of the Mother Goddess: purity, wealth and wisdom. But Durga has 9 forms, and each day in itself has its own form to be adored.

In the first day Shailaputri is adored, she is the embodiment of the power of Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. On the second day it is the time for Bharmacharini, she is the image of austerity. On the third day, Chandra Ghanta, apostle of bravery and strength in battle against demons.

Fourth day, is time to adore Kushmanda, who is considered the creator of the universe. Fifth day and now we have Skanda Mata, commander in chief in the war against demons. Sixth day, Katyayani, who was the daughter of an old sage and she was the incarnation of Durga.

Seventh day, Kaal Ratri, her gifts are freedom for fear and troubles. Eighth day, Maha Gauri, she washes all sins from your past, present and future. And on the last ninth day, Siddhidatri who has supernatural healing powers. Let us see how these ladies are adored during the Navaratri.

Navaratri Traditions, Customs and Activities

The traditional ways to celebrate Navaratri are to do fastings during the 9 days, follow a strict vegetarian diet, sing japa or mantras, recite religious hymns, prayers, meditations and read sacred texts dedicated to the Mother Goddess Durga. Depending on where you celebrate Navaratri, different Hindu communities around the world developed different customs and traditions.

In Bengal, there is adoration of the huge statues of the Goddess Durga in her temples, and there are processions. During the last four days, the main focus of the celebrations are young women, known as kanyas, and considered to be the embodiment of Durga as young. It is common to leave the tools of one’s work on the altar of the Goddess to ask for blessings for work and professional career, and students place their books on the altar.

In Gujarat, there are dances that are known as Dandiya Raas and Garba Raas, and there is the custom to wake up in the middle of the night, known as Jaagran. It is believed that the Goddess is embodied in painted pots that are kept in the local temple. Women perform dances in circles around these pots and men perform the Garba, a ritual dance that is connected to Lord Krishna life and agricultural fertility. In Kashmir, fasting is observed by only eating fruits and drinking water. Hindus are a minority in Kashmir, so there are few temples and many of the celebrations are held at home with pujas.

And pretty much all over the world the ways to celebrate Navaratri are the same as in these examples.

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