Festivals of India : Hindu Festivals & Fairs Part 1 (Illustrated)
By vyanst1
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About this ebook
India is known as the land of Festivals. The "Festivals of India" series makes an effort to present the history and information about these festivals.
Man of every religion resides in India, therefore, every festival from Christmas to Id to GuruPurab to Diwali is celebrated here. There are festivals celebrated throughout the year.
This book is the first part in the series and peeps into the importance of various Hindu religion festivals celebrated in each part of India. One can know the reason behind the celebration of Holi, Navratri, Ugadi, Onam or even the special melas (fairs) such as Kumbh Mela or Pushkar Camel Fair. These festivals are an integral part of Indian Culture.
This book is hence an appropriate guide for inquisitive people who wish to know the festivals that are celebrated throughout India.
The book has lot of high quality images for the real time celebrations of most of the festivals. Due to size restrictions the book is divided into two parts. This part -1 contains below 25 Hindu festivals and fairs arranged in the alphabetical order of their English names.
#1 Amarnath Yatra
#2 Basanth (Vasanth) Panchami / Saraswati Puja
#3 Bathukamma festival
#4 Bihu
#5 Bonalu
#6 Brahmotsavam
#7 Chhat Puja
#8 Datta Jayanthi
#9 Diwali / Deepavali
#10 Dussehra / Dasara / Vijaya Dashmi
#11 Ganesh Chaturthi / Anant Chaturdashi
#12 Gangaur
#13 Gita Jayanthi
#14 Gowri Habba
#15 Guru Purnima
#16 Hanuman Jayanthi
#17 Holi / Shimgo / Ranga Panchami / Dhoolwad
#18 Krishna Janmashtami
#19 Kali Puja
#20 Karaga Festival
#21 Karthik Purnima )
#22 Karwa Chauth
#23 Kavadi Festival
#24 Kojagiri Purnima / Sharad Purnima
#25 Kumbh Mela
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Festivals of India - vyanst1
FESTIVALS OF INDIA
HINDU FESTIVALS & FAIRS - PART - 1
(ILLUSTRATED)
BY VYANST
ILLUSTRATED & EDITED BY PRAFUL B, GURIVI G FROM VYANST
Festivals of India : Hindu Festivals & Fairs - Part 1 (Illustrated)
By Vyanst
Illustrated by Praful B, Gurivi G from Vyanst
Copyright © 2014 Vyanst
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher.
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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Note
This is the part 1 of our series Festivals of India: Hindu Festivals & Fairs. The book has been divided into two parts due to size restrictions. This first part has 25 Hindu festivals, and each festival is presented as a separate chapter. This book starts is organized in English alphabetical order of the names of the festivals and starts with Chapter 1 – Amarnath Yatra and continues till Chapter 25 – Kumbh Mela.
The second part of this series has 26 more chapters from Chapter 26 – Lohri Festivals and continues till Chapter 51 – Special Melas and Fairs.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
AMARNATH YATRA
CHAPTER 2
BASANT (VASANTH) PANCHAMI / SARASWATI PUJA / SHREE PANCHAMI
CHAPTER 3
BATHUKAMMA FESTIVAL
CHAPTER 4
BIHU
CHAPTER 5
BONALU
CHAPTER 6
BRAHMOTSAVAM
CHAPTER 7
CHHAT PUJA
CHAPTER 8
DATTA JAYANTHI
CHAPTER 9
DIWALI / DEEPAVALI
CHAPTER 10
DUSSEHRA / DASARA
CHAPTER 11
GANESH CHATURTHI / ANANT CHATURTHI
CHAPTER 12
GANGAUR
CHAPTER 13
GITA JAYANTHI
CHAPTER 14
GAURI HABBA
CHAPTER 15
GURU PURNIMA
CHAPTER 16
HANUMAN JAYANTHI
CHAPTER 17
HOLI
CHAPTER 18
KRISHNA JANMASHTAMI
CHAPTER 19
KALI PUJA
CHAPTER 20
KARAGA FESTIVAL
CHAPTER 21
KARTHIK PURNIMA
CHAPTER 22
KARWA CHAUTH
CHAPTER 23
KAVADI FESTIVAL
CHAPTER 24
KOJAGIRI PURNIMA
CHAPTER 25
KUMBH MELA
CHAPTER 1
AMARNATH YATRA
When: Between June - August
In honor of : Shiva
About :
One of the most important events during June/July is Amarnath Yatra to the Holy Pilgrimage. This is an annual event when thousands of Hindus from different corners of the Globe visit the Amarnath caves.
The pilgrims trek from Pahalgam to these caves and worship the great ice Lingam.
Legend :
This is The Cave which was chosen by Lord Shiva for narrating the secrets of immortality and creation of Universe to Goddess Parvati. Long ago Maa Parvati asked Lord Shiva to let her know why and when He started wearing the beads of heads (Mund Mala).
Lord Shiva replied When ever you are born I add one more head in my beads.
Maa Parvati said, My Lord, my body is destroyed every time and I die again and again, but you are Immortal. Please let me know the secret of this.
Lord Shiva replied that it is due to Amar Katha.
Maa Parvati insisted that she may be told that secret. For long Shivji continued postponing. Finally on consistent demand from Maa Parvati He made up his mind to tell the immortal secret. He started for lonely place where no living being could listen it. He choose Amarnath Cave. In preparation to that He left His Nandi at Pahalgam (Bail gaon). At Chandanwari, He released Moon from his hairs (Jata). At the banks of Lake Sheshnag He released the snakes . He decided to leave his son Ganesha at Mahagunas Parvat (Mahaganesh Hill). At Panjtarni, Shivji left the Five Elements behind (Earth , Water, Air , Fire and Sky) which make living being. He is the Lord of these elements.
It is believed that as a symbol of sacrificing the earthly world , Shivji and Maa Parvati performed Tandav Dance . After leaving behind all these, Shivji enters the Holy Amarnath Cave along with Parvati Maa . Lord Shiva takes his Samadhi on the Deer skin and concentrate . To ensure that no living being is able to hear the Immortal Tale , He created Rudra named Kalagni and ordered him to spread fire to eliminate every living thing in and around the Holy Cave. After this He started narrating the secret of immortality to Maa Parvati. But as a matter of chance one egg which was lying beneath the Deer skin remained protected. It is believed to be non living and more over it was protected by Shiva-Parvati Asan (Bed) . The pair of pigeons which were born out of this egg became immortal having listened to the secret of immortality (Amar Katha).
Many pilgrims report seeing the pair of pigeons when they trek the arduous route to pay their obeisance before the Ice-Lingam (the phallic symbol of Shiva).
CHAPTER 2
BASANTH(VASANTH) PANCHAMI / SARASWATI PUJA
When : Fifth day in the Hindu month of Magh (January / February)
In honor of : Goddess Saraswati
About :
Vasant Panchami, also known as Shri Panchami, is a Hindu festival dedicated to goddess Saraswati. This popular festival is observed on the fifth day of the Hindu month of Magh. Being an important Hindu festival, all Hindus celebrate this day with much enthusiasm and religious activities. Also known as Saraswati Puja, it is considered to be the birthday of Goddess Saraswati. She is the deity of wisdom and learning. Along with goddess Parvati and Laxmi, she is one of the three most important deities in Hindu culture. She represents all kinds of knowledge including science, arts, crafts and other skills. Known for her calmness and serenity, she is often shown seated on a white lotus with four hands and wearing a pure silk white sari. The four hands of the deity symbolize the different sides of human personality in learning. When seated on a peacock, she signifies that wisdom suppresses ego.
On this day people observe various kinds of religious activities and large numbers of them visit temples. Goddess Saraswati is dressed in yellow garments, yellow being the symbol of spiritual knowledge. People also dress up in yellow clothes and offer yellow flowers to deities in the temples. At homes, people prepare yellow sweets and dishes such as Kesar Halwa and distribute among relatives and friends. Being an auspicious occasion, children are taught their first words, hence, marking