Festivals
The
Hindu New Year day is celebrated in the first month called Chiththirai
(Chaitra). It marks the beginning of spring. It is a thanksgiving
harvest festival. People clean thier houses, apply kolams or rangoli at
the front entrance & pooja room, make delicacies speical to the region.
It is also the custom in most regions to mix neem leaves & flowers
in their food on New Year day. A preparation is made with neem leaves
or flowers, mangoes, jaggery etc. signifying that people should accept
the bitter & sweet occurances of life in the right spirit. It falls
on 13th or 14th of April. Special prayers are offered in temples.
Baisaakhi
- New Year in Punjab
The
festival is celebrated with holy dips, prayers, fairs, Bhangra & Gidaa
dancing, processions, etc.
This
day is further special to the Sikhs, since it was on this day in 1699 that
their tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh started the order of the Khalsa.
On
this day in 1875, Swami Dayanand, a Punjabi Hindu reformer started the
Arya Samaj. |
Gudi
Padva - New Year in Maharashtra
On
this day, special prayers are offered to a kalash (a silver or brass pot)
placed on top of a pole, decorated with a silk cloth, mango leaves placed
outside the house. |
Naba
Barsha - Bengali New Year (This
festival is celebrated as the Poila Baisakh in Bangladesh).
A
mud pot filled with water & mango leaves is placed in the middle of
the kolam. Special prayers are offered to Goddess Lakshmi.
Fresh accounts are started by businessmen & traders after worshipping
Lord Ganesha. |
Ugaadi
- New Year in Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka 2 April,
2003- Telugu New years day
Yuga
Adi - beginning of the Ner Year. . |
Varusha
Pirappu - New Year in Tamil Nadu 14 April, 2003
Fresh
Mango leaves & kolams with Kaavi decorate the outside of the houses.
Special meals are prepared with vadai, payasam. A special mango chutney
is made with neem flowers. |
Vishu
- New Year in Kerala
Vishu
is celebrated in Kerala with great joy to usher in prosperity. They arrange
agricultural yields such as paddy, pulsed, vegetables, fruits, along with
new dresses, ornaments & money in a central place. Early the
next morning the entire household feasts their eyes first thing on this
in a mirror placed in front of the arrangement, praying to the Lord for
prosperity throughout the year.
Special
meals are made using coconuts, plantains, jackfruits, etc. which are the
specialities of Kerala.
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