Sabarimala Temple Festival

Description

Sabarimala temple is located on the top of the hills of the Western Ghats. The holy shrine in Sabarimala is dedicated to Lord Ayyappa. Thousands of devotees visit Sabarimala during the months of November-January when the main festival takes place.

The devotees who visit the temple during the festival walk barefoot through the uneven road to reach the temple. Before taking the trip the devotees fast and surrender themselves to the will of God for 40 days. They do not drink or smoke, eat selected food, sleep on the floor and stay away from women and family during this period. Irrespective of caste and creed they wear black dhotis and carry offerings like coconut filled with ghee, camphor and rice.

People take a dip in the river on their way to the temple. It is believed that people who take a dip in the holy waters of the river are cleansed of all sins. People also visit the Muslim God on their way to Sabarimala who is believed to be a close friend of Lord Ayyappa. People start chanting the Lord’s name on witnessing a glowing flame on the hill opposite the temple. Mandala Pooja festival is an important part of Sabarimala festival. It begins 41 days before Makar Sankranti and continues for 41 days. Makara Villaku Pooja Festival is the most important part of the festival and lasts for seven days.

Place and Community

Sabarimala is a famous pilgrimage destination in Kerala. His festival is attended by thousands of people from all across the world.

Month

Sabarimala festival is celebrated in the months of November-January.

Sabarimala Temple Festival

Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa Jayanti

Introduction

Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa was an incomparable spiritual saint, whose teachings influenced many lives across the globe and even continues to do so till today, becoming more and more distinct as the effects of his God-centered life marked in our contemporary human culture. Swamiji also himself practiced all different religions and worshipped Goddess Kali, Jesus Christ and Allah during his life time to experience and teach that all religions lead to one common , supreme power of Almighty!

Swamiji, the God-realized being took birth in 1836 at Kamarpukur in West Bengal about 70 miles from Calcutta. During the short life span of 50 years, Swamiji exercised a profound spiritual influence and encouraged people towards secularism.

He taught that there is one supreme power of Almighty whether he is Bhagwan of Hindus or Allah of Muslims, or Jesus of Christians or Guruji of Sikhs. That absolute power remains one and only one, only the name differs from religion to religion.

Celebration

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa’s Jayanti is celebrated with great ecstasy and happiness in India, especially at all the headquarters of the Ramakrishna mission.

The day is treated as one of the religious festival and celebrated across the nation.

Large number of people belonging to different religions converge together to pay their homage to this unsurpassed saint and an ecstatic holy man, whose teachings still remains in the heart of people.

The birthday of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa is another famous religious festival which is held every year on a day in early March at the Belur Math, headquarters of the Ramakrishna mission. This festival draws not only Hindus but people of other religions and Non-Indians, and lakhs of people converge there to pay homage to the great saint.

Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa Jayanti 2010:

Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans Jayanti is celebrated on the 2nd day of Phalgun Shukla Paksh every year.

 

Shekhawati Festival

Introduction:

The Shekhawati Region, a land of Rajputs is an amalgation of Indian art, culture and rural farm life along the vast semi-desert countryside of Rajasthana place. 

The havelis, lavish mansions and courtyard scattered throughout the countryside built during the 18th and 19th centuries are painted with colourful and beautiful picturesque of Indian culture and history.

The Shekhawati Festival is organized by the State Department of Tourism, District administration of Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Churu and the M.R. Morarka- GDC Rural Research Foundation Shekhawati. The festival is attracting large number of tourists thus fast becoming a rural tourism destination too.

Tourists can watch and feel the real rural environment. They can go back with an unforgettable impression of friendliness of the people and comprehensive agricultural revolution in the villages.

The festival is organized with an aim to enhance tourism in Shekhawati region.

The festival is organized at a number of places in Rajasthan, including Nawalgarh, Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Churu.

Nawalgarh serves as the chief location for the festival and is easily accessible from the capital city of Jaipur.

A number of activities like rural games, cultural programmes, haveli competitions and fireworks etc. are held to entertain the guests.

Every year whole Shekhawati region is transformed into a venue of fair and festivals on 10th and 11th of February. The Shekhawati fair hosts a gala event for the sale and purchase of cattle. The Shekhawati festival also has an assortment of attractions for everyone. The festival provides an opportunity to locals by providing them with an avenue for trading and earning bread & butter.

Major Attractions of Shekhawati Festival:

Shekhawati festival is great opportunity to take a peek into the village life of Rajasthan. The festival let people visiting here acknowledge with the rustic charm, the humbleness and hospitality of villagers. The unexplored terrains of the surroundings are discovered on a ride on camel's back. Camel and jeep safaris, Rural games, Cultural programs, Haveli competitions are held.

  

Time to celebrate:

Every year whole Shekhawati region is transformed into a venue of fair and festivals on 10th and 11th of February.

World Water Day

Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface. A single cell of Escherichia coli contains 70% of water, a human body 60–70%, plant body up to 90% and the body of an adult jellyfish is made up of 94–98% water.

Thus it can be said that the colourless and odourless damsel forms an integral part of one’s life. Water is also considered as a symbol of purification. International World Water Day is held every twelve months to focus the attention on the importance of freshwater and to promote sustainable management of freshwater resources.

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) decided to observe an international day to celebrate freshwater in 1992 and thus the first World Water Day was observed on 22 March 1993.

World Water Day is celebrated every year with a new theme highlighting an explicit aspect of freshwater.

Today one in every eight people in the world don’t get pure water inspite of spending hours by women and children in collecting water from distant resources.

This day gives an opportunity to remember our commitment to achieve the day when everyone in the world can have safe drinking water and also to celebrate the progress of bringing about 3 lakh people in eight countries clean water and sanitation.

Themes of World Water Day Yester Years

World Water Day is celebrated every year with a new theme highlighting an explicit aspect of freshwater. One of various UN agencies involved in water issues lead in promotion and coordination of international activities for World Water Day each year. UN-Water has been responsible for selecting the theme and messages since the inception of World Day for Water in 2003.

2010: Clean Water for a Healthy World
2009: Transboundary Waters
2008: Sanitation
2007: Coping With Water Scarcity
2006: Water and Culture
2005: Water for Life 2005-2015
2004: Water and Disasters
2003: Water for Future
2002: Water for Development
2001: Water for Health
2000: Water for the 21st Century
1999: Everyone Lives Downstream
1998: Groundwater - The Invisible Resource
1997: The World's Water: Is there enough?
1996: Water for Thirsty Cities
1995: Women and Water
1994: Caring for our Water Resources is Everybody's Business

Sheetala Ashtmi

The tangy flavour of Fairs and Festivals in Rajasthan has their own charm. These fairs and festivals proves best opportunity for the guests to peep into and understand the cultural and traditional aspects of the land of royal figures more closely.

One of the small and grand festivals is the Sheetala Ashtami festival. Fair is also held at number of places in Rajasthan. The Sheetala Mata fair at a small hamlet Chaksu, Jaipur and Kaga, Jodhpur with great passion and zeal.

Sheetala Ashtami is celebrated during the spring season in the month of March after seven days of holi.

It is a common belief among all the people that worshipping Sheetla mata on Sheetla Ashtmi would prevent them from the deadly outbreak of diseases.

Sheetala Mata is commonly called the goddess of small pox. The huge excitement and gusto of celebration of the festival is worth watching.

The local market is the hub to display and trade a lot of items like indigenous shoes, food items, agricultural implements during the fair at the Sheetala Ashtami.

Even cattles are sold here. Flocks of people dressed in colorful attires add brightness in the environment.

Musical events are organized in which the participants display their talent. There are also a lot of rituals and religious activities to be performed during the play.

People feed old and needy people on the day and ask for their blessings.

It is noticeable though, that some communities observe the eighth day of Krishna Paksha of every month as Sheetalashtami. But the most auspicious one is the Chaitra Krishna Paksha Ashtami.

Celebration

Devotees prepared food one day before of Sheetla Asthami & the day of asthami they visit to the temple in queue and performed puja of Sheetla Mata with their food. People gorge on this food which is called Baseda in local lingo as a Prasad of Sheetla mata. All the eatables which are of cool in nature are offered to the diety. Some consider Bajra, Rabri and curd as an essential offering. A Separate temporary mandap is made for this day and a red stone representing the idol of Sheetala mata is kept there, for worship by devotees.

Time to celebrate

The auspicious day of Sheetalashtami, or Sheetala Ashtami, is dedicated to Goddess Sheetala in the month of Chaitra (March – April) as per the traditional hindu calendar followed in North India. Devotees keep fast on the eighth day of the Krishna Paksha (waning phase of moon) in Chaitra month to cure from measles, chicken pox and small pox.

Pattadakkal Dance Festival

Pattadakkal Dance Festival - Pattadakkal - Karnataka

 

The city of Pattadakkal is the place of beautiful temples, the occasion for dance festival. You are going to be transpired into this world of Magic, which will carry you to the heritage of this ancient capital of Chalukyan Kings. Delicately carved temples rich in detail stand still at Pattadakkal, which gives the beautiful and mystical look of this great festival of music and dance. Delicately carved temples rich in detail stand still at Pattadakkal, the ancient capital of the Chalukyan kings.

 

A festival of dance celebrates this marvellous heritage.

Pushkar Fair

This fair is held at Pushkar town, 11 km from Ajmer in Rajasthan for twelve days annually. This cultural and trade cum religious fair is an attractive and lively spectacle with Rajasthani men and women in their colourful traditional attire, saffron-robed and ash smeared Sadhus (holy men) and thousands of bulls, cows, sheep, goats, horses and camels in richly decorated saddles. Perhaps the largest cattle fair in the world, it attracts more than one lakh people, and from all over Rajasthan as well as tourists from different parts of India and abroad.

Reasons to visit Pushkar fair:

• It is the world's largest Camel Fair.
• Pushkar has the world’s only temple for Lord Brahma.
• Pushkar has the world famous Sarovar with 52 Ghats surrounding it.
• Pushkar offers around 400 temples to see.
• Pushkar Fair is all encapsulated with numerous cultural activities.
• Ethnic shopping items from all over the state are on sale during fair.
• It’s a rare combination of religious fervor and cultural vibrancy in Rajasthan.
• One of the most interesting and attractive feature of the fair is the opportunity to meet and see numerous different cultural folks. 

History:

Pushkar has the world famous Brahma temple and Sarovar.

According to a popular myth Lord Brahma was on his way to search for a suitable place to perform a 'Yagna' (a fire sacrifice) while contemplating, a lotus fell from his hand on the earth and water sprouted from that place.

One of the places where the Yagna was performed was Pushkar.

The famous Pushkar sarovar (Lake) has 52 ghats surrounding it. During a visit to the holy city of Pushkar it is considered to be very sacred to take a dip in the Lake.

On the full moon day of Kartik Purnima thousands of devotees throng the place to take a holy bath in Pushkar Sarovar.

Major Attractions of Pushkar Fair:

The annual fair held at Pushkar in the month of Kartik is the largest cattle fair in the entire Asia. Visitors and tourists from all over the world gather here to witness the participation of numerous camels, horses, cows, mules, goats and sheep along with their masters, which is one of its kind spectacles. Some of the major attractions at this colorful occasion are:

• The first five days of the fair is dedicated to buying and selling of cattle. This process normally takes a lot of days as initially the sellers lure customers by praising their animals and when there is a deal there are lots of negotiations that take place. After the cattle are sold it is decorated and ornamented.
• One of the major attractions especially for women is shopping. Some of the most exquisite and awesome varieties of ornaments, accessories and other jewelry is available at different stalls. These craftsmen engage in this craft for the whole year and wait for the fair to make some profits. Numerous stalls of trinkets, silver ornaments, chains, nose rings, necklaces, waistbands, anklets, toe rings, hairpins and the ivory bangles worn from wrist to shoulder are what attract the women in the fair. Garments and tattoos are also very popular among womenfolk.
• On the last two days of the fair many cultural and amusement activities are organized for the visitors to have loads of fun and frolic. Camel Races, Musical Chairs for Camels, Camel Beauty Contest and Laadoo Oonth are some of them. These activities are for every age group and indeed there is something to enjoy for every visitor to the fair.
• The main ceremony of ritual bath in the Pushkar Lake is done on the Full moon day of Kartik punima. Pushkar Lake is believed to posses some medicinal properties.
• Camel races are very popular among visitors from across the world. On the full moon days, a tented city is created around the Pushkar Lake, where these races are held. Spectators and participants both have a gala time during the races.
• Necklaces of glass beads from Naguar, pottery, printed textiles from Jodhpur and Ajmer are all on sale here
• Pilgrims flock from all over India to be in Pushkar at this auspicious time. They also believe that all the 330 million Gods and Goddesses are present at Pushkar Lake during the occasion.

Main Events:

The department of Tourism, Rajasthan organizes many activities and events for the tourists. These activities are sliad for the entire period of the fair.

Significance:

Pushkar fair has since ages been a constant source of amusement and attraction for tourists and visitors from all over the world. The fair and the city of Pushkar both offer infinite sources of significance to many religious communities.

For Hindus, Pushkar is one of the five Dhams or pilgrims which have always been held high in esteem.

Mythologically it is believed that battle Lord Brahma when fought a battle with demon Vajra Nabh with a lotus flower, the leaves of the flower fell down at three places on earth. All three places are around Pushkar and it is also believed that these three places have resulted in lakes. At one point in history the Pushkar Lake was surrounded by 500 temples and 52 palaces.

One of the most significant features of the city of Pushkar is the temple of Lord Brahma, which in fact is the only Brahma temple on earth.

How to Reach Pushkar:

The nearest city to Pushkar is Ajmer which is about 11 Kms from Pushkar. The various sources of connectivity to Pushkar are:

• Air:  To travel by air, the nearest airport from Pushkar is Jaipur. Jaipur is about 131 Kms from Pushkar.
• Rail: The nearest railway station from Pushkar is Ajmer, which is well connected to all major stations of India.
• Road: For the road travelers who want to take a bus to Pushkar, there are two Bus-stands in Pushkar. One is the Marwar bus stand that is situated to the North of the town. This stand has buses to some major cities like Delhi, Jodhpur and Bikaner.The second stand is situated to the East of Pushkar and buses running to Jaipur and Ajmer.

Where to Stay:

Pushkar has always attracted wide range of tourists from all over the world and thus the department of Tourism has pitched in large number of tourist accommodation and other facilities. In Pushkar one would find large number of both public and private hotels in every range and amount.

Many people prefer staying at the RTDC, government hotels. Rajasthan tourism Development Corporation, RTDC has wide range of hotels in Ajmer namely Khadim and Sarovar. In Pushkar Tourist Village is the only hotel by RTDC.

Although throughout the year various tariffs right from luxury, Deluxe to moderate are available, many hotels charge exorbitant prices during the Pushkar fair in leau of Business profits.

One can also find many hotels just around the fair ground by many private companies. There are also some special tour packages offered by both government and private sector that include fares for accommodation, food, travel etc at some nominal prices.

Pariyanampetta Pooram

Introduction:

Pariyanampetta Pooram is a seven day fest held at Pariyanampetta Bhagavathy Temple, Kattukulam in Palakkad district of ‘God’s own country’, Kerala. The Pariyanampetta temple is dedicated to Goddess Bhagavathy, the Goddess of 14 Desams.

 
The image of goddess is drawn on floor and songs are sung along with it; this ritualistic drawing is called Kalamezhuthu Pattu and is performed on all the seven days of the festival.

Religious and folk arts like Kaalavela (bull motif display) and Kuthiravela (horse motif display), Poothanum thirayum etc are demonstrated in the procession on the last day.

A cultural celebration is also held on the occasion in which there are performances of the famous Kathakali and Chakyarkoothu. The ancient folk art of shadow puppetry called Tholpavakoothu, is performed at night on all festival days.

The pooram day is on the 7th of month of Kumbam according to the Malayalam calendar. It falls approximately on the second week of February. A procession of 21 caparisoned elephants is a spectacular on the last day of the festival.

Elephants are considered holy in holy in Kerala; so people hoard around the procession to seek blessings from them. The elephant and traditional musical performances are inherent parts of religious festivals in South India- Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The traditional folk and traditional performances like the Tholpavakoothu, Kalamezhuthupattu, Pootham, Thira, Karivela, Kaalavela, Kuthiravela, Kathakali, Chakyarkoothu brings a cheerful smile to the faces of people.

  

Time to celebrate

 

The pooram day is on the 7th of month of Kumbam according to the Malayalam calendar, which corresponds to 19th February every year.

 

How to reach
 

By Rail

The nearest railway station is Palakkad which is about 45 km away from Kattukulam where the festival is to be held. Palakkad Junction is a Broad Gauge railway junction on India's Southern Railway network.

By Road

Palakkad is well connected by roads. The National Highway 47 from Salem to Kanyakumari and the Palakkad - Kozhikode National Highway 213 pass through the district. Another important road is the Palakkad - Ponnani which connects NH 47 and NH 17. The nearest city is Coimbatore in Tamilnadu which is well connected to Palakkad with broad gauge trains and buses.

By Air

Nearest airport is Coimbatore in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu which is about 55 km from Palakkad. Coimbatore airport has connecting flights to Singapore, Sharjah, Colombo, apart from major Indian cities.

 

Paripally Gajamela

Introduction: 

Every celebration is regarded incomplete without the participation of elephants in Kerala. Elephants are worshipped as an incarnation of the elephant headed god Ganesha.

Elephants tamed in some of the temples in India bear the images of the gods in temple processions on some special days. Elephants hold important place as they have the privilege of escorting the numerous gods and goddesses.

In early days rich and affluent families in Kerala used to house an elephant and were considered a family member. The people of Kerala keenly observe elephant pageants on their special day.

 
Paripally Gajamela has the popular and unique elephant pageant that is held as a part of annual festival at Kodimootil Sree Bhadrakaali Temple in Paripally, Kerala.

The word ‘Gajamela’ is composed of two words- ‘Gajam’ and ‘Mela’. Gajam is another word for elephant in Malayalam and Mela means fair.

An annual elephant parade in which more than 50 elephants take part is held in Paripally town of Thiruvananthapuram on tenth day of the festival is very popular among masses.

The devotees dedicate the elephants at the temple of goddess Bhadrakali in the hope that it will bring in prosperity and affluence during the procession. The ritual is called ‘nerch’. The procession presents a spectacular view of a string of caparisoned elephants.

The pooram and vela festivals are the best events to gaze at the majestic tuskers in all their caparisoned brilliance. Mahouts atop Colourfully decked up elephants holding high tinseled silk parasols (muthukuda) and swaying white tufts (venchamaram) and peacock feather fans (aalavattom) to the rhythm of the temple orchestra.

The elephant pageant is accompained by the musical harmony of five traditional instruments (panchvadyam) which forms a passionate element of the kudamattam ritual (the synchronised changing of the parasols atop the tuskers). Cultural programmes are held every night all the way through the festival days.

Time for celebration:

One of the Kerala's most impressive temple festivals is Paripally Gajamela. The festival is celebrated every year in February-March. In 2010, the Gajamela will be held on 7th March.

Getting there:

Nearest railway station: Kollam which is about 23 Kms from Paripally.

Nearest airport: Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is about 54 km from Paripally.

 

Thrissur Pooram

Pooram is the most colourful of all the temple festivals of Kerala. It is celebrated in Thrissur at Vadakkumnathan temple in the month of Medam (April) where the regaining deity is Lord Shiva. Situated on a hillock right in the centre of the city, the spaciously laid out 'kshetram' or temple attracts thousands of devotees from all over the land during the Pooram festival.

It is a magnificent spectacle with fireworks, umbrella showing competition and a splendid elephant procession.
   
The best elephants of the state from the various temples in Kerala are sent to Thrissur to participate in the Pooram festival.At 3' 0 Clock in the night spectacular display of fireworks begins. It lasts till 6' 0 clock in the morning. By afternoon the festival ends.

Thrissur Pooran, the pooram of all Poorams, falls in April every year. It is intrinsically a people's festival in all respects. It is different from other national festivals like the Kumbha Mela of Uttar Pradesh, the Vijayadashami pageantry of Mysore or the Rath Yatra of Orissa. Pooram is participated and conducted by people cutting across all barriers of religion and caste.

The unique catholic nature of Pooram could be traced to its genesis two centuries ago when Sakthan Thampuran (1751-1805), the very architect of Thrissur, became the ruler of the erstwhile state Kochi.

He took up the renovation of the Vaddakkannathan temple complex which was enclosed by high walls. The four massive gopurams of the temple have been ascribed to him. At a time when nobody would have dared to look straight at the almighty Namboodiris, Sakthan Thampuran stripped of their powers and took over the administrationof the temple that claimed an antiquity of more than three centuries.

It was he who made the sprawling Thekkinkadu Maidan the major venue of Thrissur Pooram. Again, he entrusted the onus of holdingthe festival to the two public temples- Tthiruvampadi and Paramekkavu temples that had never been under the control of the Namboodiris. He himself is said to have drawn up the 36-hour hectic schedule of the Pooram festival.

Thrissur Pooram, the mother of all temple festivals in the state, is essentially one of spectacles. The two devaswams- Thiruvampadi and Paramekkavu- explore and exploit every source at their command to make this annual festival a memorable one. It is celebrated with a colourful procession of caparisonedelephants, parasol exchanges; drum concerts, display of pyro-techniques and refreshing scenes of public participation.

During the festival season, Thrissur, popularly known as the temple town turns into a town of colour, music and mirth. The Pooram programmes extending about 36 hours begins with the ezhunellippu of the Kanimangalam Shasta in the morning and is followed by the ezhunnellippu of the other six minortemples on the Pooram Day.

The ezhunnellippu programme, which is considered to be a ritual symbolizing the visit of the Devi from the Paramekkavu and Thiruvambaditemples to the Vadakkunnathan temple. A major event of the Pooram festival is the Panchavadyam in which about 200 artistes from the disciplines of Thimila, Maddalam, Trumpet, Cymbal and Edakka participate.

Another major event of the pooram begins with the setting off of the 'Pandemelam'at noon in which about 200 artistes in the disciplines of drum, trumpets, pipe and cymbal participate. The grand finale of this festival of colour, music and fire works would be marked with a function of bidding farewell to the deities of the Thiruvambadi and Paramekkavu Devaswams in front of the Western Gate of the Vadakkunnathan Temple.

A noteworthy feature of the pooram festival is the participation of large numbers of people andelephants . The pachyderms emerge out in all their regalia with newly fabricated caparisons. They make their way through the milling crowds drawn from all religions, castes and creed to the accompaniment of ecstatic percussion ensembles. The exhibition of the paraphernalia of elephant decorative, commonly known as 'Aana Chamayal pradarsanam', the spectacular show of 'Kudamattom' in which parasols of myriad numbers, designs and colours are exchanged by the people atop theelephants.

The Pooram festival is concluded with a spectacular fire works display, which is held in the wee hours of the day after the Pooram. The Thiruvambadi and Paramekkavu Devaswams present many innovative patterns and varieties of fire works, which make spectators going into raptures. This famous and mighty exhibit of the magnificent display offireworks add to the popularity of the Pooram festival.
   
The most striking feature of the Thrissur Pooram is its very secular nature. The Muslim and Christian Communities actively take part in it and they play a very prominent role in the very conduct of the festival. Most of the pandals are the craftwork of the experts from the Muslim community.

For the two days of the festival, the CMS High School, owned by the North Kerala Diocese of CST Church and located on the western part of the Swaraj Round, becomes virtually the Headquarters of the Thiruvampadi Devaswam. The templeelephants are tied in the school compound. The 'Aana Chamaya pradarsanam' is also held here.

The parasols for the 'Kudamattom' are offered by the churches and their members. At a time when the secular fabric of the Indian Society is slowly disintegrating, one cannot be myopic to the relevance of Thrissur Pooram, the conduct of which should become worthy of emulation to other festivals in the country.