Festivals of India

India is known for its colorful festivals. As we have hundreds of languages, foods, attires…we also have tons of festivals celebrated in INDIA. I will talk about some of the main festivals celebrated in INDIA because it’s impossible to talk about all of them. These festivals are celebrated according to different religions and beliefs.

                  

The main festival which is celebrated by all Indians is diwali. Diwali reminds us of the festive season of joy, splendor, enthusiasm and happiness. It is the festival of lights and is celebrated with great excitement by all Indians all over the world. Families light their house decorates and prepares sweets and pray to God Laxmi for peace, happiness and prosperity in the family. We also burn crackers on this day to celebrate the day.

The other main festival is Holi which is the celebration of colors in our lives. The festival has different aspects to its celebration. Like it is a celebration of good over evil, a carnival of colors, a community festival, a secular festival and a tradition of ancient spring rites. People of all religion and caste color each other with gulal (a powdered color) and other form of dyes. They also visit homes, distribute sweets and greet each other. Men, women, adult and children all take part in dances and other cultural programs. It's the time of the year when roadside stalls throughout the country bear tables covered with bags of colorful powder, called gulal. Holi is the exuberant festival of color.

The Rakhi festival or Raksha Bandhan has a special significance in hearts of brothers and sisters. The silken thread of Rakhi symbolizes the love between siblings. The Rakhi Festival symbolizes all aspects of protection of the good from evil forces. Rakhi is meant to sweeten the ties of brother and sister. Rakhi is celebrated with great joy and excitement all around India. Known as Raksha Bandhan in other parts of the country, Rakhi festival showcases the love, affection and feeling of brotherhood. The main ritual consists of tying the 'Rakhi' knot on to a brother's wrist. 'Raksha Bandhan' literally means 'Bond of protection' and implies that while the sister prays to God for the well-being and prosperity of her brother, the brother vows to protect her against all the evils of the world and help her in all the problems. The day is all about Raksha or protection. The values, emotions and the sentiments attached to the customs of Rakhi festival are worth inculcating by the whole human race, the sentiments of harmony and peaceful coexistence.

Personally my favorite festival is Raksha Bandhan because I really share a beautiful and a very loving relation with my brother. He always gift me something on this day and we both celebrate it with love. So that’s it for this blog. See you all in the next post.

As promised I am back with my next posting on Indian culture. In this post I will talk about the Indian culture and Indian Attire.

The family culture in INDIA is very different from what we have in western countries. Indian culture is rich and diverse and as a result unique in its very own way. Our manners, way of communicating with one another, etc are one of the important components of our culture. Even though we have accepted modern means of living, improved our lifestyle, our values and beliefs still remain unchanged. A person can change his way of clothing, way of eating and living but the rich values in a person always remains unchanged because they are deeply rooted within our hearts, mind, body and soul which we receive from our culture.

Indian culture treats guests as god and serves them and takes care of them as if they are a part and parcel of the family itself. Even though we don’t have anything to eat, the guests are never left hungry and are always looked after by the members of the family. Elders and the respect for elders is a major component in Indian culture. Elders are the driving force for any family and hence the love and respect for elders comes from within and is not artificial. An individual takes blessings from his elders by touching their feet. Elders drill and pass on the Indian culture within us as we grow.

Like in here we greet each other by saying “Hi”  “Hello” our way of greeting people is by saying “NAMASTE” we fold both our hands together and wish anybody who come to our home. Well, like “NAMASTE” every religion in INDIA has their own way of greeting. But yes “hi” and “hello” are now a day’s most common greetings among youngsters and even elders.

We in India usually live in a joint family. It means all the family members with their siblings live together with their parents. Girls after marriage leave the home but boys live with their parents with their wife and children. But as time is changing, some people migrate from their home for jobs or business and live in nuclear family

but still family is of utmost important to them.

Attires in Indian culture:

Oh I love Indian attire. It’s so beautiful, elegant and rich with all the embellishments , blink and style different from the western and any other country. Very commonly you will find women’s wearing SARI or SUITS as a daily attire and LEHENGAS for special Occasions. And for men’s they wear jeans, T-Shirt, trousers, shirts and suits are very common whereas for any special occasion they wear SHERWANI.Other than our traditional dresses Jeans, dresses and skirts are also  commonly wore by women’s in INDIA but mainly more popular among youngsters and people living in Metros.

 SARI happens to be the most versatile drape with its amazing styles of draping and design. The sari is the traditional dress of India which also modifies as per material, drape and style with each region. This has also gone up to international drape style followed by ranking designers on the ramp shows. Sari is mostly wear by Indians in Wedding Ceremony, Functions any by some as a Daily Attire.Saree is draped with a top which we call as “BLOWSE”.

SUITS are of different styles available in India. Usually style differs by fashion and personal choice. But you will see quite lot variations in it. But every suit has a top which you can call as a “Tunic” bottom which we call as “Churidar” or “Salwar” and “Duptta” which you can call as a scarf .no matter what ever style of suit you are wearing it will have these three things in it.

LEHENGAS are mostly worn for special occasions and not as daily attire. Usually brides wear it on their wedding. It also has three parts “top, skirt and duppata”

SHERWANI is worn by men’s on special occasions like wedding. It has a long-shirt fully embellished bottom as “churidar” and a “duppata”.there can be a lot of variations on this dress too in terms of style and pattern according to personal choices.

Hummm…that’s all for today’s posting…. In my upcoming postings we will discuss about Indian Jewelry and Dance and so many other things to know INDIA better. 

See you in the next post...... 

About INDIA

It is impossible not to be astonished by India. Nowhere on Earth does humanity present itself in such a dizzying, creative burst of cultures and religions, races and tongues.

India, officially the Republic of India is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world.India is very rich in languages. There are uncountable number of languages and dialects being spoken in India. A minimum of 30 different languages have been identified along with 2000 dialects. Today, due to rapid industrialization and a bustling influence of multinationals in the economy, English has become the most common language, after Hindi, being spoken in the country.

There are four main religions of India.Hindu,Muslims,Sikh and Christianity.but other than this the rest of india is also divided in many other religion,caste and sud-caste.

I myself sometimes get amazed about India.it has so many shades and colors.there are total 28 states and seven union territories in INDIA.you will be amazed to know that every state has its own different language,culture, beliefs and special food which makes it real interesting.

In my upcoming blogs,i will discuss in detail about Indian culture,traditions,food,education,movies,sports and festivals.i hope you will enjoy reading my post as much as i am enjoying writing about it.

See you in the next post....