“In times when the grain was harvested by hand, many traditions and superstitions grew up around this important event.”
People of eastern Indian states of West Bengal, Assam and Orissa worship Goddess Laksmi on Kojagori Purnima night — the full moon night in the month of Ashwin of Bengali calendar, just four days after Vijaya Dashami or Dusshera — the last day of the Durga puja in the month of October. Kojagori Purnima coincides with Nabanna or the harvesting festival or season which commences from this day when the harvested grains are consumed in households.
Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. The modern Mother’s Day has been assimilated into Indian culture. Indians do not celebrate the occasion as a religious one, but do their best to thank their mothers for care and love.
Kumbh derives its name from the immortal Pot of Nectar, which the Demigods (Devtas) and Demons (Asuras) fought over, described in ancient Vedic scriptures known as the Puranas. It is these Vedic literatures that have stood the test of time, out of which the tradition has evolved into the one that the world now knows as The Kumbh Mela or The Kumbha Mela. The festival is one of the largest peaceful gatherings in the world, and considered as the “world’s largest congregation of religious pilgrims”.
My classmates got together at my home for my birthday followed by dinner with family friends. It was a great day!
The Karma Puja is a festival of agriculture and is very sacred to the indigenous peoples in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam. Tribes like Baiga, Oraon, Binjhwari, Munda, Majhwar, Ho, Khortha, Korba, Santhal, Nagpuri and many more tribal communities celebrate this festival.
The tiny state of Sikkim in Northeast India is home to 600 species of orchids! It is to showcase this wonderful bounty of nature and other exotic flowers that Sikkim hosts an international flower festival every year from March to May. The state is home to 240 species of trees and ferns, 150 varieties of gladioli, 46 types of rhododendrons along with a variety of magnolias and many other foliage plants.
