India Cultural FestivalsDURGA PUJA |
Durga
Puja : A very famous festival of Hindus. According to Hindu
calender, it is celebrated in the month of October/November. This
festival is most popular in West Bengal. Bengalis made huge pandals and
decorated it by light and establish the idol of Goddess Durga inside the
pandals. It is nine days festival. This festivals is also celebrated in
Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and some other regions of India. Birth of goddess Shakti : According to the epic of Hindu, the Goddess Durga(Shakti) created from the power of all the gods. Once demon Mahishasura captured the heavens because he had a boon given by Brahma. Brahma blessed him that he will be killed only by a woman. He drove away all the gods from heaven and captured the IndraLok. Gods offered a weapon each to Goddess Durga. Then a battle took place between Goddess Durga and Mahishasura and Goddess Shakti killed him. According to the epic Goddess Durga is also the wife of Lord Shiva. Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, Kartika, the god of war and Ganesha(Elephant headed), the god of success are all the four children of Goddess Shakti. Kali Puja
Kali
Puja : Kali Puja is celebrated in the month of
October/November which performed on Kartik Amavasya. Kali puja is the
main bengali puja of West Bengal. It is celebrated all over India by
Bengali community. Our main purpose of this puja is to provide power to
goddess by worship in destroying evil from us and from the outside world
and also performed for the hapiness, wealth and peace. People of west
bengal made the big and attractive pandals and decorated it with the
lights. This festival is also celebrated in some areas of Jharkhand and
Orissa. Birth of goddess Kali : This story is related to Shimbhu and Nishumbhu the dangerous and powerful demons. Goddess Kali is the powerful form of Mother goddess Durga. Both the demons captured and reigned the Indra Lok. The gods defeated with them and they lost all the hope as they were very stronger. Then gods decided to take the help of Lord Shiva. They requested for the help from Mata Durga, the goddess of Shakti. To destroyed demons and save earth from the cruelty of the demons, Mata gave birth to Maa Kali from her forehead. After the birth of goddess Kali, the war had started between her and demons. She started killing the demons. She bathed by the blood of demons. She also lost her control and killed everyone in her way. Kali made a garland of their heads and wore it. She started destroying the world. So to protect the world, Lord Shiva lay down in the path of her and unknownly she stepped on him. After seeing him, her tongue hanged out and Kali stopped destroying the world. Chatt Puja
Chatt
Puja : The god of this puja is Lord Sun. It is celebrated in
Bihar and in the few areas of Uttar Pradesh and is celebrated two times
in a year. It is celebrated in the month of march(chaitra) and in the
month of November(Kartik). This puja is started after the 6th day of
diwali. The sixth day is called the "kharna day". But the
songs of Chatt puja starts a month ago. Women also sings the song of
Chatt puja. It is the two days puja. The evening argh and next day the
morning argh to the Lord Sun. Women offers grains, fruits etc. to the
god Sun. Woman fast for the happiness of her family members in this two
days festival. Woman baths in the cold water of lake or pond as it is
the important part of this puja. Krishna Janmashtami
Janmashtami
: Janmashthami is the birthday celebration of Lord Krishna.
This festival is celebrated in the month of August/September. This
festival is very popular in Northern region. The temples are decorated
on Janmashthami specially in Mathura and Vrindavan. People keep fast and
broken at midnight. According to the Mahabharata epic, Lord Krishna was
born at stormy midnight. On the occassion of Janmashthami, a matka is
suspended high above the ground, pyramid of group of people break it. By
this way the people celebrated this festival. 
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Sept 17, 2007