In devotion to Lord Shiva, Maha shivaratri is celebrated annually by Hindus all over the world.  It is observed either on the 13^th night or on the 14^th day of Phalguna every year. The festival falls between the month of February and March. Maha shivaratri is the most important festival among the other twelve Shivratris’ celebrated in a year. It is popularly celebrated to esteem the Lord Shiva’s glanderous dance; Tandava. Some others also celebrate it as the day Lord Shiva got married to Shakti.

On the day of Shivaratri devotees maintain a fast through-out the day, they offer bael leaves to Shiva’s statues and chant on the spiritual mantra of Lord Shiva “Om Namah Shivaya”.  Other rituals of the festival are to perform Puja to the deity of Shiva and visit the Shiva temples with a desire to earn favors from god. Some take the holy bath in the river Ganges during the auspicious time of sunrise.

Step by step rituals performed on the deity of Shiva Linga:

1. Performing Abhisheka by pouring Milk, honey, curd, ghee, sandalwood paste, butter milk or vibhuthi (holy ash) on the deity of Shiva Linga and decorating it with Bael leaves.
2. A camphor and turmeric paste is applied on the deity after the Abhisheka.
3. Offering fruits and yields of labor to the deity.
4. Lighting lamps and incense sticks.

Some devotees stripe their forehead with three horizontal lines of stripes that represent the three eyes of Lord Shiva. The festive day is considered sacred especially for women. Women fast and pray to Lord Shiva for a blessed married life. Unmarried women do the same for an ideal husband.

This year Shivaratri was celebrated on the 17^th of February. Thousands of devotees from all around the world teemed into temples to offer their prayers.

Some famous temples to visit in India during the Maha shivaratri:

1. Mahakaleshwar – Madhya Pradesh
2. Somnath Temple – Gujarat
3. Kedarnath Temple – Himalayas
4. Kashi vishwanath temple – Varanasi
5. Trimbakeshwar – Nasik
6. Srikalahasti temple – Andhra Pradesh
7. Lokanath shiv temple – Bhubaneswar
8. Thillai Nataraja – Chidambaram
9. Ramanathaswamy temple – Tamil Nadu
10. Murudeshwara temple _ Bhatkal, Karnataka
11. Kapaleeshwarar temple – Chennai, Tamil Nadu
12. Arunachaleswarar temple _ Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu
13. Srisaila Devasthanam  – Andhra Pradesh
14. Baidyanath temple – Jharkhand
15. Nageshwara temple (three resembling structures are found in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttarakhand
16. Keesaragutta temple – Telangana
17. Mallikarjuna Swamy – Andhra Pradesh
18. Grishneshwar temple – Maharashtra
19. Bhimshankar temple – Maharashtra
20. Omkareshwar temple – Madhya Pradesh
21. Lingaraj  temple – Bhubaneswar

Christmas is an annual celebration; celebrated on 25^th December every year also making it one of the cultural festivals celebrated even by the non-Christians. The main purpose of the festival is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ to a virgin, Mary (mother of Jesus).

The Birth of Jesus Christ:

When Virgin Mary realized she was going to have a baby, Joseph, her to-be husband still considers snowballsmarriage with her. Later an angel of God appears to him in a dream and says “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit, She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21). Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem to deliver the baby. With no place to stay, Mary gives birth to Jesus in a manger (stable).

This was the time of King Herod when he hears the news of the birth of – the king of Jews, he is extremely disturbed. Further, he sends three men to find the baby, who has a dream, warning them not to return to the king. The three wise men follow the dream. Enraged by this, King Herod gives an order to kill every boy child of the age two and below. But Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” (Matthew 2:12).

How is Christmas celebrated?

Traditionally Christmas starts off by attending a Church service or a mass on the Christmas Eve, 24^th of December. Christians also sing carol songs that remark the birth of Christ. Children enact the nativity to illustrate the birth of Christ, by putting up a stage with a baby Jesus, mother Mary, Joseph, sheep, angels and three wise men in a manger with a big star of Bethlehem. These days Christians, as well as non Christians, decorate their homes with lightings, decoration and a Christmas tree. Some also display a nativity crèche, made up of small figurines of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in a manger.

Traditional Christmas cuisine:

Plumcake, fruit cake, and rum cake are some of the specialties. Christmas meals vary from country to country. In the European countries like UK chicken, goose, turkey dishes along with gravy, bread and vegetables are cooked. In India, the Goan and Mangalorean Christians make verities of sweets called kuswar that include sweets like neureos, shankarpali, kulkuls and snow balls; usually given to neighbors and friends on the occasion. In India, people prefer chicken, beef, pork, prawn, fish, and mutton dishes in their Christmas meal, not to forget the soft sannas.

It is a custom to clean, renovate and decorate the house before diwali. Hindus wear new clothes and light diyas (lamps) inside and outside their homes on this day. When seen from space, India is said to be sparkling like stars in the sky during diwali. It is a sacrament for every member of the Hindu family to participate in the family puja customarily to goddess Lakshmi for wealth and prosperity. Followed by fireworks, feeding each other mithai (sweets) and exchanging gifts makes a typical diwali celebration.

The five days of diwali starting with Dhanteras, Naraka Chaturdasi, diwali, diwali padva and Bhau-beej. Each of these days signifies different things, especially the fourth day is considered to bond husband and wife relationship and the fifth day is dedicated to sister and brother bond.

How to celebrate Diwali?

Diwali is celebrated differently in different parts of India

Karnataka:

Diwali is celebrated a day before amavase (new moon) and the day following amavase is celebrated as naraka chaturdashi. Naraka chaturdashi is treated very auspicious; in northern Karnataka women take aarati on the men. On the fourth day rangoli and flower decorations are put on the entrance of the house to invite bali into their homes. Chakkulis, holiges and kajjaya are the specialties in Karnataka during the festival.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu:

In Kerala and Tamil Nadu diwali is based on Sri Krishna’s victory over the demon narakasura. Hence, memorializes the triumph of good things over evil.

Maharashtra:

The festival begins in Maharashtra by taking aarati of a cow and its calf to symbolize mothers love. Maharashtrian businessmen give a lot of importance to this festival as it is considered to be an auspicious day for trading. Karanji, Chakali, Laddu, Chiwada and other festive snacks and sweets are prepared during the festival.

Gujarat:

When the rest of India celebrates diwali, gujratis have already celebrated the first day of diwali. Just like the maharashtrians gujratis also celebrate the cow and calf festival followed by Dhanteras, naraka chaturdashi, khali chaudas, lakshmi puja, beshtu varsh and bhai bij.

Goa and konkan:

Naraka chaturdashi is the first day of diwali for the Goans. The houses are cleaned and decorated with kandeel, mango leaves and marigold flowers. Straw and paper figures of narakasura stuffed with firecrackers are burnt at four o’clock in the morning, the day after. Kareet a bitter berry is crushed under the feet to indicate death of narakasura, hence the triumph of good over evil.

West Bengal:

In west Bengal goddess lakshmi isn’t worshipped, instead goddess kali is worshipped. Kali puja is celebrated throughout the day on one of the days.

Other countries like Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, and Sri Lanka also celebrate diwali with similar enthuse.

In some cities, Thanksgiving parades are organised where people from around the city join feet to make this occasion a success. Thanksgiving allows you a four-day weekend, thus enabling you to visit your family and friends.

The Government offices, businesses, schools and other organizations are closed on the day which stretches up to four days. Transit remains a problem for common public during the four days as the public transit systems don’t function on routine timetables. This is the busiest period in the USA; making the roads clumsy and overcrowded. The local traffic is up a creek because of the busy football matches and seasonal parades.

Background:

Since the year 1863, Thanksgiving Day is continuing to be an annual holiday. The day that faced protests from the Native Americans in Massachusetts back in 1970. History claims that the world’s first Thanksgiving Day was held in El Paso, Texas in 1598. While the claim that the modern Thanksgiving Day being held by the Pilgrims in Plymouth to celebrate their new harvest in Massachusetts in 1621, also demands attention. The third claim says that the first Thanksgiving was held in the year 1623, where they thanked the rain that ended the drought.

Thereafter, in the second half of the 1600s, the festival rocketed to become an annual event being celebrated across the country. It was George Washington who proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day in 1789.

At a glance:

1. It is an annual national holiday celebrated in the United States of America and Canada.
2. The first Thanksgiving fiesta was taken place among the pilgrims and Indians in 1621 to celebrate the new harvest.
3. The day is celebrated to tender thanks and to seek blessings for a fresh healthy harvest next year. It is about acknowledging kindness and you can thank anyone who helped in that light.
4. Families and far flung friends reunite on the day to celebrate together.
5. One of the key non-religious holidays in America and this doesn’t count out any race from its celebration.
6. The feast is huge, ruled by Turkey and Pumpkin pie.
7. This holiday is a breather for even the hardcore professionals.
8. Thanksgiving is synonymous to three F’s for many Americans- Family, Food and Football.
9. Considered as the largest travel day when people even trade a thousand kilometres to reach their loved ones for a meal.
10. No presents are exchanged unlike Christmas and people from any religion can celebrate.

Upcoming thanksgiving dates: