Category: traditions

  • Pongal Festival History, Significance and Traditions

    The festival of Pongal is celebrated mainly in Southern India and is a parallel to the more widely celebrated occasion of Makar Sankranti (January 14th). Pongal is usually celebrated over a span of four days with great fervor and is connected to the harvest, the sun, the end of winter and many more traditional events…

  • Navaratri – Celebrating the Goddesses

    The spirit of Navaratri – a festival of nine (-nava) nights (-ratri) is a vibrant reminder to us of the power of the feminine in our lives. One aspect of the feminine is shakti – often described as power, or energy. The significance of shakti is perhaps explained best by the two words Shiva-Shakti. Shiva…

  • Durga Ashtami – Eighth Day of Navaratri

    The eighth day of the nine night Navratri festival is celebrated across India as Durga Ashtami, and is also part of the ten-day Durga-Puja festival celebrated primarily in the state of West Bengal. Ashtami simply means eighth day of the fortnight. It is often also ascribed significance with respect to the eight-armed Durga holding weapons…