Category: traditions

  • Lohri Festival – Origin, Traditions and Significance

    The festival of Lohri is celebrated mainly in Northern India and is celebrated on the night before Makar Sankranti (January 14th). Lohri is usually celebrated with great fervor in the state of Punjab and surrounding areas and is connected to the harvest, the winter solstice (according to the sidereal zodiac) and many more traditional events.…

  • Guru Poornima – Honoring the Guru

    Guru Poornima or Purnima is a festival celebrated on the full-moon day in July dedicated to honoring our Guru, our spiritual leader and teacher. Guru Brahma, Gurur Vishnu, Gurur Devoh Maheswaraha.

  • Ugadi and Gudi Padwa Festivals

    Ugadi and Gudi Padwa Ugadi and Gudi Padwa (Ugādi, Samvatsarādi, Yugadi, Gudi Padwa) mark the traditional New Year’s Day for the Hindus of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana states in India. It is festively observed in these regions on the first day of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Chaitra. This typically falls in…

  • Gayatri Mantra and Powerful Hidden Meaning in Each Word

    The Gayatri Mantra consists of twenty-four syllables – three lines of eight syllables each. The first line (Aum Bhur Bhuvah Swah) is considered an invocation. Gayatri is also referred to as a Vedic poetic meter of 24 syllables or any hymn composed in this meter.

  • Diwali – Lakshmi and Ganesha Puja

    The biggest celebration for Hindus, the festival of lights (Diwali or Deepavali), is celebrated on the amavasya night of the month of Ashvin (usually in late October or early November). The festival, which celebrates among many things, the return of Lord Rama (of the Ramayana) to his native land of Ayodhya after completing fourteen years…

  • Dhanteras – First Day of Diwali

    Dhanteras is celebrated on the thirteenth day (teras) of the Krishna paksha (the waning cycle) of the lunar month of Ashwin in the Hindu calendar. It heralds the beginning of the five days of Diwali, the biggest festival for Hindus in India and all over the world.