Sunday 23 October 2011

Wishing you very Happy Deepawali


Deepavali (also: Depawali, Dipavali, Dewali, Diwali, Divali, Dipotsavi, Dipapratipad ) marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year according to the Lunar Calendar.It literally translated means 'Row of Lights' (from Sanskrit: dipa = lamp / awali = row, line). It celebrates the victory of Goodness over Evil and Light over Darkness - it ushers in the new year.
Especially for this event people are cleaning their houses and wear new clothes. Diwali is a 5 day festival as Dhanteras, Choti Diwali, Badi (Main) Diwali, Padwa and Bhaiduj. There are many different names for the days of Diwali in different regions of India (South & North India, East & West India) and in the different languages spoken in that regions (i.e. Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Bengali). During Deepavali people pray to Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth, light, prosperity and wisdom, but also to Ganesha, the 'Remover of Obstacles' and the 'Lord of Beginnings'

Saturday 1 October 2011

Gandhi Jayanti


Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi[1] (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement. A pioneer of satyagraha, or resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience — a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa, or total nonviolence — Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.Gandhi is often referred to as Mahatma ([m??a?t?ma?]; Sanskrit: ??????? mahatma or
"Great Soul," an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore).In India, he is also called Bapu (Gujarati: ????, bapu or "Father") and officially honoured as the Father of the Nation. His birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence.