India and Its Festivals

By Bhakti Shah

In this article I want to talk about the colorful Indian festivals. I have chosen this topic because from this month onwards we have various important festivals coming throughout the rest of year.

India is a home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilizations & famous for its different empires & mythological beliefs. Being a multi-cultural and multi-religious society, it celebrates holidays and festivals of various religions. The culture of India is an amalgamation of these diverse sub-cultures spread all over the Indian subcontinent and traditions that are several millennia old. Many Indian festivals are religious in origin, although several are celebrated irrespective of caste and creed. We have some festivals which are celebrated majority of people on national level. Some important festivals of Hindus are Diwali- known as festival of lights, Navaratri – known as festival of Shakti (energy or power), Ganesh Puja - festival celebrated in respect of God of knowledge Ganesha, Holi- celebration of colors. Some other important festivals also include Buddha Purnima celebrated by Buddhist, Gurunanak Jayanti celebrated by Sikh, Islamic festivals such as Eid & Ramadan etc.
These festivals were mainly started with different mythological beliefs but some figures have given these festivals a bigger shape considering the belief of bringing diverse religions & people with different backgrounds together. Throughout the year, people are get chance to celebrate, come together, share their feelings, joy & come on same platform forgetting their differences. Every individual apart from its economic level, sorrows & problems come together to enjoy these festivals along with their friends & relatives. In current scenario when people are fighting for the religions & casts, these festivals tries to unify each individuals to live peacefully.

In this month we have Ganesha, a festival being celebrated which started from 11th Sept. This festival is usually celebrated for 10 days. This festival is celebrated for Lord Ganesha who is popularly known as the ‘Elephant God’ because he has a trunk of an elephant. He is considered as God of knowledge according to the mythology. Idol of Ganesha is brought to home & is worshiped for 10 days. People build temporary temples to house Ganesha statues during this period & social groups come together & conduct different awareness programs during this time.

Indian people who have migrated to other countries also try to keep in touch with these traditions. Many cities in United States have Indian Hindu Temples where the festival is celebrated. Some people bring clay and other raw materials & make the Ganesha idol themselves. Here in Carbondale, many Indian students have gathered together to celebrate this festival. Thus, they don’t feel left alone & away from their families.