| India is a land of festivals and fun. Every day of the year there is a festival celebrated in some part of the country. Some festivals welcome the season of the year, the harvest, the rains, or the full moon. Others celebrate religious occasions, the birthday of divine beings, saints, and gurus (revered teachers), or the advent of the New Year. In this handy volume, primarily the central theme is Pan-Indian festivals, but efforts have also been made to cover all of the leading regional festivities along with select headings on vows, rituals, temples, centers of pilgrimage, holy days, deities etc The chapters include not only Hindu celebrations, but also the festivities of the Buddhist, Jaina and Sikh religions that emanated from this land and also Christian, apart from festivals in vogue. We have tried to provide valuable vestiges of our past customs and traditions now relinquished with the time. Definitely, this will be an ideal companion for all who wish to have a glimpse of Indian life through its colorful festivals, fairs, rituals, vows, customs, religious seasonal celebrations. |
