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Wish you all a Very Happy Ganesha Festival 2015 Ganesha Festival, also called as Vinayaka Chaturthi, is a great festival of India. It is celebrated as the birth day of Lord Ganesha, the supreme God of Wisdom and Prosperity. Usually the day falls between August 20 and September 17. Ganesha is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. It is believed that Lord Ganesha was born on a fourth day (chaturthi) of the bright fortnight of the Hindu lunar month of Magh. He is worshipped during every festival and before people undertake a journey or embark upon a new venture. In Maharashtra, this festival celebrated for 10 days.

Vishu is the astronomical or zodiac New Year in Kerala and is observed on the first day of the Malayalam month of ‘Medam.’ From an astrological point of view, Vishu is of immense significance. The day and night are of equal duration on the Vishu day (12 hours). Usually Vishu is held on April 14, but this year (2015) it is shifted to April 15th. This is because Vishu is decided based on the transition of the sun from Meena Rashi to Mesha Rashi (Meda Rasi). Vishu with Vishukkani is observed after the Sun enters Mesha Rashi. This means the transition should take place before sunrise on April 14 to observe it on the day. If the transition is after sunrise on April 14 then Vishu is observed on April 15. Kani konnapoo- image courtesy: Wikimedia.org What are the highlights of Vishu? Vishukkani, Vishukaineetam and Vishubhalam are the highlights of Vishu. Vishu starts with Vishukkani, the first auspicious thing people see on the day. It is during the Brahma Muhurtha or ideal...

Wish you all a very happy Ganesha Festival. This important festival is celebrated in all parts of India today, the 29th of August 2014. It is also known as Ganesh Chaturthi and Vinayaka Chaturthi. The festival to celebrate and glorify him is called Ganesh Chaturthi (Ganesha Festival and Vinayaka Chaturthi). Lord Ganesha (also known as Lord Ganapati) is the Lord of Wisdom. He is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. The elephant headed God is worshipped first in all the pujas performed by the Hindus. It is believed that He removes all the obstacles and evils on the way. If you are interested to know more about Lord Ganesha please check this page.

Happy Vishu to all Malayalees (people of Kerala, India). Vishu is the Malayalam New Year, which usually falls on 14th April, but due to Surya Sankramana time some years Vishu is celebrated on 15th April. It is celebrated on the 1st day of Malayalam month Medam (astronomical New Year of Kerala). (Vishukkani) Vishu in Sanskrit means equal. An important thing on this day is both day and night are equal. The highlights of Vishu are Vishukkani, Vishukaineetam, Vishubhalam etc. It is believed that seeing the first sight of vishukkani in the morning of Vishu, is very good for anyone to start the new year. Read more about Vishu here .

Wish you all a Happy Onam. Those who want to know more about this most important festival of Kerala, India, read here.

Wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous Diwali.

Happy Onam to all my Malayali friends. Onam is the harvest festival of Kerala, India. It is also the State festival and all the people, irrespective of the religion, celebrate Onam and welcome King Mahabali, for the remembrance of the good old days. Keralites, wherever they live, usually celebrate this festival. More details can be found here and on this site.

Today, April 14th, is Vishu festival. It is also the New Year of Keralites. The main features of this festival are - Vishukkani, the golder flower called konna poo, vishukkaineetam, vishu sadhya etc. The day begins with Vishukkani (Click here) . You can also check out this page for more info. Significance of Vishu (Click here) Wish you all a happy vishu.

Today we went early morning to Sri Nagareshwara Temple at Begur. We had reached there by 7.20 a.m. By then there was already a a long queue. Still it was nice to wait and have a darshan of Lord Shiva on this important day of Shivaratri. The gopuram constructions are still going on. We left there by 8.40 a.m.

Wish you all a happy Diwali.

Wish you all a Very Happy Vijaya Dasami, and Dussehra.

Wish you all a very Happy Diwali.

Wish you all a Happy Dasara. If you would like to read an article on Dasara, please click here. This year, Mysore Dasara is celebrating its 400th year. In the year, 1610, Raja Wadiyar ascended the historic golden throne of Vijayanagar Kingdom and started the ten-day festival at Srirangapatna. Vijayadasami, the 10th day of Dasara, is celebrated on the 17th October 2010.

Kerala is getting ready to celebrate and rejoice the State Festival Onam in the month of Chingam (Bhadrapada), which falls usually at the end of August or beginning of September.This year Onam is celebrated on the 23rd of August 2010. The ten-day harvest festival Onam is starting with “Atham” and it is the greatest festival of Kerala. After a bounteous harvest, Onam is the time for the farmers to celebrate the bounties of nature and make merry. A unique feature of this festival is that it is celebrated unitedly by all Keralites without caste or religious differences. Every Malayali wherever he or she may be in the world celebrates Onam. Legend According to legends, Lord Mahavishnu visited King Mahabali, the benevolent ruler of Kerala, in disguise as Vamana, a dwarf Brahmin, requesting for three feet of space to live. Without realising his intention, the king agreed to his request. Suddenly Vamana began to grow and he covered the whole earth by one foot and covered the sky with o...

Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The colorful festival Onam is the biggest festival of Kerala, South India. Onam marks the homecoming of mythical King Mahabali. People of all communities of Kerala celebrate this harvest festival with great joy and enthusiasm. This year, the main Onam Thiruvonam falls on 2nd September. Learn more about it here. During Onam time, the rich heritage of Kerala comes out in its best form. Colorful Pookalam (floral carpet), Snake Boat Race (Vallamkali, Onasadhya (a grand vegetarian meal served on banana leaf) and Onakkodi (new traditional clothes bought for the occasion) are the main attractions of this festival.

India is celebrating Vinayaka Chaturthi Festival today. To know more details about this festival click here.

14th April was the New Year Festival for many Indians in different parts of the country. They celebrated the New Year with different names. In Kerala, it was "Vishu" whereas in Tamil Nadu it was called "Puthandu," and for Bengalis and Punjabis the New Year was "Baisakhi". Assamese celebraated it as "Goru Bihu". The important features of this festival (Vishu) are Kani Kanal (viewing the auspicious things as the first sight of the year), Kaineetam (distributing money by the elders to the young ones). The yellow colored flower called "Konnapoo" blooms during Vishu time and it is an important part of the Vishu Kani preparation.

This year I had to attend two marriages in Kerala during the first and second weeks of September, which also happened to be Onam season. The nostalgic memories of my childhood days Onam came rushing into my mind as I helped my niece to make the pookalam.We used to wait for the Atham day to start collecting various flowers to make beautiful pookalams. It was a time of great thrill and excitement. By 4.30 a.m we used to get out of our beds without making any noise and rush to the garden to pluck the flowers. Each one of us used to return with handful of flowers, sometimes lapful of flowers, to sit in circle and make the best pookalams, fighting each other as to the order of flowers in the pookalam . Once the pookalam is complete, we used to run to our cousins' houses to compare their pookalams with ours, and to make suitable comments. Sometimes we even exchange the flowers with them. When our parents look for us none of us would be available at home, as we were deeply involved in our...

Recently I had visited a friend in Trissur. It happened to be a day of Festival in their church. The festival was called "Oottuthirunal" of our Lady of Carmel Forane and St.Vincent de Paul, at Edathiruthy in Trissur. My friend asked me to join her if I don't mind when she proceeded to the church. I was in fact only too happyto attend the festival . It was a grand festival with spectacular firework. Thousands of pilgrims attended this festival,followed by a mass feast.