Makar Sankranti

Makar Sankranti marks the transition of the Sun into Makara rashi (Capricorn) on its celestial path, and the six-month Uttarayana period(movement of the sun towards the north direction).

Sankranti means transmigration of the Sun from one Rāshi (constellation of the zodiac in Indian astronomy) to the next. Hence, there are 12 Sankrantis in a year.

There are twelve Sankrantis in a year, out of which Makar Sankraanti has been considered most important because from here begins the Uttarayana punya kaal (Uttarayana auspicious period), and Uttarayana is regarded as the period of Divinity. Although the entire year is considered auspicious, this period is considered slightly more auspicious. All festivals begin following this.

Ganpati Bappa Morya!

Devotees chant Ganapati Bappa Morya all the time to sing the praises of Lord Ganesh. But how many of them know the meaning of the word Morya? Let us look at the three words and their meaning:

Ganpati 

Ganapati (Sanskrit: गणपति; gaṇapati), a synonym for Ganesha, is a compound composed of gaṇa, meaning "group", and pati, meaning "ruler" or "lord".

(Check this: Significance of Ganesha and the hidden meanings behind symbols and depictions)

Janmashtami - Birth of Lord Krishna

The beauty in our ancient stories is that they were never made location-specific or time-specific. Ramayana or Mahabharata are not just events that happened a long time ago, they are happening everyday in our lives. The essence of these stories is eternal.

There is a deeper meaning to the story of Krishna’s birth too. Devaki symbolizes the body and Vasudev symbolizes the life force (prana). When prana rises in the body, joy (Krishna) is born. But the ego (Kamsa) tries to eliminate joy. Kamsa is Devaki’s brother which indicates that ego is born along with the body.

Ashadhi Ekadashi

Today is Ashadhi Ekadashi. People from all walks of life from many parts of Maharashtra and other parts of India too, converge in Pandharpur today for a night full of prayers and songs devoted to Lord Vishnu. 

One of the most popular forms of Vishnu worshipped in Maharashtra is that of Vithoba or Vitthala. The most famous temple for Vithoba is in Pandharpur. Pandharpur has thus been one of the main religious sites of Maharashtra since ancient times.

Marching into the New Year: April Fool!

Once upon a time, all over the world, everyone followed the same calendar; the Lunar Calendar. Even today, in Turkey and Iran, people follow the Lunar Calendar; March is the New Year.

Ancient cultures, including those of the Romans and Indian subcontinent, celebrated New Year's Day on or around April 1. It closely follows the vernal equinox (March 20th or March 21st.)

The conjunction of the earth, sun and moon coming in alignment near the vernal equinox every year – a perfectly balanced point in the earth-sun-moon system, was deemed by the ancient, knowledgeable people as an apt milestone to usher in a New Day, a New Year and new hopes.

New year celebrations in India

Earth, Moon and Sun in alignment near vernal Equinox – Ugadi

New year is celebrated in India in various regions in March–April. India has a variety of calendars, some are lunar based, some are based on the Sun, some are luni-solar and some are Jovian i.e. Jupiter based.

The New Year system is based on the cosmos, it begins when the Sun or the Moon enter the first point of Aries.

Holi

The 'Holi' festival is a very fun-filled and popular occasion in India. People play holi with Chandan and colored water.

This festival is celebrated around early March each year. People believe that the bright colors represent energy, life and joy. Huge bonfires are also burnt in the evening and people worship the fire.

There is a famous story associated with the festival in the puranas:

Navratri

‘Nava’ means ‘nine’ and ‘ratri’ is made up of ‘ra’ which also means ‘night’ and ‘tri’ meaning the three aspects of our life – body, mind and soul.

There are three types of botherations or problems that may affect a person – physical, mental and spiritual. That which gives you relief from all these difficulties is ‘ratri’. 

‘Ratri’ or night relieves you of misery and brings comfort. The night relaxes everybody; whether happy, unhappy or miserable, everybody goes to sleep.

Navratri is a celebration of the spirit or prana which alone can destroy mahishasura (inertia), shumbha-nishumbha (pride and shame) and madhu-kaitabh (extreme forms of craving and aversion). They are completely opposites, yet complementary.

Inertia, deeply ingrained negativities and obsessions (raktabeejasura), unreasonable logics (chanda-munda) and blurred vision (dhoomralochan) can be overcomed only by raising the level of prana and shakti, the life-force energy.

Diwali - You must know

The ancient stories in India are divided as:

1. Itihasa - meaning which actually happened
2. Puranas - mythological, symbolic stories meaning absolutely new and fresh in Sanskrit.

The symbolic stories are ever new and fresh and the meaning wrapped in them needs to be decoded. It is said that when one meditates and contemplates on them, the essence of these stories is revealed to him.

The celebrations of Diwali and the associated past events and stories are very special as they make us aware of the profound truth of life.

The Diwali festivities start from the 13th day of the fortnight of the waning moon.

DAY 1 - Dhantrayodashi
DAY 2 – Naraka Chaturdashi
DAY 3 - Lakshmi Puja
DAY 4 – Varshapratipada
DAY 5 - Bhai-dooj

Diwali - The festival of Inner Lights

Diwali is the commemoration of the light of wisdom in our lives. Lamps are lit on this day not just to decorate homes, but also to communicate this profound truth of life.

Though Diwali is popularly known as the "festival of lights", the most significant spiritual meaning is "the awareness of the inner light" which  seems to be lost somewhere today.

This Diwali,
Light the lamp of love in your heart;
the lamp of abundance in your home;
the lamp of compassion to serve others;
the lamp of Knowledge to dispel the darkness of ignorance;
and the lamp of gratitude for the abundance that the Divine has bestowed on us.

Know the symbolisms behind traditions:

Celebrations

Our country is a land of celebrations.

Our Rishis,the ancient scientists, were very intelligent.What they did is they wrapped the knowledge and wisdom about this universe, life, science, spirituality, consciousness very beautifully into celebrations.

Every festival we celebrate has got a deeper meaning than we know of it today.Somewhere the depth of celebration seems to be lost and we tend to blindly celebrate and perform festivals, pujas, rituals without knowing its meaning and why we are doing it.

'Revival of True India’ would try to reveal the secrets behind these celebrations and the hidden facts which seem to be lost in time…