Eid-ul-Fitr is the biggest festival of Muslims. It is celebrated across the world with a lot of fervor, more so because it is celebrated after the holy month of Ramadan, where followers of Islam fast for 30 days where they do not eat or drink during the day, but only eat twice during Sehri, which is right before sunrise, and Iftaar which is right after sunset. During the month of Ramadhan, Muslims also do charity and follow a lot of discipline.

After 30 days, according to the sighting of the moon, known as Chand Raat, Eid is celebrated the next day. On the day of Eid, people go to Eidgaah to pray, make sweets like Sevaiyaan, (giving the name "Meethi Eid" to this festival") and give Eidi to little ones. At several places Eid Fairs are held where people especially children do a lot of stall hopping.

Eid-ul-Fitr is a festival of happiness, joy and good will. To know more about it, listen to the Podcast.

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Easter is a festival celebrated by Christians all across the world. Even in India, the followers of Christianity celebrated this festival.

This day marks the resurrection of Lord Jesus after three days of his crucifixion.

According to history, Jesus Christ had a huge followership among people. Fearing this, the royals arrested him on various charges and gave him an execution sentence. Jesus Christ was crucified on a Friday known as Good Friday or Black Friday. The Following Sunday, he appeared in front of his followers, which is why this day is celebrated as Easter. On Good Friday people wear black clothes and go to churches to pay their respect and prayers, and on Easter Sunday they decorate eggs and Easter Bunnies and celebrate Jesus's resurrection.

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Baisakhi or Vaisakhi, the harvest festival, is observed in most of India to mark the start of the new spring season. Baisakhi is particularly significant in Punjab and Haryana due to the large Sikh population, which celebrates the festival with zeal and enthusiasm.

The festival became closely associated with Sikhism at the end of the 17th century, when Guru Gobind Singh, the Sikh leader, chose the date of the festival to establish the Khalsa Panth.

‘Rongali Bihu’ in Assam, ‘Naba Barsha’ in West Bengal, ‘Vaishakha’ in Bihar, ‘Vishu’ in Kerala, and ‘Puthandu’ in Tamil Nadu are some of the names given to the festival of Baisakhi. This day is commemorated in Punjab as the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru.

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Ram Navami is a Hindu festival, celebrating the birth of Lord Rama. According to mythology, Rama was the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He was born to King Dashratha and Queen Kaushalya in Ayodhya. Lord Rama was born on Navami Tithi during Shukla Paksha of Chaitra month. Therefore each year, the ninth day is celebrated as Ram Navami.

Hindu households celebrate the Navratri by doing puja and on the ninth day, they perform Kanya Puja, where 9 girls are invited at home and offered prasad consisting of sooji halwa, Kala chana, and puri. The Hindus believe that young girls are the manifestation of Devi.

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HIndi New Year is celebrated on the first day of Shukl Paksh ok Chaitr month according to Hindu Calender. It is believed that Lord Brahma created this world on this very day, thus its symbolic to New Beginnings.

Hindu Panchang also begins on this day. This New Year is celebrated in various parts of the country according to different customs like its called Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra, Ugadi in Karnataka, Sajibu Nongma Panba Charioba in Manipur.

This day also marks the beginning of Chaitr Navratre. It is also believed that it was on this day that Lord Ram had his coronation ceremony. And this day also marks the day of establishment of Arya Samaj by Swami Dayanand Saraswati.

This Indian Festival is celebrated with love and joy across the whole country.

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Holi is one of the most vibrantly celebrated festivals of India, celebrated in almost every part of the country, and by Indians belonging to every faith and belief. It is also famous as the “festival of colors” as on this day people get together forgetting all resentments and any bad feeling towards each others and play with colors.

This Indian festival is celebrated on two main days on the Full Moon Day in the month of Falgun. It is celebrated with the name Holika Dahan or Choti Holi, when people light Holi fire and pray around it, next morning called Holi, people play with colors.

This festival is based on the legend of Bhakt Prahlad who was a devotee of Lord Vishnu, much to the anguish of his father, the demon king Hrinyakashyap, who did not like to worship Lord Vishnu. He ordered his sister Holika to sit in fire and let Prahlad burn. Holika was blessed that she couldn't get burnt in fire, however Prahlad while sitting in her lap prayed to Lord Vishnu and got saved while Holika got burnt to death.

In many parts of India, this festival is celebrated in different ways, like Barsaane ki holi, Lathmaar Holi, Dhol Yatra etc.

This festival of love and friendship is very vibrant but we have to be careful when we celebrate it, like avoiding using artificial colors, using natural colors, taking care of pets and animals, and saving environment.

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Maha Shivratri is an Indian festival, celebrated annually in honor of Lord Shiva. It is in descending winter season, during the Spring season to be precise.

Maha Shivratri, means ‘the great night of Shiva’. According to legend, it is on this night that Lord Shiva appeared and also commemorates the night he performed his fury dance, Tandav.

It is believed that fasting, and praying and offerings of Lord Shiva’s favorite things can help one overcome their sins and take the path of righteousness.

On Maha Shivratri many people celebrate it by reaching Shiva Temples by Kawariyas, who walk barefoot from long distances, and other people, praying all night and finally offering prayers at the Nishith kaal to Lod Shiva. Lord Shiva is offered milk, Bel Ptr, Various fruits including Ber etc.

This Indian festival has a lot if significance and id celebrated with different rituals in various parts of the country like:

• Madhya Pradesh: Devotees bathe in Shivsagar lake in Khajoraho
• West Bengal: Four Shiv lings are made by the Ganges river Mud, and are prayed four times.
• Jammu and Kashmir: A 21 days festival is celebrated
• Himachal Pradesh: Shobha Yatra of Lord Shiva is performed.
• People take vows of honesty and fairness on this day.

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Vasant Panchami is one of the special Indian festivals celebrated. It is commonly called as Shri Panchami or Sarwasati Panchami. The festival of Vasant Panchami takes place in India around the beginning of spring when mustard flowers bloom. The color yellow is associated with the festival which signifies happiness, excitement, and positivity of new beginnings.

According to the Hindu calendar, this popular Indian festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the month of Magh, which also foretells the arrival of Holi forty days later. Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge, is honored on Vasant Panchami. On Saraswati Puja, young children take their first steps toward education, as the day is considered the most auspicious for beginning of learning. This ritual is called Akshar Abhyasam or Vidya Arambham.

People all over India celebrate the festival of Vasant Panchami by wearing yellow clothes, eating and distributing sweets, decorating their homes with yellow flowers, and doing a variety of other activities.

In Punjab, the day is marked by the release of kites. In Maharashtra, newlyweds go to a temple to pray. People in Rajasthan wear jasmine garlands, and children in West Bengal worship their books in front of Goddess Saraswati.

Best Places to Celebrate the Indian Festival of Vasant Panchami are:

• Punjab
• Haryana
• Bihar
• West Bengal
• Uttarakhand

Listen to the podcast, "Indian Festivals at a Glance" to know more about this glorious Indian Festival.

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