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January--Just when you thought the festival season was over, Pongal is upon us. This is a secular harvest festival, also known as Makar Sankranti and Tamizhar Thirunal (The Festival of Tamils). In Tamil, there is a saying, Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum, that means "the birth of the month of Thai will pave way for new things." The festival lasts for four days, during which old clothes are burned in a bonfire, fresh milk is allowed to boil over (the literal translation for Pongal),and a bull-taming contest called Jallikattu is organized. People eat sugar cane and decorate their houses with kolam, and brothers are encouraged to give their sisters gifts of money.

February-Shivaratri. The 14th sloka of Shivmahimna Stotra says: "O three-eyed Lord, when the poison came up through the churning of the ocean by the gods and demons, they were all aghast with fear as if the untimely end of all creation was imminent. In your kindness, you drank all the poison that still makes your throat blue. O Lord, even this blue mark does but increase your glory. What is apparently a blemish becomes an ornament in one intent on ridding the world of fear." On Shivaratri, devotees commemorate the day Lord Shiva's throat turned blue with poison from the churning milky ocean. Even one drop in his stomach(the universe) would have annihilated the entire world, so he held it in his neck. This is also the occasion devotees celebrate the union of Shiva to Parvati.

March -Holi is a three day harvest festival known as the Festival of Togetherness. On the first day, Rang Pashi, a family's eldest member will sprinkle colors all around, while the women, dressed in Holi Dandia saris, make their preparations, cooking gujia and papri. Bhang and other alcoholic beverages are allowed. The colors tossed during Holi are associated with several legends. One involves Krishna and Radha. Krishna had become jealous of Radha's fair color and his mother Yashoda suggested he change her complexion by smearing color on her. May--Akshaya Tritiya is an auspicious day to buy gold. Akshay Tritiya also marks the beginning of the SatyaYug --the Golden Age - the first of the four Yugas. In the Puranas, it says that, on Akshay Tritiya, Vedavyas (along with Lord Ganesha) began to write the Mahabharata.

June--Ganga Dusshera marks the descent to earth of the River Ganges. The river is worshipped as mother and goddess, in a puja performed with lighted wicks. The lovely ritual is called aarti.

July-- Guru Purnima.The July full moon is observed as the day sacred to the memory of the great sage Vyasa, who wrote the Mahabharata. This day also marks the onset of the rainy season, a good time to begin spiritual lessons that will extend into the next four months. Celebrants wake up at 4 a.m.on Guru Purnima, to meditate and chant intensely (Japa).Dhyaana moolam guror murtih;Pooja moolam guror padam;Mantra moolam guror vakyam;Moksha moolam guror kripa. After bathing, they worship their Guru, or his picture, with flowers, fruits, incense and camphor. They fast on only milk and fruit the whole day. In the afternoon, they sit with other devotees and discuss the teachings of their Guru.

Ratha Yatra is a major festival that takes place at the Jagannath Temple in Orissa also at this time of year. Jagannath, the wood god residing in the temple, is believed to be an incarnation of Vishnu. The festival participants act out a story from the Hindu Rig Veda in which the god and two of his god-relatives decide to go on a trip. In the Veda, they go to the home of Jagannath's aunt, but here the three gods are pulled through the streets in highly decorated chariots by thousands of devotees. The main chariot carries Jagannath, and is usually about 45 feet high. It has 16 wheels. A juggernaut, the British called the spectacle of the unstoppable force when they first saw it. At the close of the ten day festival, the chariot is broken up and sold as religious relics. A new chariot is built every year.

August---Onam is a harvest carnival of feasting on the word, snake boat races, caparisoned elephant parades, fireworks, and Kathakali dancers, and it goes on for ten full days in Kerala. Onam originated with this legend of the reign of King Mahabali: the gods sent Vishnu to earth in the form of a dwarf Brahmin to trample the king down to the netherworld-- but just before that, Vishnu granted the king's last wish-- to come back and visit his people once every year. One of the carnival's most spectacular sights is the Vallamkali boat races. Hundreds of oarsmen row boats to the rhythm of drums and cymbals. These long "snake boats," or Chundans, are named for long hulls and high sterns that resemble the raised hood of a cobra. Odis are small, swift crafts adorned with gold tasseled silk umbrellas. Churulans have elaborately curled prows and sterns. Veppus is a kind of cook-boat. All of these boats wage traditional village rivalry on the water. Another attraction of the festival is the feasting. Traditionally, women make eleven foods for the Onam feast, including pappadum, banana wafers, sarkarapuratti fries, ginger, lime and mango pickles, kitchadi, thoran made of beans, avial, sambaar, rasam, buttermilk curd, and payasam.

September---During Ganesh Chaturthi, Ganesha's birthday celebration, a household worships a clay murti of Shri Ganesha, and then submerges it at an immersion site. Neighborhoods compete with each other in building the biggest murti. There are pujas and other rituals, and kozhakottai, a dumpling made from rice flour with a stuffing of coconut and jaggery, is offered at the temple.

October--Dusshera (also spelled Dasara or Dussera or Dusharah) occurs on the tenth day of the Navaratri. It's primarily celebrated in the North, but the triumph of good over evil as shown by the defeat of the demon king Ravana is still the point. Huge effigies of Ravana, Kumbakarna, and Meghnath are burnt to the accompaniment of firecrackers, and Ramlila (or Rama- Drama, scenes from the Rama-Ravana battle) are performed. The Dusshera celebration in southern India revolves around Chamundi, the family deity of the Maharaja of Mysore. Similar to the Durga Puja myth in east India, this story says that Lord Rama performed chandi puja to invoke the blessings of Goddess Durga for slaying Ravana, so the gratified Goddess Chamundeswari (same goddess) told him how to slay Ravana. A parade of decorated elephants is led to the Maharaja's illuminated palace as part of the spectacular festivity. On the full moon night following Dusshera, Hindus worship Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, with oil, turmeric, soil from the River Ganga, grains, durba grass, flowers, and festive vegetarian dishes - khichuri, naru, narkel bhaja, chirey and taaler phopol. Worshippers may stay awake all night, awaiting the goddess. The word 'Lakshmi' is derived from the Sanskrit word Laksya, meaning 'goal'. Lakshmi is usually depicted with four hands, representing dharma (righteousness), kama (desires), artha (wealth), and moksha (liberation from the cycle of birth and death). As a female counterpart of Lord Vishnu, Mata Lakshmi is also called 'Shri', the female energy of the Supreme Being.