|
|
Travel Information
Indian Festival Though
India is often and justly described as a land of many religions and
innumerable languages, it might as well be described as a land of
festivals as well. As in any old civilization, most of these festivals
have religious associations, as is the case with Holi, Dusshera,
Krishna Janmashtmi, Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, Ganesh Chaturthi,
Muharram, Shivratri, and Diwali or Deepavali, Christmas, Good Friday,
Easter; many are also, in a country which is still predominantly rural,
associated with the harvesting of the crop, as is true of
Pongal-Sankranti in South India, or otherwise commemorative of the
sacred ties with the land that Indian villagers have. Still others,
such as Karwa Chauth, the observance of which is strictly restricted to
Hindu married women, are not festivals as such though there may be
something of a festive air attached to these occasions. Some festivals
are observed throughout the country, or in a greater part of it;
others, such as the famed snake shaped boat race of Kerala, have
peculiarly regional associations.
Indian Festival Calendar......
Indian Tradition & Customs
A
four thousand years of continuous culture and heritage history has
meant that a number of Indian customs and traditions have come down
from generation to generation to the present day lives of the Indians,
almost without a change for thousand of years. These customs invariably
invoke curiosity and anxiety in the minds of visiting foreigners
tempting them to wonder what they mean. Given below are some of these
traditions and customs of India which have remained an integral part of
Indian traditions for more than a thousand years. Namaskaar or Namaste,
with both the hands folded upto the chest level is the most popular
form of greeting in India. It is a general salutation that is used to
greet or welcome somebody and also for bidding farewell to the person
to say till we meet again.
Tilak, a mark with the red
coloured vermillion on the person's forehead, is a ritual and an
auspicious mark. It can be put in many forms as a sign of blessing,
greeting or auspiciousness. The Tilak or Teeka, as it is popularly
known as among the local Indians, is usually made out of a red
vermilion paste (kumkum) which is a mixture of turmeric, alum, iodine,
camphor, sandal wood etc. Aarti is performed as an act of veneration
and love. These Aartis is also performed to ward off evil effects and
the malefic influence of the 'evil eye'. Flower garlands are generally
offered as a mark of respect and honour. They are weaved in thread tied
in the end with the help of a knot. A Bindi or a 'dot' is an auspicious
mark worn by young girls and married women.
Many
Indian women wear a pin or nose ring on their nose studded with
semi-precious stones, called a nose pin. Mangalsutra is a necklace made
of black beads, worn only by married women as a mark of being married.
It is the Indian equivalent of the western wedding ring. The
mangalsutra is tied by the bridegroom around his bride's neck at the
time of marriage while the Hindu priest chants the holy Hindu mantras.
Indian Standard Time
IST
is the time observed throughout India, with a time offset of UTC+5:30 .
India does not observe daylight saving time, (DST) or other seasonal
adjustments, although DST was used briefly during the Sino-Indian War
of 1962 and the Indo-Pakistani Wars of 1965 and 1971. In military and
aviation time, IST is designated E* ("Echo-Star").
Indian
Standard Time is calculated on the basis of 82.5° E longitde, which is
just west of the town of Mirzapur, near Allahabad in the state of Uttar
Pradesh. The longitude difference between Mirzapur and the United
Kingdom's Royal Observatory at Greenwich translates to an exact time
difference of 5 hours 30 minutes. Local time is calculated from a clock
tower at the Allahabad Observatory ( 25.15° N 82.5° E ) though the
official time-keeping devices are entrusted to the National Physical
Laboratory, in New Delhi.
|
