THE PEOPLE AND THEIR CULTURE

HOLIDAYS FESTIVALS.

HINDUS HAVE SEVERAL RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS throughout the year, but all are not commonly kept. Almost in every month there occurs a sana (holiday), an utsava (festival), a jayanti (birth) day anniversary of a god, a saint, or a hero) a jatra (fair). There are days for individual observances such as a vrat (vow) or a upavas (fast). These are mentioned in a pancahga (almanac) but in their observance a person is led by the tradition of his family, caste and the local usage. The following is a chronological enumeration of the holidays in a year observed by different Hindu sections in the district.

Gudhi-padva.

The first of Caitra is called Gudhi-padva, it being the New Year Day according to Salivahan Saka (era) which is observed in the district. It is ushered in by house holders by setting up in front of their houses a gudhi-a bamboo pole capped with a small silver or brass pot and a new piece of cloth and a string of flowers hanging to it as a flag. To bathe early in the morning, eat a mixture of gul, gram and neem leaves, have a sumptuous meal at noon and in the evening, visit the leading temple and particularly in villages to hear the varsaphala (year's forecast) read by the village priest are the activities of the people for this day.

Ram-Navami.

The birthday anniversary of god Rama, the seventh incarnation of Visnu and the hero of the Ramayana is celebrated with birth festivity on the bright ninth of Caitra. That day people flock in holiday dress to Rama's temple. Exactly at 12 noon the Haridas announces the birth of Sri Rama by tossing gulal (red powder) and the people join him. The idol of Rama is cradled. The ceremony closes with arati, distribution of sunthavada and tirthaprasad and in the evening kirtana and bhajana are held in praise of Rama.

Hanumana-Jayanti.

On the full-moon day of Caitra exactly at sunrise an utsava is arranged in the temple of Hanumana to celebrate his birth.

Gauri-Puja.

In the month of Caitra, starting from the bright third and on a convenient day, Brahmin suvasinis hold in their homes the ceremony of halad-kunku in honour of goddess Gauri. The idol is decked with flowers, and lights are set before it. Women neighbours and friends are invited and presented with halad-kunku, and wet gram and fruit are laid in their laps. This is observed in most Brahmana houses, and women are seen busy during the whole month paying visits for this purpose to neighbours and relations. The bright third of Vaisakha is the last day of the halad-kunku ceremony when the goddess Gauri is said to go to her maher (mother's house).

Basava-Jayanti.

On the second lunar day of Vaisakha comes Basava-Jayanti, a day of feast for Lingayats.

Aksa Tritiya.

The third lunar day of this month which is known as Aksa-trtiya is considered one of the luckiest days of the year and as an auspicious beginning of field activities, cultivators do some spade work on the day.

The full-moon day is celebrated as the birth-day of god Narasimha, the fourth incarnation of Visnu, by devotees of the deity.

The full moon day of Jyestha known as Vata-pournima is observed by married Brahmana women as a day of prayer that their husbands' lives may be prolonged. They observe a fast, worship the banyan tree and distribute vayans (special offerings) to Brahmans and Suvasinis.

Mahaekadasis.

The 11th day, both of the bright and the dark half of every month is known as ekadasi, a day of prayer and fasting. The two occurring in the bright halves of Asadha and Kartik are considered to be very important; they mark the beginning and the end of caturmas (four holy months) and are considered specially sacred and observed as fast and prayer days by a very large number of people. Followers of Varkari sect make it a point to be present at Pandharpur on those days.

A number of fasts, feasts and festivals occur in the month of Sravana. On all the Mondays in this month, as they are sacred to god Siva, Sivabhaktas fast part-time and enjoy a feast in the evening. The Fridays which go by the name of Sampad Sukravar (prosperous Friday) are observed by women with a worship of goddess Laxmi drawn on a small earthen pot. On every Tuesday in Sravana for five years after marriage the wife worships Mangalagauri or the goddess of luck.

Naga-Pancami.

The bright fifth of Sravana is observed as Nagapancami day by Hindus when in many a house a clay naga (cobra) is worshipped and a feast enjoyed. In villages activities like digging and ploughing which are believed to hurt snakes are completely suspended and the day is spent in festival gatherings of sports and games. In the afternoon women dressed in their best, dance round in a ring, keeping time to a song which they sing in chorus.

Narali-Purnima.

On the full moon of Sravana comes Narali-purnima (Cocoanut Day). In the evening after a hearty afternoon meal men and children go to the river side and to propitiate god Varuna (Uranus) the presiding deity of all waters and offer cocoanuts to the water course. Because of the auspicious position of the Sravana constellation that day, followers of Yajurveda and Atharavaveda in particular observe it as a day of upakarma or as popularly known of sravani ceremony, when sacred fire is kindled and oblations are offered to it, pancagavya is sipped and the old sacred thread is discarded for a new one. This custom is however now tending to go out of vogue. The day is also known as Povatyaci-purnima (thread-hank full-moon). Kunbis and others make a number of hanks of cotton thread of five skeins each and about three feet in circumference. They dip the hank in turmeric paste and throw one round the neck of each of the men and women in the family, and round every lamp-stand, cart and other farm implements. The dish for the day is sweet milk.

Janmashtami.

On dark eighth of Sravana comes Janmastami. a festival in honour of Srikrsna's birthday. At places, people fast on the astami day, worship an idol of Srikrsna at midnight and celebrate his birth with the distribution of sunthavada. The next day is observed as a day of dahikala or Gokul day. Youths and boys group themselves as cowherds and give a display of frenzied dances.

Pithori Amavasya.

The no-moon day of Sravan known as Pithori Amavasya is observed as a vrata by women, particularly mothers whose children do not live long.

In villages this amavasya (at places it is the full moon of Asadha) is known as Pola or Bendar which is a gala festival for agricultural communities. That day they worship clay images of bullocks, and paint the horns of their cattle, especially of their bullocks, feed them on sweet dishes, and allow them to rest. In the evening they take out a procession of decorated bullocks from outside the village to its principal temple.

Ganesacaturthi.

On the bright fourth of Bhadrapada comes Ganesacaturthi (Ganapati's Fourth) when a painted clay figure of Ganapati specially bought for the day is worshipped and offerings of modaka, a dish of rice flour balls stuffed with cocoa-kernel scrapings and gul, are made to the god. The image is kept in the house from one and half to ten, and very rarely even twenty-one, days as may be the custom with the family and then ceremonially immersed in a well, a pond or a river. A special feature of this worship is that in towns, apart from the function in the family, it is also celebrated on a community scale by public contribution and with the added attraction of religious and semi-social programmes held each day during the festival.

Gauri.

Cojoined with the Ganesa festival, on the third or fourth day after caturthi, women hold a feast for three days in honour of Parvati or Gauri, the mother of Ganesa. A brass or clay mukhavata (face image) of the goddess is duly installed near the idol of Ganapati, worshipped and then ceremonially dismissed on the third day.

Haritalika and Rsi Pancnami.

On the third and the fifth lunar days of Bhadrapada come Haritalika and Rsi-pancami which are observed as days of fast particularly by Brahmana women. The first is kept by married women and young girls in honour of Haratalika (goddess Parvati) who successfully resisted her father's wish to marry her to god Visnu and married god Siva whom she loved. The second is observed by elderly women in honour of Rsis (ancient Seer). That day they do not eat anything that is grown with the labour of cattle or any other animal, but eat only hand-grown fruits and vegetables.

Pitrpaksa.

The dark half of Bhadrapada known as Pitrpaksa (the Spirit's Fortnight) is held sacred to the spirits of ancestors. On the day of this fortnight which corresponds to the death day of the father, a sapinda sraddha is held. The ninth day, known as avidhava-navami, is kept for rites in honour of unwidowed mothers; and the fifteenth day known as Sarvapitri-amavasya is reserved for all ancestors whose worship may have been left out.

Navratra and Dasara.

The Navaratri festival begins from the first day of Asvina and lasts for ten days, the first nine being known as Navaratra (nine nights) and the last as Dasara or tenth. An earthen jar filled with water with a cocoanut on the top is worshipped in honour of the goddess Ambabai. On the tenth they worship weapons and field tools; children worship their books. A function of Sarada Puja is arranged in schools and there is a feast in every house. In the afternoon villagers go in a procession as far as the ganvsiva (village boundary). Here the village headman worships the apta or sami tree with the help of the village Brahmana, and on their return they interchange the apta or sami leaves or gold as they are called that day with their relatives and friends.

Kojajiri Purnima.

The full-moon of Asvina known as Pandav-full-moon is observed as a festival by agricultural communities They spend the day from noon till evening in their fields. There they take with them one to five dishes such as cakes and sugared milk, offer them in worship to a configuration of six stones representing the five Pandavas and their mother Kunti and then enjoy the feast. On their way home they pluck some ears of the new crop, put them on the shrine of the family god or cooking them partake of the food as navanna (new food). This full-moon is also known by some as Kojagari Purnima. To celebrate it they take their supper in open moonlight or drink sugared milk in company.

Divali Festival.

The Divali or Dipavali festival signifying "a feast of lights" starts from the 13th of the dark half of Asvina and lasts for five days. During the period each evening panati lamps are lighted in all frontages of the house and every nook and corner inside has also a panati. The thirteenth known as Dhanatrayodasi is spent in general house-cleaning and preparation of sweet dishas. Early morning on the fourteenth all the house members take abhyanga bath. The whole day is spent in merry-making and eating sweet dishes at home and at friends' and at night fireworks are let off. On the no-moon day there is again a feast and in the evening there is the worship of goddess Laxmi. Merchants and traders hold this Laxmi-pujana (worship of Laxmi, the goddess of wealth) on a considerable scale and invite friends and patrons to the puja, and pan-supari. The next day which is the first day of Kartika marks the beginning of the commercial year and is called Balipratipada after the demon-king Bali. Wives wave aratis to their husbands and get presents. The last day of the festival is Bhaubeeja when sisters invite their brothers, feast them, wave an arati, and receive presents.

Tulasi Lagna.

On the 12th lunar day of Kartika comes the festival of Tulasilagna. The holy basil plant usually found enshrined on a pedestal in the back-yard is married that evening to an idol of Krsna. Parched rice (curmuras) and pieces of cocoa-kernal are distributed. With the marriage of Tulasi the Hindu marriage season opens and from that day agriculturists start partaking new tamarind, new avalas (phyllanthens emblica), and new sugarcane.

The bright fifteenth of Kartika known as Tripuri-purnima or Deo-divali is held in honour of Siva's victory over the demon Tripurasura and is celebrated that evening with the lighting of lamps in the niches of dipamals (lamp-pillars) in front of temples.

Makara Sankrant.

The day the sun enters Makara (the zodiac sign of Capricornus) which as a solar incident occurs on the 14th of January but on an uncertain tithi (lunar date) in the month of Pausa is celebrated as Makara Sankrant. It is marked with a feast in the afternoon, and in the evening men and women dress in new clothes, visit friends and relatives and offer them tilagula or halva. (sesame-sweet) as greetings of the season.

The day previous to Sankranta is called Bhogi on which a special dish called khicadi (rice and moog pulse boiled together, with a little salt and other condiments added) is offered to the gods and eaten. The next day of Sankranta is known as Kinnkrata. Among Brahmanas, for the first five years after her wedding a newly married girl celebrates the day with lutane" (free distribution to suvasinis of auspicious article): this may also be on any day up to Rathasaptami, the seventh day of Magha).

MAHA-SIVARATRA.

On the dark thirteenth or fourteenth of Magha comes Mahasivaratra (Siva's great night) which is observed by devotees of Siva with a fast and worship. The night is spent in singing devotional songs and the next morning after worshipping the god all partake of a feast.

SIMGA OR HOLI.

The last festival of the year is Simaga or Holi. In villages the advent of Simaga is eagerly awaited both by the young and the old. The main day of the feast is on the full-moon of Phalguna, but small boys start their holiday activities from the second day of the bright fortnight. Festivities go on till the end of the bright fortnight. In the afternoon of the full-moon day after feasting on cakes, it is sometimes customary for villagers to go into the bushlands and cut a long pole which is called the holi, and bring it in a procession to the village. The stump of the last years pole is dug out and the new pole is fixed in its place. A stone is worshipped at the bottom of the pole and fuel and cow-dung cakes, together with what remains of the last year's pole, are piled in a heap and set on fire. The next day, known as dhulavada is also observed as a holiday. There used to be a boisterous indulgence in an exchange of mud flinging and wayward pranks on that day. But that practice has now disappeared from cities and is fast disappearing also from rural areas. The dark fifth of Phalgun is observed as Ranga-Pancmi. Water, coloured with red colour is thrown at each other on that day.

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