Festivals & Events

Festivals in every culture is an alleyway to the profound aspects of life. It is a great tool to approach life with exuberance and enthusiasm. These celebrations originate from religion, folklore and heritage, and sometimes significant origin remains civilization or agricultural. Festivals or celebrations hold information about the glorious heritage, traditional wisdom, and culture's moral values. Festivals reflect the lifestyle of our ancestors and their perception of life. Vibrant festivals in Indian culture are a testimony to our diverse and secular culture. Festivals add cheer, hope, optimism, lights, joy and bring many pleasant things to our life.

Upcoming Festivals

Festivals List

Important aspects of a Festival

Taking a moment away from busy, mundane life to celebrate festivals and relish the delicacies of the celebrations can bring a new look to life. 

Vrat Katha: the story or the vrat Katha of a festival denotes the time period of its inception. The Vrat Katha is usually adapted from the Vedas or sometimes from folklore. It elucidates the core significance of the festival like offering gratitude, celebrating a particular activity-Sankranti, or accessing a specific deity's energy or auspicious rituals.  

Delicacies or Neivedhya: the food prepared on the day of the festival speaks volumes about the importance of the physical body and spirituality. Only when the physical system is clean, detoxed and strong, can it house powerful divine energies. If you take a closer look, the delicacies prepared are usually local and seasonal, addresses the common health issues of a particular season, for instance- 

1. Rama Navami is celebrated in the mid-summer, and the common neivedhya is Panagam & Kosambari (both cool down the body heat)  
2. Ekadashi- purification and cleansing of the physical and energy bodies by Nirjala fast. 
3. Vinayaka Chathurthi- Modaks and lentils help store starch and protein for the upcoming winter. 

A man is lost without his traditional values and cultural system. They make who we are and what we value. Festivals play a vital role in keeping us connected to our roots and traditions regardless of where we are.   

Festivals include sowing crops, harvesting grains, birthday tithis of deities, power times to access cosmic energy like Marghazi or Shravana masa, remembering important moments in the cultural history.  

A yogic aspect to festivals, We face numerous challenging moments in life and evolve as better beings as we resolve those challenges. While we manage most episodes gracefully, some life situations are stubborn and test our faith. Festivals come in handy in resolving these stubborn challenges. Festivals create a window to celebrate life and be grateful. This window can work in two ways: one- it reinstates faith in the bigger element of Divine Grace- Bhakti Yoga. Two- shifting focus to the celebration of life puts the very experience of life in the limelight. This might bring a new perspective to the challenge at hand, leading to a whole new approach/action-Karma Yoga. When a certain awareness or distance is established in the Mind-Body-Soul relationship, a new way is born. 

These celebrations are the binding factors between Friends, Families and loved ones. Festivals are about people coming together and celebrating each other's presence. It is also a chance to embrace all the hard work of our ancestors and forefathers.