Happy Holi!

Happy Holi!

Bhagavad Krishna and Radha celebrate Holi

Factoid: did you know that Radha was not mentioned by name in the Bhagavata Purana?  While he has a favorite gopi, she is never named.

Happy Holi!

Because it's not a matter if you've seen Sholay, but how many times you watched it.😉

Happy Holi!

Happy Makar Sankranti

Happy Makar Sankranti

According to Wikipedia (paraphrase follows),

Makar Sankranti refers both to a specific solar day in the Hindu calendar. It marks the first day of sun's transit into the Makara (Capricorn). It is one of the few Hindu festivals that is observed according to the solar cycle. The lunar cycle of the lunisolar Hindu calendar sets most Hindu festivals. Makar Sankranti falls on the same Gregorian date every year (January 14), except in rare years when the date shifts by a day, due to earth-sun relative movement. 

It is celebrated in many parts of India and is known by different names and celebrated with different customs in different parts of the region: for example, it is called Lohri in Punjab, Uttarayan in Gujarat, and Pongal in Tamil Nadu.

Lohri Bonfire

The meaning of April 14

April 14 is not only Bengali New Year, but also New Year in other parts of India: Odisha (Pana Sankranti), Tamil Nadu (Puthandu), Kerala (Vishu), Assam (Bihu), and Vaisakhi (Punjab). In Punjab, it also commemorates the formation of the Khalsa, or Sikh community, by Guru Gobind Singh.

Formation of the Khalsa

April 14 is Mesha Sankranti, the day that the sun transits into Aries. The picture below shows a painted relief of Zodiac symbols on the terrace of a Gopuram at Kanipakam Lord Shiva temple in Andhra Pradesh. 

By Adityamadhav83 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

April 14 is also New Year in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Sri Lanka, parts of Vietnam, and Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China (borders Thailand).  These New Years are collectively referred to as Songkran (Songkran = Sankranti).