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Lohri Festival Invitations

Lohri is a festival celebrated throughout the nation and is one of those festivals which has no historical significance but is just a day of showing each other love and care, but also a relaxed day taking a break from the busy life of city individuals.

The evenings are spent by visiting relatives and exchanging wishes and dancing through the night to the local beats. Lohri is also seen as a festival which instils secularism and national pride where religion is forgotten and all are one in the eyes of the celebrators. It helps remind us that the best virtues in life are a pure heart, truthfulness and honest characteristics in a person. Mouth watering delicious sweets and desserts like malpua, gujiya and poli add up to the specialty of the festival. Lohri is a day of celebration for the nerve wrecked urban individuals giving them a day off so that they can bridge the gap between visiting relatives, enjoying get together and having fun with the family. The lohri festival is also called the festival of springs as it is celebrated at the start of the spring season and marks the beginning of hope, joy and fertility. The people wear new clothes which is an indication of new promises and the farmers are happy, what with their fields filled with new crops promising a good harvest. Lohri is mostly celebrated in Punjab where the food grains are the top most priority in the state.

Punjab and Haryana are the two states where lohri is celebrated with much fervor and happiness rejoicing this day to the fullest. This is a popular occasion for family get together as well as fun. The main highlight of the festival is the bonfire which is lit in order to cook fresh green grams in its pods and the people dance and sing around the preparing ritual and have fun and frolic. As this is a community festival lohri is always celebrated with a huge group of people mostly relatives and neighbors. On the night of lohri they have traditional dinner of roti with butter and sarson ka saag and this delicious food has to have the five most important ingredients like gingelly, gajak which is a hard bar of nuts in jaggery of sugary syrup, jaggery, roasted peanuts and pop corn. A puja is done by the

Lohri Festival Invitations

ladies of the family and the food is made and served to the people sitting around the bonfire. The prayer is done for appeasing the god Agni, who is the spark of life, and for the prosperity of crops as well as the people.

The festival has great social significance as this time is considered as a very good time for marriages and taking up new ventures like businesses or starting new courses etc. For the newly married couples lohri is a time of celebration of their newly wed status with the great social and cultural integration bringing about unity, togetherness without taking into account the caste or creed.

Diwali Free Invitations

India, as we know is a country with diverse culture and heritage. Indians celebrate a lot of festivals with the reasons ranging from the celebration of good over evil, celebration of a good harvest and birth anniversary’s of the various God’s. One of the heart-warming effects of these festivals is the way in which it brings people of different backgrounds, religion and stature, together, creating a unique sense of unity in a vast diversity.

The mother of all festivals celebrated all across India is Diwali, which is celebrated in all glory. Every household in this great nation feels the spirit of Diwali getting in days before the festival. Diwali means different things to different people. For children it means Fireworks and sweets, for the youth it means a time to spend with your friends and family and for the elders it symbolizes a day to thank God and elders and to share their prosperity with all their loved ones.

Diwali is celebrated all across India in a traditional yet festive manner. This important festival falls between the months of October-November. It is also known as the festival of lights because of the fireworks and lamps which decorate the cities across India at night. Prior to the festival enthusiasm is high among the people, rushing for last minute shopping of clothes, sweets and savouries and fireworks.

In some parts of Northern India Diwali is celebrated to mark the return of Victorious Lord Ram after defeating Ravan and winning back his beloved wife, Sita. It is believed that people across India lighted lamps outside their houses as a mark of respect for Lord Ram. During those days lamps symbolized enlightenment and victory. This achievement of Lord Ram was considered as a major victory over the asura’s who tormented the innocent people and the God’s.

South India’s version of celebrating Diwali is that Lord Krishna slayed the demon king Narkhasura and brought freedom to the people who had to face his wrath. People in the south hence brought in the tradition of oil baths which they believed would wash away all the sins which they performed under the influence of the asura’s

On Diwali, people get up early, have oil bath cleansing their souls and pamper themselves with new clothes and a new beginning to their endeavours. They then distribute sweets and savouries among their family and friends and seek the blessings of their elders. The family then visits the temple to pray for a good life and to thank God for whatever He has bestowed upon them. the whole family then sits together and spends some quality time together. Relatives and friends then get together for a fun filled evening

If you thought that Diwali is an all family affair, then you are wrong. The beauty of this festival is that there is never a dull moment. Once the sun sets the fireworks begin bringing the children and elders together. The streets are lined with lamps or ‘diya’s’ and provide a spectacular sight. Fireworks across the sky lighten up the sky and on this day Mother India looks like she is dressed with a beautifully woven saree across her, when viewed from above. The night is provided a fitting end with a quiet and peaceful bonfire which depicts burning away all your sins and evil thought’s into the sacred fire. Diwali is never the same without the feast which makes it a perfect end to a perfect festival

Diwali, like every other festival signifies the Victory of Good over Evil, the joy of sharing and the desire in everyone to get rid of the evil within himself.  This is precisely what every religion be it Hinduism, Christianity or Islam preaches, isn’t it?

Satyanarayan Pooja

Satyanarayan Pooja Items List

Holi Celebrations

Holi is the most colourful and vibrant festivals of India celebrated in different names through out the nation but the spirit remaining the same all over. this festival is celebrated with much enthusiasm and joy in the month of march, which falls in the month of phagun in the Indian calendar. The festivals is highlighted by the people celebrating, singing and dancing to the tunes of traditional songs and setting aside differences and enjoying as a group.

Holi started out as a festival called holika in the olden days, which was celebrated by the married women for their well-being where they prayed to the moon. It evolved as a fun festival during the later years and it is said that the exciting festival of holi has been mentioned in many of the ancient scripts, inscriptions and murals written around 2000 years ago. An ancient Muslim tourist to India has mentioned the celebration of holi in those days and hence from this it becomes clear that holi was celebrated by the Hindu’s as well as the Muslims. The evening before holi the entire nation is electrified with activity and the markets buzz with people who are doing their last minute shopping of gulal and abeer to surprise each other colourfully.

Legend has it that radha and Krishna were playing with the colour where Krishna was applying holi to radha and the other gopi’s around which later became the festival’s famous tradition. The holi festival is also called the festival of springs as it is celebrated at the start of the spring season and marks the beginning of hope, joy and fertility. The people wear new clothes which is an indication of new promises and the farmers are happy, what with their fields filled with new crops promising a good harvest. Its usually an

Holi Celebration

unwritten rule that you never wear a light colored or a white shirt on a holi day unless you want to become the target of children and their water missiles, holi powder and colored water filled balloons! In some states the people set up a pot filled with butter milk and tie it up high in the air so that young people make a huge human pyramid to climb up to it and break it, while women keep dumping buckets of cold water on them to deter them from reaching the top, adding to the festive spirit.

Mouth watering delicious sweets and desserts like malpua, gujiya and poli add up to the specialty of the festival. The evenings are spent by visiting relatives and exchanging wishes and dancing through the night to the local beats. Holi is also seen as a festival which instils secularism and national pride where religion is forgotten and all are one in the eyes of the celebrators. It helps remind us that the best virtues in life are a pure heart, truthfulness and honest characteristics in a person and this festival promotes the same by the use of colour.

India Republic Day

The 26^th of January, 1950 is one of the red letter days in the history of India. It was on this day that the constitution of India was formed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and his team. A proper system of governance emerged three years after India’s independence in 1947. To commemorate this, the Republic day of India is celebrated on the 26^th of January every year. The whole nation irrespective of religion, caste and creed unite to celebrate Republic day in patriotic fervor. This day is seen as a festival which reinforces secularism and national pride.

The whole country celebrates the Republic Day by hoisting flags and every nook and corner of the country. Only on the Republic Day and the Independence Day, a common man can use or touch the Indian flag. The Indian flag adorn every household, vehicles and shops all over the country. The Indian flag is hoisted in all the government offices, business centers and in all educational institutions.

The most important part of the Republic Day celebrations is the grand and splendid ‘Republic Day Parade’ held at New Delhi in front of the Janpath road near the India Gate. The President of India presides over as the Chief Dignitary of the grand function. Every year, India invites ‘Head of the State’s of foreign countries to preside over the parade as the ‘Chief Guest of Honor’. The Prime Minister and

Indian Republic Day

other Ministers of State also attend the parade. The day begins with the President of India hoisting the Indian flag at the Red Fort and addresses the nation. After the President’s address, the parade begins with the March from all the armed forces, the Indian Army, Navy and the Air force. The perfection of the officers’ march would stun the viewers. Also the cutting edge defense systems, artillery and missiles would be a part of the parade. On behalf of every state in India, a group of cultural performers would perform in the parade. After the grand parade is over everybody in this huge arena would rise and sing the National Anthem, ‘Jana Gana Mana’ in chorus. The President later distributes the most prestigious awards in India like the Param Vir Chakra, Khel Ratna, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri to the recipients.

Every State of India also celebrates the Republic Day in its own grand manner. In every state capital, a parade is arranged by the local police forces with cultural performances from school and college students. Later the Chief Minister of the respective states hoists the flag at the Secretariat. School students assemble in their schools to hoist the flag and sing the National Anthem. Most schools in India host their ‘Annual Sports Day’ on this day.

26th January

All the great leaders of India who struggled for freedom and tirelessly worked hard to build the largest democracy in the world are honored today. The patriotic feeling is so intense that every India sports the Indian Flag, pinned to their dress and citizens break all barriers of religion and class to unite together to strengthen the Nation’s future and pride. Indians greet each other with a ‘Jai Hind’ on this day which means ‘Victory to India’.

Satyanarayan Pooja is a day of celebration in India signifying the onset of the uttrayana punyakalam when the sun starts its journey to the northern hemisphere, also called makara rasi in the Hindu scriptures. The day of satyanarayana pooja starts with people going for a holy dip in the waters of rivers and lakes and are deemed cleansed. This day is said to bring abundance of wealth and health as well as a peace of mind for all forms of life including humans as well as animals. During the day of satyanarayana puja the people worship shri satya narayan and the puja can be performed during any part of the day. The full moon night of sankranthi can be considered as one of the most auspicious times for doing the pooja though prayers in the morning are also usually done. On the day of the puja the devotee is to maintain a fast after the morning bath starting with the prayers. The satya narayana puja is usually attended by relatives and neighbors of the person observing the fast or the group who organize the puja. The platform where the puja happens is decorated with lord idol which is accessorized and well kept with all the required items.

On the platform of the idol, kum kum and turmeric powder, sweet smelling incense sticks, burning camphor, beetle leaves and nuts, coconuts, almonds, flowers etc are placed to please the gods so that they bless the people and devotees with prosperity and peace. Mouth watering delicious sweets and desserts like malpua, gujiya and poli add up to the specialty of the festival. The evenings are spent by visiting relatives and exchanging wishes and dancing through the night to the local beats. Satyanarayana puja is also seen as a festival which instils secularism and national pride where religion is forgotten and all are one in the eyes of the celebrators. It helps remind us that the best virtues in life are a pure heart, truthfulness and honest characteristics in a person and this festival promotes the same by the use of colour. One of the easiest ways to get blessed by the lord Vishnu is by performing the puja for the lord of maintenance of the entire world.

People who usually perform the puja are those who seek improvement in life like higher education, new employment, new cars or vehicles, newly married couple, people moving into new houses, buying new property, getting into new ventures etc. It can be done when a person in a family is ill with sickness and he or she needs recovery and is also performed for general happiness and well being of the family and surroundings. Satyanarayana puja is a day of celebration for the nerve wrecked urban individuals giving them a day off so that they can bridge the gap between visiting relatives, enjoying get together and having fun with the family. The festival is celebrated at the start of the spring season and marks the beginning of hope, joy and fertility. The people wear new clothes as is an indication of new promises and the farmers are happy, what with their fields filled with new crops promising a good harvest.

Griha Pravesh Pooja

Griha pravesh is a pooja which is done by the Hindu’s before entry into a new house. The family which is going to stay in the house would move into the place on an auspicious day which is deemed good by the astrologers determined by the sun and moon charts. The purity of the panchang and the purity of the time of moving into the house should be considered for the ritual to take place.

House Warming Invitation

The ceremony has been made into three parts as described by the scriptures , they are, apoorva, sapoorva, and dwandwah . The entry phase into the newly built house on the newly acquired land is called the apoorva griha parvesh. The sapoorva phase is when the family moves into an already existing house after a travel to a foreign nation or migration to a new place. The dwandwah phase of the griha pravesh is when a house has been reconstructed or renovated after damage due to earthquake, flood, fire and other such happenings. The auspicious times ormuhurtums is when the sun is in the uttrayan position, based on the lunar calendar, for a newly built house in the guru position for a renovated house and as such. Entry into the house at each part of the year based on the month signifies gain of wealth, family, children etc. Magh is a part of the year when entry into the house signifies a gain of wealth, falgun signifies gain of children and wealth, baishak represents growth of wealth and prosperity, jeshtha of son and cattle.

Vastu pooja is done outside the house where a ceremonial fire is lit and puja’s are done by the priest. A copper pot filled with nine different types of grains and covered with a red cloth is kept near the ceremonial fire and after the puja the husband and wife of the family take the copper pot and walk around the new site.

Griha Pravesh

A vastu shanthi is usually done in the house to protect it from the harmful influences of the planets, moons, negative vibrations from places and people  around and create a peaceful area around the area of living. The priest is usually given a good amount of fees and special attention for his services and the ceremony is concluded by giving the people who have attended the ceremony a big feast so that everyone is happy when they leave the place.

There also certain things which are not to be done during a griha pravesha puja like the puja is not complete until the doors are fitted, roofs covered, the vastu gods worshipped and the priests have been offered the feast. The ceremony shouldn’t be done when the female in the family is pregnant and the door of the house shouldn’t be locked for a few days after the puja as it would be considered inauspicious. If the points mentioned above are not followed then it may bring trouble and misery to the people who dwell in the house.