India -Taiwan collaborative padlet-Festivals of India by Shahnaaz Ojha

DIWALI

shahnaazojha1 — 2025-09-28 08:28:15 UTC

This festival is celebrated in Autumn in India and is also called the festivals of lights.

Holi - The festival of colours

ojas1210 — 2025-10-01 10:31:37 UTC

Holi is a festival of colors that fills everything with brightness and joy. People celebrate by applying gulal, splashing colored water, throwing balloons, and dancing to lively music. It is also a time to put aside fights, enjoy traditional sweets like gujiya, puranpoli, or laddu, and share happiness with family and friends.

𝘿𝙒𝘼𝙇𝙄

2025-10-01 11:38:17 UTC

Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is a significant celebration in Hinduism, symbolizing the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. Here are some interesting facts about Diwali:

Diwali Facts

1. *Five days of celebration*: Diwali is a five-day festival, each day with its own significance and rituals.

2. *Lighting lamps*: The tradition of lighting diyas (earthen lamps) is a central part of Diwali celebrations, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness.

3. *Goddess Lakshmi*: Diwali is also associated with the worship of Goddess Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of prosperity and wealth.

4. *Fireworks and sparklers*: Fireworks and sparklers are an integral part of Diwali celebrations, adding to the festive atmosphere.

5. *Family and friends*: Diwali is a time for family and friends to come together, share traditional foods, and exchange gifts.

Diwali Traditions

1. *Cleaning and decorating homes*: Homes are thoroughly cleaned and decorated with rangoli, diyas, and flowers to welcome Goddess Lakshmi.

2. *Wearing new clothes*: People wear new clothes and exchange gifts with family and friends.

3. *Traditional foods*: Traditional sweets and snacks like gulab jamun, jalebi, and samosas are prepared and shared.

4. *Puja and worship*: People perform puja (worship) and offer prayers to Goddess Lakshmi and other deities.

Diwali is a vibrant and joyous celebration that brings people together, filled with light, love, and laughter!

HAPPY

DIWALI

Wish you a joyful and happy diwali

2025-10-01 11:42:30 UTC

Diwali is the festival of lights that fills our hearts with joy, our homes with warmth, and our lives with positivity. 🪔We celebrate Diwali with happiness in hearts and kindness in actions. 💖

Ganesh Chaturthi : Festival Of prosperity and Spirituality

2025-10-01 16:31:16 UTC

Lord Ganesha is the popular elephant-headed god in Hinduism. He is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and is widely worshipped as the remover of obstacles, the god of wisdom, and the patron of new beginnings.

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated for 10 days because the extended period is believed to be the duration of Lord Ganesha's annual visit to Earth to bless his devotees. It also commemorates the time he spent writing the Mahabharata for the sage Vyasa. The 10-day celebration allows for a complete spiritual and communal journey.

The specialties of Ganesh Chaturthi are the installation of decorative Ganesha idols in homes and public pandals, the special offerings of modak, And an energetic, powerful and positive Aarti (worshiping Them while singing/chanting a spiritual song called Aarti). We do Aarti, offer modaks till 10 days. On the 10th day, we immerse them in water (known as Visarjan) As off letting them go back to their home.

2025-10-03 11:46:45 UTC

I like 👍 festival Dussehra on this vacation 😌 we not only burn Ravan we also burn the bad things what we did all over the year 🙏🙏👌👌😌🇮🇳🎇

Durga Puja

2025-10-04 08:36:50 UTC

Durga Puja, one of the major festivals of Hinduism traditionally held for 10 days in the month of Ashvin, or Ashvina (September–October), the seventh month of the Hindu calendar, and particularly celebrated in West Bengal, Assam, and other eastern Indian states. Durga Puja is a special puja (offering) festival that celebrates the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon king Mahishasura (from the Sanskrit terms mahisa, “buffalo” and asura, “demon”). It begins on the same day as Navratri, which is held over nine nights in many northern and western states and which more broadly celebrates the divine feminine (shakti).

Durga Puja’s first day is Mahalaya, which heralds the advent of the goddess. Celebrations and worship begin on Shashthi, the sixth day. During the following three days, the goddess is worshipped in her various forms as Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. Images (murtis) of the goddess—astride a lion and attacking Mahishasura—are placed at various elaborately decorated pandals (temporary structures of bamboo and other materials) and installed inside temples. The celebrations end with Vijayadashami (“Tenth Day of Victory”), when, amid loud chants and drumbeats, sacred images are carried in huge processions to local rivers, where they are immersed.

That custom is symbolic of the departure of the deity to her home and to her husband, Shiva, in the Himalayas.

Nuakhai

2025-10-07 14:54:30 UTC

Nuakhai is a vibrant harvest festival celebrated in Western Odisha, where the first grains of the newly harvested paddy (rice) are offered to the local deity before everyone eats them. The word itself—Nua (new) + Khai (food/eating)—symbolizes gratitude for the harvest. Families clean their homes, wear new clothes, and decorate everything beautifully. On the day, the head of each family, after offering the new rice to the goddess (like Maa Samaleswari in Sambalpur, Manikeswari in Kalahandi, etc.), distributes portions among members and relatives. There’s a special greeting ritual called Nuakhai Juhar, where younger people seek blessings from elders. Folk dances, cultural performances, and community feasts with dishes made from the fresh crop add joy and togetherness to the celebration. It’s deeply tied to rural life, agrarian identity, and social unity in Western Odisha.