Vinayaka Chathurthi Celebrations

Lord Vinayaka, Ganesha, Ganpathi, Vigneshwara is the darling and popular God of the masses of our Country. Ganesha Chathurthi or Vinayaka Chaturthi brings people together irrespective of their caste, creed of religion. 

Ganesha Chathurthi is celebrated with great devotion all over India. People bring home Idols of Lord Ganesha and celebrate the festival by worshiping the God. It can be for a day and a half, 3 days, 5 days, 7 days or 11 days depending on the family's tradition and culture. On the last day of worship the idols are taken out in a colourful and musical procession to be immersed at a river, lake or in an ocean in the traditional manner. 

Vinayaka Chathurthi is one of the most popular festivals celebrated all over India. Ganpathi is a popular God liked by one and all. He is the one who removes all obstacles in our life and gives success and prosperity. He can be pleased easily. The most favourite nivandyam of Ganapathi is Modakam, Ladoo etc. Once he is pleased, he bestows everything we desire for. For any good things we start, first we propitiate Lord  Ganapathi to invoke his blessings. He is the bestower of fortune and can help us in warding off natural calamities. Vinayaka is the God of Wisdom. 

In Kerala this festival falls in the Malayalam month of Chingam i.e sometime in August/September. This year in Kerala it was celebrated on 19^th of August 2015 whereas in other states it falls on 17^th of September 2015.  People worshiped idols of Ganesha and did milk abhishekam and Modaka nivedeyam as offering to the Lord . Temples were very crowded and people were standing in queue to have darshan of Lord Ganesha. There were fairs in each locality which included music concerts, dances and skits. In the evening a huge procession with the devotional music and bhajans were taken out through the streets, taking the idols of Ganapathi to immerse in the river.  People were standing in devotion to have a darshan of their beloved God. Hundred of vehicles decorated and illuminated were carrying big  Ganesha Murthis. When these vehicles were passed through the streets, it gives the mind joy and enthusiasm taking us to a spiritual realm. Devotes standing in the vehicles were singing and dancing shamans. I was thrilled to see my favorite God being taken away on the most beautifully decorated chariots.  A lovely sight to see. People shouting and chanting with excitement asking him to come again in the next year. I could not resist myself to share these memorable events. I could also get some photographs of the Ganesh idol processions taken through my street. I am eagerly waiting my Darling God’s Ganesh Chathurthi  to come again and again every year to give a chance for a grand celebrations. 

 May LORD GANESHA’s blessings be showered on all of us !

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ONAM CELEBRATIONS

ONAM (Thiruvoonam) is one of the most important festivals celebrated in Kerala. It is the festival of Malayalees. This is celebrated by one and all without caste or creed. This year it is falling on 28^th of August 2015. This festival commemorates with the visit of Demon King Mahabali from the netherworld to visit his people. The story is Kerala was ruled by King Mahabali. During his regime, people were very happy and prosperous. Everything was in plenty. He was a generous  king and he was taking care of his people well. The only defect in him was he was egoistic. Seeing his good ruling, the Devas were jealous and approached Mahavishnu to subdue him.  Mahavishnu agreed and appeared before Mahabali in the form of a Vamana (dwarf) and asked for mud for his to take three steps. Even though his Guru pursued him to stop giving, he has agreed to do so since he was a generous King. With his first step he covered the earth, with the second step he was patala  and the entire universe covered with the two steps. Then Vamana asked where to keep the third step and Mahabali asked Vamana to put his third step on his head to send him to the Patala. Since he was so fond of his kingdom and pupil, he requested Vamana to allow him to come to see his kingdom and people once in a year. Every year the day he comes to visit kerala is celebrated as Thiruvoonam .

The festival starts in the month of August-September every year. It begins on the day of Atham Nakshathra and ends on Thiruvoonam day. The ten days festival starts with Pookalam. Early morning in front of every house, children decorate big pookalams with nice fresh flowers. It is also a harvest season as the New Year starts with the Malayalam month Chingam To receive Mahalabali, Mahabali’s idols are made in mud and kept in front of the house and do Poojas.  People wear new clothes. Big discounts are given during this period in shops  for the people to have purchases. The last four days of the festival  the entire state celebrates with cultural programmes, vallamkali, pookalam, pulikali etc. 
 
Onasidhya is one of the important thing in this festival.  The onasadhya will be comprising of so many dishes, payasam, pappadam and people squat on the floor and eat in banana leaves. It is a wonderful site to see and so many tourist visit Kerala during this season. Since it is a harvest season, Kerala State looks beautiful and magnificent. The weather is  pleasant, sunny and warm right time for celebrations. Paddy fields seen brilliant as they stand with golden paddy grains. It is boom time for fruits and flowers.  Farmers are happy with plenty of harvest to celebrate this festival.  At the time of Mahalbali’s visit the State of Kerala looks plenty in all things.  Let us all welcome the Great King Mahabali to visit the State of Kerala and its people to know that people are happy , gay and joyful.

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FASHIONABLE JUTE BAGS

The first article which I wrote about saving the earth and its environment is

about the usage of paper bags. Now another important environmental friendly thing is the jute bag. Jute is one of the natural and strongest fibre filled plant. The plant is long, soft and shiny. Jute is the second best fibre plant after cotton.  India, China and Bangladesh are the major jute producing countries. The global availability and consumption of jute is very high and because its eco friendliness, almost all the countries love to have things made from jute. The plant grows in humid climates. Jute is 100% bio-degradable and can be recycled. The jute fibres are spun into coarse and strong threads from which several types fabrics are made for human usage such as textile and carry bags etc. These are carbon-dioxide neutral and easily decomposable. This is eco-friendly. The threads are golden in colour. Bags can be designed and made in different shades and colours as per the taste of the consumers. It can be made in different sizes such as small, medium and big bags. It is strong enough to carry any weight. It gives a beautiful and aristocratic look. One can use it for any purpose whether for shopping, bringing groceries, carrying clothes, books etc. I even suggest the big shops should pack consumer items in jute bags giving their logo in it so that the plastic and other types of things can be thrown of forever.  

Many of the big shops are doing so with their shops’ name and logo. By way of doing this, they need not go for any special advertisement in newspapers or websites. This is one way of marketing their goods plus giving awareness to public for using eco-friendly jute bags.   I admire their wisdom in using these bags. I am so fond of eco-friendly items. I have a fascination for nice, beautiful jute bags. These bags are not that costly compared to leather bags. The common mass can afford to buy such nice bags for their routine purchases, short journeys, and picnics etc. Wherever I see fashionable jute bags, I rush there to get a glimpse of it.   I even feel sometimes to snatch from the person who carries. I love to carry and use such bags. It gives me mental satisfaction, as living in the planet earth; I can save my environment by using only things which are eco-friendly.  Living in an unpolluted atmosphere gives me good health and refresh my mind and spirit. Let all good things which will not spoil our environment in any manner is ours should be our moto in life.  Let us campaign and spread the message to the mass for using eco-friendly jute and paper bags discarding the plastic bags.

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MY COZY COMFORTER

Recently on the request of my young colleague who is a master in online sites I bought a Home Expressions USA comforter. Initially I was not for it but my colleague’s explanations about its beauty and coziness made me go crazy after it. Now I purchased one from Flipkart online.  To my amazement, it is more than what I expected from it. I was wonder struck with joy and happiness for such nice quality comforters. Its fabric, stitching and poly fills makes me feel much happier. I have never even dreamt that such things are there in the market. I have seen people sleep under such duvets in films only. Of course I stayed in northern part of India where during the months November to February it is very very cold. The weather goes to minus 2 degree Celsius especially when there used to have snow falls and winder rains At that time we used to have quilts made with 5 kg fine cottons to escape from the cold. You get variety of such items in northern part of India like quilts and blankets. But to my amazement at that time I was not aware of comforter.  Let me first thank my friend for suggesting such nice things to me. It is really good and comfortable and one can have a nice good sleep under the comforter especially in AC rooms.  When you spread the comforter in your bed, it gives an elegant look to the bedding.
 
A comforter can give much added joy and comfort in one’s life. The only time one can be happy is during your sleep. You forget the world. If sleep is disturbed, the whole day is bad and with swollen eyes and sleepy face one won’t be able to do work. A comfortable 8 hours sleep gives one rejuvenation and freshness when you wake up in the morning. I knew the beauty of comforter when I used the same. I find   a comforter is very very essential in one’s life to have a cozy and comfortable undisturbed sleep. I think in the modern world this is also one of the necessities and the cost is not that much as one cannot afford. Many online sites are giving fabulous discounts. I should appreciate the E-commerce business. It is much better than the offline purchases. Had these sites are not there, we would not have known many things. For a good sleep such good things are necessary. I request my friends and colleagues to go for it for nice, comfortable and good sleep and wake up fresh in the morning like a flower.

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