The Gazetteers Department

Hindu life is replete with celebrations of all kinds. There are holidays and other religious festivals and birthday anniversaries of mythological heroes, which are observed every year. There are, also, other occasional ceremonies evoking special forms of worship and sacrificial offerings. They include ceremonies to obtain or to avert rain, hail-storms or floods and to prevent epidemics or cattle diseases etc. So also many ceremonies and good works by which punya (spiritual merit) may be acquired are those such as performance of yatra, homa, Ram-lila, Rasas, the construction of temples, digging of wells or tanks, plantation of mango-groves and so on, while there are many propitiatory ceremonies like Satya-narayana and Satyavinayaka, Anantapuja in which the aid of specific deities and spirits is solicited for the successful performance of rites of marriage, birth and death. [Peculiarities of Hindu marriage customs according to castes are given in the section on 'Castes.']

Every year, a Hindu generally goes through the following cycle of feasts and festivals.

Gudhi-Padva

Gudhi-padva : The first day of Chaitra is called Gudhi-padva, it being the New Year day of the Hindus observing the Shalivahana Shaka (era). With this day begins the new season, the spring. It is ushered in by house-holders by setting up in front of the house, a gudhi. i.e., a bamboo pole, capped with a small silver or brass pot and a new piece of cloth hanging to it as a flag and offering it a routine worship. Eating a mixture of nim leaves, gul and cumin seeds is a special observance for the day. The day is considered auspicious for building or entering a new house, putting a child to school or starting any new business.,

Rama-navami.

Ramanavami: On the bright ninth of the same month is celebrated the birthday of Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, the hero of the Ramayana and ideal ruler of men. People flock in holiday dress to Shri Rama's temple where a silk doll is made to represent Rama and all the ceremonials connected with child-birth are gone through. Exactly at 12 noon, the Haridasa announces the birth by tossing gulal (red powder) and the babe is then cradled. Arati, distribution of Sunthavada (mixture of ginger and sugar), tirth-prasada, kirtana and bhqjana in praise of Rama are the usual functions held at the festival.

Hanuman Jayanti.

On the full-moon day of Chaitra, exactly at sunrise, a festival is arranged in the temple of Hanuman, to celebrate his birth.

Maha-ekadashi.

The Ekadashi, eleventh day, occurring in the bright half of Ashadha and Kartika are considered very sacred. They mark the beginning and the end of Chaturmasa (four holy months) and are observed as fast and prayer days by a very large section of Hindus. Followers of the Varkari sect make it a point to visit the temple of Vithpba of Pandharpur on those days.

Gokulashtami.

Gokulashtami: On the dark eighth of Shravana falls the Gokulashtami festival in honour of Shri Krishna's birthday. Exact midnight of this day was the time of the birth of Lord Krishna and the next day, the babe, was taken to Gokul. The way the occasion is celebrated varies from place to place. Usually, the people fast on the ashtami day, worship a clay image of the babe at midnight and celebrate the birth with the distribution of sunthavada. They break their fast that night with feasting. The more strict people may postpone it to the next day of dahikala or Gokul-day when a boisterous play-ritual of breaking the handi is celebrated in a temple.

The principal festival of the Kunbis and other agricultural castes is Pola. the pola, falling at about the middle of the rainy season (Shravan vad 30) when they have a procession of plough-bullocks. An old bullock goes first and on his horns is tied a makhar, a wooden frame with pegs to which torches are affixed. They make a rope of mango leaves stretched between two posts and the makhar bullock is made to break this and stampede back to the village followed by all the other cattle. It is said that the makhar bullock will die within three years. Behind come the bullocks of the proprietors and then those of the tenants in the order not so much of their wealth as of their standing in the village and of the traditional position held by their families. A Kunbi feels very bitterly, if he is not given the rank that he considers proper in the procession. Bullock and cart races are also held on the day, the winners receiving salutary prizes.

Ganesh chaturthi.

Ganesh chaturthi; On the bright fourth of Bhadrapada falls the birthday of Ganesh, the God of Learning. A painted clay figure of the elephant-headed god is specially purchased for the day from the image-vendors and worshipped with offerings of modakas (sweet balls). A special feature of the festival is that in towns, apart from the function in the family, the worship is celebrated on a community scale by public contribution and with the added attraction of religious and semi-social programmes held each day during the festival which lasts for five or seven or ten days. Out of a superstition still current, a person avoids looking at the moon on the Chaturthi-day, otherwise he might get involved, in a baseless theft charge.

Gauri-pujan.

Conjoined to the Ganapati festival, women hold a celebration in honour of Parvati or Gauri, mother of Ganesh. The first day is Gauri-avahana, the invitation to Gauri, the second one is Gauri-pujan, the worship of the goddess, and the last day is Gauri- Visarjan, the immersion day.

Dasara.

Dasara : In the month of Ashwina falls the great festival of Navaratra (nine nights) culminating in Dasara, so called from dasha (ten) and ahara (days), it being a ten-day festival in honour of the Goddess, Durga. It is also called by Hindus as Vijayadashmi, the day of victory gained by Rama over his enemy, Ravana, the demon king of Lanka (Ceylon). It is also the day on which the Goddess Kali vanquished the buffalo-demon, Mahishasura and in some places, it was once customary to sacrifice a buffalo on the day. The offering of goats is usual and those who cannot or will not make any animal sacrifice adopt a substitute in the shape of a white pumpkin supported on four sticks resembling the legs of the goat. The first nine days are known as Navaratra (nine nights) on the first day being performed Ghatasthapana or the invocation of the goddess to be present in (ghata) jar. On the tenth day, every householder worships his caste insignia represented by tools and implements. A Teli will worship his ghana (oil machine), a Kayastha his kalamdan (inkstand and pen), a blacksmith his anvil and hammer, a Brahman his holy books and so on. They have sumptuous meals at noon, and towards the evening, they don holiday attire and gather together to worship shami (presepis specigara) or in its absence, the apta (Bauhinia racemosa) tree. On this day, the leaves of apta are supposed to symbolise gold and they are exchanged while greeting one another. The Dasara day is considered highly auspicious for the undertaking of any new work or business.

Diwali.

Divali: Twenty days after Dasara comes Diwali, when Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, is worshipped. She is supposed to pass over the land, distributing her gifts of riches; all, therefore, illuminate their houses and shops in order that they may not be overlooked. The lights are often tastefully and beautifully arranged and the festival is one of the prettiest of the whole year. Two days after Diwali comes Yama dwitiya when Yama, the God of Death, was entertained by his sister by the river Yamuna (Jamna) in the Uttar Pradesh. On this day brothers visit their sisters and are entertained by them. In the evening the sisters return the visit to perform the ceremony of arati and receive a gift.

Holi.

The year closes with Holi when the Demoness Holika is propitiated. This very popular and gay festival is the occasion for a great deal of mirth, innocent revelry including the splashing of colour. The Holi puja is accompanied by —bonefires, symbolic of the destruction of evil, amidst joyous shouts. A coconut is hung from a pole in the middle of the fire and when it falls people secure the burnt core and eat it and smear themselves with the ashes of the fire. Next day follows a period of licence and enjoyment in which people throw mud and coloured water at one another and indulge in obscene expressions and couplets. There is a brisk buying of ' Battasa ', garlands, a favourite sweet of the day. Folk songs and group dances in the street express the people's rejoicing. A male dancing in female attire is a common sight.

A number of ceremonies of the nature of Vratas (vows) and propitiatory rites occur throughout the year.

Vratas.

In the month of Chaitra, starting from the bright third and on a convenient day suvasinis hold in their homes, the ceremony of Haldi-kunku. The full moon day of Jyeshtha known as Vatapaurnima is observed by married women as a day of prayer so that their husband's lives may be prolonged; a banyan tree or its branch is worshipped and vayans (special offerings) are distributed to Brahmans and suvasinis. Some observe a vrata (vow) for three days during which they live on fruits, tubers and milk only. During Chaturmasa (four months of the rainy season) some women observe Sola Somwar Vrata (vow observed on sixteen successive Mondays) at the end of which, they hold a grand worship of Shiva and Parvati and feast seventeen dampatis (couples). Similarly, married girls vow to offer Shiva-mutha (handful of corn) to God Shiva on every Monday of Shravana; for the first five years of their married life, girls worship Mangala Gauri on every Tuesday of Shravana. Fridays of the same month which go by the name of Sampad Shukrawars (prosperous Fridays) are observed by women with a worship of Goddess Lakshmi drawn on a small earthen pot. On the third and fifth of bright Bhadra-pada come Haritalika and Rishipanchami which are observed as days of fast by Brahman women. The first is kept by married women and young girls in honour of Haratalika (Goddess Parvati) who is said to have successfully resisted her father's wish to marry her to God Vishnu and married God Shiva whom she loved. The second is observed by elderly women in honour of Rishis (seers) to make amends for sins committed without knowledge. On this day they do not eat anything that is grown by the labour of cattle or any other animal but eat only hand-grown fruits and vegetables. Vasubaras which falls on the 12th of dark Ashwina is observed by some women who have children; they fast for the day and at night after worshipping a cow, give a calf in charity. The day previous to Sankranti in the month of Pausha is called Bhogi, on which a special dish called Khichadi is offered to gods and eaten. On the Sankranti day Sugada (auspicious jars) are presented to Brahmans and the following day known as Kinkranti is celebrated by newly married girls with lutane, a free distribution to Suvasinis of auspicious articles. Akshaya tritiya which is the third day in the month of, Vaishakha is the last day on which delayed Haldi-kunku ceremony might be held.

Muslims. Muharram.

The principal Muslim festivals are the Muharram and the two Ids. The month of Muharrum is the first month of the Muslim year and the first ten days of it are observed as mourning for the death of Hussain and his family. This is observed indifferently by Sunnis and Shias and the proceedings with the Sunnis, at any rate, are now rather the character of festival rather than a time of sorrow. Models of the tombs of Hussain, called tazias or tabuts are made of bamboo and paste-board and decorated with tinsel. These are taken in procession and deposited in a river on the last and great day of Muharram. Women who have made vows for the recovery of their children from an illness, dress them in green and send them to beg; and men and boys, having themselves painted as tigers go about mimicking as a tiger for what they can get from the spectators. At the Muharram models of horseshoes made after the cast shoe of Kasim's [ During the tragedy of Karbala, Kasim, a young nephew of Hussain was married to his little daughter Sakinah, Kasim being very shortly afterwards killed.] horse are carried fixed on poles in a procession. Men who feel so impelled and think that they will be possessed by the spirit of Kasim make these horse-shoes and carry them. Frequently, they believe themselves possessed by the spirit, exhibiting the usual symptoms of a kind of frenzy and women apply to them for children or for having evil spirits cast out.

Ramzan-Id.

The Id-ul-Fitr, commonly known as Ramzan-Id or the breaking of the fast, is held on the first day of the tenth month, Shavval. Throughout the preceding month of Ramzan, a general fast is observed. On this day the people assemble dressed in their best clothes and proceed to the Id-gah, a building erected outside the town. They escort the Kazi or other Muslim of high position to the Id-gah who then offers prayers. A sermon in Arabic in praise of the Id is read by the Kazi standing on a pulpit, wooden staff in hand in imitation of the Prophet. When the prayers and sermon are over, the people return to their houses and spend the rest of the day in feasting and merriment.

Bakr-ld.

The Id-ul-Azha or Id-ul-Zoha, the feast of sacrifice, also called the Bakr-Id, is held on the tenth day of the last month Zil-Hijjah. On this day, as on the other Id, the people assemble for prayers at the Id-gah. On returning home, the head of me family takes a sheep, cow (or camel) to the entrance of his house and sacrifices it, repeating the formula," In the name of God, God is Great" as he cuts its throat. The flesh is divided, two-thirds being kept by the family and one-third given to the poor in the name of God.

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