India Fairs Festivals : April

APRIL : CHAITRA - VAISHAKH

The gudi with a swastika-marked pot and silk cloth is a traditional tribute to the vernal sun. Raising a gudi is an act of declaring victory, first initiated by the victorious warriors of the Maratha army under Shivaji.

GUDI PADVA : A New Year Begins In The South

Chaitra is the first month of the Hindu calendar and the very first day of this month begins the new year in Maharashtra, Andhra and parts of Karnataka. This festival is called Gudi Padva or Ugadi.

VASANT NAVARATRI : Nine Days Of Devi Worship

The first day of Chaitra also begins the more quietly celebrated Vasant Navaratri dedicated to the goddess Gauri or Parvati. This is part of the month-long spring rites during which women wear festive garments and gather to share seasonal fruit and sweets.

RAMNAVAMI : The Birthday Of Rama

The ninth day of the bright half of Chaitra is the birthday of Rama. On the Ramnavami day, people sing devotional bhajans in praise of Rama and rock images of him in cradles to celebrate his birth. There are recitations of Tulsi Ramayan, the epic which recounts the story of this great king.

MAHAVIR JAYANTI : The Birth Of The Great Tirthankara

On the 13th day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra, falls the most important festival of the Jains. The birthday of their 24th Tirthankara, Mahavir, is celebrated with solemnity and worship.

HANUMAN JAYANTI : The Birthday Of Hanuman

Later in the month, the full moon of Chaitra brings Hanuman Jayanti, the birthday of Rama's greatest devotee and chief of the monkey army which fought Rama's war with Ravana, the demon king of Lanka.

POORAM : A Procession Of Bejewelled Temple Elephants

At the beginning of April, the people of Kerala begin their search for the best elephants in the state. Each temple in Kerala sends a procession of decorated elephants to Trichur to participate in the Pooram festival.

EASTER SUNDAY : Celebration 0f New Life

During April, Christians the world over celebrate Easter, also a festival of the rejuvenation of life and living.

BAISAKHI : A Time To Dance

Guru Gobind Singh, honoured as the greatest Sikh leader after the founder of the faith, Guru Nanak, was the most dynamic of all the gurus who consolidated Sikhism and gave it the modern form it has today.

RAMZAN ID : Fasting And Feasting

All over the world, Muslims of all sects celebrate Ramzan as the most sacred and holy month in their year. They observe an austere lifestyle of restraint and duty, fasting from sunrise to sunset each day, not even drinking water. Once the moon is sighted over the horizon, their daily fast ends and all-night feasting and merriment is the norm till the new day dawns.

PESAKH : The Passover

Pesakh is the celebration of the escape of the Jews from Egypt under the leadership of Moses and with the guidance of Yahweh. An event which happened almost 3200 years ago lives fresh in the memory of Jews all over the world. On the Pesakh night, the whole family gets together for a meal of homemade bread and the produce of the springtime harvests. The special unleavened bread which is baked on this occasion is called Matzoh.

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Buddha Purnima

BUDDHA PURNIMA : Festival Of Peace

Buddha Purnima, India Fairs & FestivalsThe Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya has stood for centuries as a reminder of the Buddha's attainment of enlightenment. Gaya is a sacred place of pilgrimage for Buddhists. Each year, the tree is venerated and the viharas nearby resound to the chants of Buddhist monks.

The great celebration of the month of Vaishakh falls on the full moon day on which Gautama, the Buddha, was born.

To Buddhists the world over, all full moon days are festive and important. However, the full moon of Vaishakh is the most auspicious of all. Gautama, the Buddha was born in 544 BC in Lumbini, Nepal. Unlike most other religious teachers, he was born into a roval family and surrounded by wealth and material ease. According to Buddhist lore, Mahamaya his mother, often dreamt of white elephants at the time of her pregnancy and thus knew that a divine child of miraculous charisma and destiny would

Then as a young adult Siddharth, the prince born to King Suddhadhana and Queen Mahamaya, undertook a short journey in the course of which he observed the futility of human life. He saw the way a man grew into adulthood passed into old age and then became helpless, sick and feeble before death.

Saddened by the realization that life was a meaningless and hollow passage from one state of being to the next, the prince went into deep meditation under a Bodhi tree near Gaya, until he finally attained enlightenment, once again on the full moon day of Vaishakh. He was then 35 years of age and thereafter became known as Gautama, the Buddha. He gave his first sermon in Sarnath, near the holy city of Varanasi, to his followers who formed a Sangha, also on the Vaishakh Purnima.

A tableux shows the Buddha delivering his first sermon at the deer park in Sarnath, near the holy city of Varanasi.

A golden idol of the Buddha seated in repose, at Bodhgaya. The surrounding images are of odhisatvas. Vesakha or Buddha Purnima, is a festival of lights in many Buddhist countries. In Sri Lanka it is particularly beautiful and picturesque.

The Buddha, who is considered the ninth avatar of Vishnu, reached Nirvana or the extinction of self and freedom from the cycle of rebirth, also on the full moon day of Vaishakh. Therefore Buddha Purnima marks the three major events in the life of this great apostle of peace. Buddhist countries like Japan, Burma and Sri Lanka celebrate this festival with special fervour.

In Sri Lanka it is celebrated like Diwaliwith paper and bamboo stick lanterns twinkling under the night sky. Kheeris shared by families and distributed to the poor. Buddhists free birds from their cages and refrain from eating meat on this day.

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