Gurupurab Anniversaries associated with the lives of the Sikh Gurus are referred to as Gurupurabs (festivals). Of these the important one is the birthday of Guru Nanak the first Sikh Guru. It falls on the full moon day in the month of Kartik. It is also called Kartikpurnima festival. On Gurupurab, the Sikhs put on new clothes after a ritual bath. Then they go to the Gurudwaras for scriptural readings from...

Gudhi Padva The first day of Hindu year is celebrated as Gudhi Padva in India. On this day a pole named Gudhi is erected in front of the house. Padva is also known as Pratipade, i.e. the first day of lunar month in Hindu calendar. A new cloth is tied on the gudhi, a metal vessel is put on to it and a garland of sweets is hung on it. This...

Govardhan Puja Govardhan Puja is performed on the fourth day of Padwa and it is also a day of Diwali celebration. The festival is celebrated to commemorate the lifting of Mount Govardhan by Lord Krishna. According to mythology, people of Gokul used to celebrate a festival in honour of Lord Indra and worshipped him after the end of every monsoon season. But Krishna wanted to stop this feast. When Lord Indra...

Good Friday Good Friday is the day when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross. The death, of Christ on the cross was an entirely unpardonable crime against the human being, but he rose again three days conquering death and sin. Good Friday is celebrated in various ways like fasting, self-sacrifice and other forms of renunciation. This is very much similar to the way Jesus fasted for forty days in the...

Goa Carnival Goa celebrates a carnival every year for three days before Lent. To Goa the festival came with the Portuguese in 1510 and since then it is being celebrated every year. In the early stages, the carnival followed the Portuguese pattern of utter obscenity and brutality. The festival has a resemblance to Holi in which people squirt perfumed and coloured water on passers-by and dab one another with vermilion. In...

Gita Jayanti The Gita Jayanti day, or the D when the Gita was revealed to the world, is celebrated traditionally on the 11th day of the bright half (Sukla Paksha) in the month of Margasira. The pious Gita is a composition of the dialogues exchanged between Krishna and Arjuna, just before the Mahabharata war. Later it was integrated in Mahabharata by Ved Vyas. It is composed of more than one hundred...

Gangaur Gangaur is the most rejuvenating festival celebrated in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The festival is celebrated about a fortnight after Holi in honour of Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva. The Gangaur festival, which lasts for 18 days, is celebrated. for the marital bliss of Shiva and Parvati. The festival is mainly women-oriented. Women perform the swirling ghoomar dance and carry images of the Goddess in colourful processions through the streets. In...

Ganga Sagar Mela The island of Ganga sagar is located in the state of West Bengal. It is near the mouth of the Ganges, where it meets the Bay of Bengal. Every year people from every part of India throng here on Makar Sankranti day. Ganga sagar is actually a cluster of 51 islands covering 581 sq km of land and belongs to the Sundarbans at a distance of 128 km...