Indian Festivals and Holidays in 2017

January 2017

  1 January            Sunday                  English New Year

  5 January            Thursday               Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti

  8 January            Sunday                  Tailang Swami Jayanti

13 January            Friday                    Lohri

14 January            Saturday                Pongal , Makar Sankranti

19 January            Thursday               Swami Vivekananda Jayanti

23 January            Monday                 Subhas Chandra Bose Jayanti

26 January            Thursday               Republic Day

February 2017

  1 February             Wednesday          Vasant Panchami

10 February             Friday                   Guru Ravidas Jayanti

21 February            Tuesday                Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti

24 February             Friday                   Maha Shivaratri

28 February            Tuesday                Ramakrishna Jayanti

March 2017

12 March               Sunday                  Chhoti Holi , Holika Dahan , Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Jayanti

13 March               Monday                 Holi

15 March               Wednesday           Shivaji Jayanti

20 March               Monday                 Vernal Equinox , Parsi New Year

28 March               Tuesday                Gudi Padwa , Ugadi

29 March               Wednesday           Jhulelal Jayanti

April 2017

  1 April                  Saturday                Bank's Holiday

  5 April                  Wednesday           Rama Navami

  9 April                  Sunday                  Mahavir Swami Jayanti

10 April                  Monday                 Hazarat Ali's Birthday

14 April                  Friday                    Solar New Year , Baisakhi , Ambedkar Jayanti , Good Friday

16 April                 Sunday                  Easter

22 April                 Saturday                Vallabhacharya Jayanti

30 April                 Sunday                  Shankaracharya Jayanti , Surdas Jayanti

May 2017

 7 May                   Sunday                  Rabindranath Tagore Jayanti

10 May                  Wednesday           Buddha Purnima

28 May                  Sunday                  Maharana Pratap Jayanti

June 2017

  9 June                 Friday                    Kabirdas Jayanti

21 June                 Wednesday           Longest Day of Year

23 June                 Friday                    Jamat Ul-Vida

25 June                 Sunday                  Jagannath Rathyatra

26 June                 Monday                  Eid al-Fitr , Ramadan

July 2017

30 July                  Sunday                  Tulsidas Jayanti

August 2017

  7 August             Monday                 Rakhi , Raksha Bandhan

14 August             Monday                 Janmashtami Smarta

15 August             Tuesday                Janmashtami ISKCON , Independence Day

25 August             Friday                    Ganesh Chaturthi

September 2017

  2 September                 Saturday               Eid al-Adha , Bakrid

  4 September                 Monday                 Onam

21 September                  Thursday               Maharaja Agresen Jayanti

22 September                  Friday                   Al-Hijra , Islamic New Year

23 September                  Saturday               Autumnal Equinox

28 September                  Thursday               Durga Ashtami

29 September                  Friday                   Maha Navami

30 September                  Saturday               Dussehra , Madhvacharya Jayanti

October 2017

  1 October            Sunday                  Day of Ashura , Muharram

  2 October            Monday                 Gandhi Jayanti

  5 October            Thursday               Valmiki Jayanti , Meerabai Jayanti

  8 October            Sunday                  Karwa Chauth

18 October            Wednesday           Narak Chaturdashi

19 October            Thursday               Diwali , Lakshmi Puja

20 October            Friday                   Gowardhan Puja

21 October            Saturday               Bhaiya Dooj

26 October            Thursday               Chhath Puja

November 2017

  4 November         Saturday              Guru Nanak Jayanti

14 November         Tuesday               Nehru Jayanti

December 2017

  1 December         Friday          Milad an-Nabi , Id-e-Milad

21 December         Thursday     Shortest Day of Year

25 December         Monday       Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti , Merry Christmas

29 December         Friday         Tailang Swami Jayanti

Gomed Stone (Hessonite Gemstone)

 Gomed Stone (Hessonite Gemstone) is also one of the important gemstone that delivers a variety of benefits to wearers and make them capable to live a health and stress free life.

gomed

Wearing Finger-The ideal finger to wear hessonite or gomed stone is middle finger of the right hand.

With Metal- silver or ashthdhatu.

Wearing Period - 4 Year from wearing Ruling Planet- Sun (Ravi)

Day/Time- The appropriate day to don this stone Saturday,This stone should be worn after Sun set between 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm. 

Benefits- Gomed / Hessonite gemstone is not worn on zodiac signs basis.Gomedh is very much beneficial for those who are suffering from skin disorder,piles,infection of eyes,sinus infection, allergies,insomnia, etc.Original Gomed Gemstone (Hessonite) bestows health,wealth and prosperity upon its possessor.

Ruby (manikya)

Ruby

Ruby is the gemstone which can be subscribed to avail the innumerable benefits which are being provided by Sun. Since, sun signifies health, dignity, self-esteem, courage, prosperity and love. Therefore, wearing this stone ensures its wearer all these benefits.

Wearing Finger- right hand ring finger

With Metal- Gold/Copper ring

Wearing Period - 4 Year from wearing Ruling Planet- Sun (Ravi)

Day/Time- Sunday / 8 am to 10 am

Nakshatra- Krittika, U Phal, U Shad

Benefits- A person having good effects of sun on him will be optimistic and royal in its thoughts. He will have good reputation and success in his or her life.

Gemstones and their Powers

Every planet has its own power and is the lord of its house in the kundali. If a person’s kundli contains any weak or debilitated planet then he may face many difficulties in his life. To reduce the malefic results from the planets, Astro Vastu Guide provides Ratna Dharana remediies.

Janmasthami

On the eighth day of the black half of Bhadra (August - September) was born Shri Krishna, the eighth Avatar or incarnation of Vishnu. Therefore, this day is well known as Janmastami or Krishna-Janmashtami. This auspicious day of birth of Krishna, the direct manifestation of Vishnu himself is celebrated in all parts of India with clat and great enthusiasm. In the Bhagvad Gita Krishna declares: "All this universe has been created by me; all things exist in me", and Arjuna addresses him as "the super universal spirit, the supreme dwelling, the eternal person, divine prior to the Gods, unborn omnipresent". His life is celebrated in great detail in the Puranas like Harvamsha and Shrimad Bhagvatam. The circumstances in which he was born were quite peculiar and mysterious. He incarnated himself primarily to destroy evil and wickedness and to establish Dharma.

Celebration

Janmashtami celebrations start right from the early morning with the bath in the sacred waters and prayers etc., but the climax reaches in the midnight with the rising moon, which marks the divine birth. On this auspicious day, strict fast is kept and broken only after the birth of Krishna at midnight. The temples and homes are decorated, scene-depicting Krishna's birth and his childhood pranks, etc., are staged with models both living and inanimate. Child Krishna's image is put into a richly decorated swing and rocked with a tender care all the day by the devotees. At night after birth, a small image of toddling Krishna is bathed in Charnamrita, amidst chanting of hymns, blaring of the conches, ringing of the bells and joyous shouting of "victory of Krishna".

In Braja Mandala, especially Gokula and Mathura, this festival is celebrated with great possible religious fervor and enthusiasm and the special deliberations of the day are relayed on the air. People from distant places congregate to Mathura and Vrindavan on this day to participate in the festival. The piety and fast observed on this day ensure birth of many good sons, and salvation after the death. Reading and recitation of the Bhagvatam and Geet Govindam are most recommended on this day.

Legends of Janmasthami

The demon king Kansa was a great and dreaded tyrant, but he loved his sister Devaki, and at her marriage with Vasudeva, he, out of great affection, drove their marriage chariot. Then, all of a sudden an oracle told him that eighth born of Devaki shall be the cause of his doom and death. At this he would have killed her then and there, but for the intervention of Vasudeva and their promise to give him over each and every child born to them. They kept their promise, and Kansa killed all of their seven children one after the other to a great suffering and grief of the couple. They were kept in the prison under strict watch and in chains and locks.

So Krishna was born as their eighth son in the prison cell. But it so happened, with divine grace, that the guards fell asleep, their chains loosened and locks and the gates of the prison cell opened. Vasudeva took the child Krishna to Nanda's house in Gokula and exchanged him for a baby girl born there to Yasoda. When Kana heard of the birth of girl child, he at once rushed to prison cell, and lifted the female child high, catching it by the feet and was about to dash her against the rock. When it slipped from Kansa's grip and assuming the beautiful form of the Divine Mother vanishing saying, "Wretch! The destroyer is flourishing in Gokula". There was a great joy and rejoicing in Gokula at the birth of a son to king Nanda and queen Yashoda. Yashoda was quite unaware of the exchange that had taken place during the night.
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Holi

The ‘Holi’ festival is a very fun-filled and popular occasion in the northern part of India. It is an occasion when people smear each other with bright colored powders, which are known as Gulal, and colored water. This festival is celebrated around early March each year. It can be said that ‘Holi’ festival is called a bright festival as a wide range of bright colors is used during it. The people believe that the bright colors represent energy, life, and joy.

Legends of Holi

There was once a demon king by the name of Hiranyakashyap who won over the kingdom of earth. He was so egoistic that he commanded everybody in his kingdom to worship only him. But to his great disappointment, his son, Prahlad became an ardent devotee of Lord Naarayana and refused to worship his father. Hiranyakashyap tried several ways to kill his son Prahlad but Lord Vishnu saved him every time. Finally, he asked his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap. For, Hiranyakashyap knew that Holika had a boon, whereby, she could enter the fire unscathed. Treacherously, Holika coaxed young Prahlad to sit in her lap and she herself took her seat in a blazing fire. The legend has it that Holika had to pay the price of her sinister desire by her life. Holika was not aware that the boon worked only when she entered the fire alone.

Prahlad, who kept chanting the name of Lord Naarayana all this while, came out unharmed, as the lord blessed him for his extreme devotion.& Thus, Holi derives its name from Holika. And, is celebrated as a festival of victory of good over evil. Holi is also celebrated as the triumph of a devotee. As the legend depicts that anybody, howsoever strong, cannot harm a true devotee. And, those who dare torture a true devotee of god shall be reduced to ashes.

Celebrations

To start off the festival, preparations are usually made on the eve of Holi: huge bonfires are burnt as a symbol of its representation. These fires are created to ward off evil spirits around the place. 'Holi' is grandly celebrated in villages around Mathura, the place where Krishna is said to be born. Before the start of the festival, shops are busy selling ‘Gulal,’ the colored powders, and it is no surprise that the shops are flooded with festive shoppers. In preparation for the festival, new clothes are also bought for the family: it is a tradition for mothers to buy new clothes for their married daughters. On ‘Holi’, mothers let their children go out on the streets to indulge in the splashing of colors. Men like to wear white ‘Kurtas’ while ladies prefer to wear white saris, or ‘Salwar Khameez,’ on 'Holi'. One thing that is very attractive about this festival is the spirit of the people who celebrate the occasion. Whether they are young or old, all the people are lost in the joyful occasion, having fun throwing colors at each other. Even water balloons would be thrown at each other. When they splash colored water on passer-bys, it is common for the passer-bys to get involved in the color riots themselves. Even kids love this festival, as they enjoy being drenched in colored water. On this happy occasion, dances and folk songs are also important features in the festival.

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Diwali

The word Diwali is the abstraction of the Sanskrit word Deepavali - Deepen meaning light and Avali, meaning a row. On the Hindu calendar, Diwali is celebrated for the five days from the 13th day of the dark half of the lunar month Ashvina to the second day of the light half of Karttika. On the English calendar, Dipawali falls in the months of October or November, and always on a new moon day. Diwali is celebrated with a variety of rituals, which depend in large part on one's location, but they center on the lighting of candles, electric lights and fireworks.

Celebration

Diwali or more aptly Deepawali is very enthusiastically celebrated for five continuous days and each day has its significance with a number of myths, legends and beliefs. The First day is called Dhanteras which falls on the thirteenth day of the month of Aasho. The word Dhan means wealth. Believing this day to be auspicious, women purchase some gold or silver or at least one or two new utensils. The Second day is called Narkachaturdashi or Choti Diwali which falls on the fourteenth day of the month of Aasho. This day therefore is dedicated to lights and prayers heralding a future full of joy and laughter. The Third day of the festival of Diwali is the most important day of Lakshmi-Puja which is entirely devoted to the propitiation of Goddess Lakshmi. On this very day sun enters his second course and passes Libra which is represented by the balance or scale. Hence, this design of Libra is believed to have suggested the balancing of account books and their closing. Despite the fact that this day falls on an amavasya day it is regarded as the most auspicious. The fourth day is padwa. Govardhan-Puja is also performed in the North on this day. The Fifth and final day of Diwali Festival is known by the name of Bhayya-Duj. As the legend goes Yamraj, the God of Death visited his sister Yami on this particular day. She put the auspicious tilak on his forehead, garlanded him and fed him with special dishes and while parting Yamraj gave her a special gift as a token of his love. That day Yamraj announced that anyone who receives tilak from his sister will never be thrown. Since then, this day is being observed as a symbol of love between sisters and brothers.

Rituals and Legends of Diwali

The ?row of lights? for which the festival is named are lit on the new-moon night to welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. But in Bengal, it is the goddess Kali who is so honored, and in North India the festival also celebrates the return of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman to the city of Ayodhya, where Rama's rule of righteousness was inaugurated.

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