Prologue

Prologue – What this is, to whom and what for?

Namaste,

Welcome to this web page and thanks for visiting.

As you all might know, Hinduism or Sanaathana dharma, as the name suggests, is centuries old. The Vedas form the foundation of this dharma / religion. Although Hinduism might have many sub-sects, and the followers of each sub-sect might have their own religious practices, but my feeling is that the central theme is "The Vedas". Hindus, or people having faith in the Vedas will do well to inculcate the teachings of the Vedas in their daily lives. Apart from prescribing ways of worship, they also guide us on ways of conducting our lives in the society. But, this centuries old tradition of knowledge and practice of Vedic doctrines is dwindling by the day. Either due to laziness or ignorance of people, the importance of Vedic principles is diminishing. Although people continue to practice their preaching, either it is not done as it ought to be, or the significance is not properly understood. As years have passed by, the importance given to the Vedas is diminishing and people are developing differences of opinion amongst themselves, and practicing in ways they feel suitable. Complementary to this, today’s lifestyle is slowly taking people’s mind away from celebration of festivals also. Today’s generation who travel to distant cities for studies, job or otherwise stay far away from their elders thus disabling the smooth flow of religion and culture in their lives and the involuntary knowledge transfer which otherwise would have happened. I am also a part of this generation, but I strongly feel that we need to know and practice these doctrines.

Another feature of our generation is that we question everything. We ask questions as to why a particular task needs to be done in the way prescribed. Without understanding it completely, we fail to do the task whole heartedly and with satisfaction. We question anyone who speaks about Hindu religion, tradition and customs, without realizing that this sanaatana dharma cannot be understood in a day. There are lots of issues concerning every aspect of life, which take years together to comprehend. Although we want answers to our questions, we can hardly spend so many years in learning. But, we still want answers – I am writing this blog hoping to answer some of these questions.

But, as said earlier, my knowledge in these aspects is hardly significant. But, being lucky by chance, and as they say, by God’s grace, I got to know Shri. Shreekanthaachaarya Bidarakundi, Sudha Pandit, Dharawad. I told this dharmagnaani about my thought and this blog. The acharya agreed to help me with this, by providing essential information for the blog. I am grateful to him for his help. Thanking him again, I hope that this blog will be useful to readers, and that they become more austere by reading this.

In this blog, the following items shall be covered:

1. Firstly, the festivals according to the Hindu tradition, their celebration and significance. This information shall be provided in the following format:

· Maasa (month), paksha (fortnight), and tithi (day)

· Significance of the particular day and its reference (in puranas or elsewhere)

· Do’s and don’ts of the festivals (along with some baseless blind beliefs and misconceptions that may be in practice today), and

· Significance of various aspects of the celebration

In addition to this, readers are most welcome to suggest any other type of information that can be put here. We shall try to provide as much information as possible.

2. Along with festivities, Vedangas like Jyotishya describe how the day-to-day activities ought to be done or even what time/day is better suited for some special or important activities.

Many people amongst us have misconceptions about Jyotishya. But it is actually a Vedanga, a part of vedas, and we feel that a lot of information provided there is very true and hence that will also be a part of this blog. But, we won’t describe things like raashi phala (one's future based on sunsign) here, but restrict ourselves to description of what activities are shubha and ashubha on particular days.

This information shall be put up in the order of their occurrence, and hence we will be starting with the first day of the new year according to Hindu calendar, that is Yugaadi. According to Hindu calendar, it is Chaitra maasa, shukla paksha (or bright fortnight), and prathama or pratipad (first day). Yugadi falls on 27^th March 2009 according to the Gregorian calendar. We shall try and put up information related to that 2-3 days in advance, and if possible prior to that. Following Yugaadi, material regarding other maasas will be put up subsequently.

Please do visit this page again and again, learn new things and inform others as well. Please feel free to post your comments as well.

From the coming New Year (Yugaadi) onwards, along with the joy it brings, read this material and if you feel it acceptable, follow it, inculcate it and lead a more holistic life.

Request to readers: We request readers to communicate about this blog to relatives and friends, helping us in creating awareness among people.