Posted by: Administrator
on Oct 26, 2010
Tagged in: Untagged
Posted by: Administrator
on Oct 26, 2010
Tagged in: Untagged
Karwa Chauth is a festival for married women, its aim being the longevity of women's marital life. In India, a marriage is considered to be a bond of a lifetime. This marital bond is considered very sacred. Celebrate this bright and vivid cultural ritual with the entire team of TheHolidaySpot. Extend your love and respect to the traditional values of Indian womanhood and wish them all a very 'Happy Karwa chauth'. Let them cherish the nuptial bond yet again this Karwa Chauth.
The Ritual
Karwa Chauth is considered one of the most important fast observed by the married Hindu women. On this day the women pray for the welfare and long life of their husbands. The festival is followed mainly in the northern parts of the country.
Married women eat food early in the morning, before sunrise. They are not supposed to eat or even drink water during the day. In the evening the ladies listen to the Karwa Chauth Katha (the legend). The fast is over after the moonrise.
The Puja Process
The pooja preparations start a day in advance. Married women buy the shringar or the traditional adornments and the other pooja items like the karwa, matthi, heena etc.
Early in the morning they prepare food and have it before sunrise. The morning passes by in other festive activities like decorating hand and feet with heena decorating the pooja thali and meeting friends and relatives.
In the late afternoon women gather at a common place like temple or a garden or someones' place who has arranged the pooja. An elderly lady or the pujarin narrates the legend of Karwa Chouth.
The essentials of this gathering and listening of the Karwa chauth story ,a special mud pot, that is considered a symbol of lord Ganesha, a metal urn filled with water, flowers, idols of Ambika Gaur Mata, Goddess Parwati and some fruits, mathi and food grains. A part of this is offered to the deities and the storyteller.
Earlier an idol of Gaur Mata was made using earth and cowdung. Now just an idol of Goddess Parwati is kept. Every one lights an earthen lamp in their thalis while listening to the Karwa story. Sindoor, incense sticks and rice are also kept in the thali.
At this time the women wear heavy saris or chunries in red , pink or other bridal colors, and adorn themselves with all other symbols of a married women like, nose pin, tika, bindi, chonp, bangles, earrings etc.
Once the moon rises, the women see its reflection in a thali of water, or through a dupatta or a sieve. They offer water to the moon and seek blessings. They pray for the safety, prosperity and long life of their husbands. This marks the end of the day long fast.
Posted by: Administrator
on Oct 23, 2010
Tagged in: Untagged
This year Indians have one more reason to visit their favorite city in the world "London", which is to celebrate Diwali in the heart of former British Empire...
There are two opportunities to Participate in the spirit of Diwali Festival in London http://DiwaliInLondonBonanza.com
a) The Biggest Diwali Get-together of Indians Outside India Sunday 31st Oct 2010 at Trafalgar Square, London
b) Biggest Diwali Bonanza Prize Draw in London - Absolutely Free to Participate, Nothing to Attend.
Efforts Sponsored By: World’s 1st location aware FREE iPhone App for NRI Singles "NRIsConnect" along with a dedicated portal http://NRIsWorldwide.net for Single NRIs Worldwide And
Watch DiwaliInLondonBonanza TV advert here
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d3KQ870eNI 480x400]
This is the first time, the combined might of
6 of the UK's biggest Indian-Asian portals have been put behind one single event and there is no doubt that the Diwali get-together in London event will be a huge success. Lots of South-Asian businesses and restaurants have come forward to offer raffle prizes to the lucky winners of Diwali In London Bonanza
http://DiwaliInLondonBonanza.com, which is one more commendable achievement for these portals. All the prizes are free and no purchase is required. The associated event on world's leading social networking website facebook (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=157780030923619), is no doubt fast becoming the biggest NRI event of its kind till date on that platform. Our NRI youth is clearly on a high after the astounding success of CWG back home and would be very much willing to show their pride and joy at such an occassion by attending in huge numbers.
Navin Arora, Young Serial Entrepreneur and Co-Founder of
http://PhoenixGMN.com and Founder of
http://IndiansInLondon.net (aka
http://IndiansInUK.net) and author of
http://IndiansInUK.info (A very popular UK Guide for Indians), looks back at the whole journey with pride "development of
http://IndiansInLondon.net began in mid 2008 and beta version was launched in Jul 2008. Soon thereafter we launched dedicated portals for Indian students & professionals in UK and a few months later
http://BollywoodInLondon.com to capture all Bollywood related activity in London was launched as well. We have since mid 2008, launched 18+ NRI portals across the world, including
NRI Matrimonial and Bollywood portals for Expat Indian Communities worldwide (
recent reports suggest, there are 24 Million Indians settled abroad). We also have numerous NRI social media assets on popular social media platforms. We are the first in some specific segments e.g. Localised Regional NRI Social Networking Hubs with loads of information & features (e.g. classifieds, events) for NRIs, self managed booking-fee free social event ticket sales and World’s 1st location aware
FREE iPhone App for NRI Singles "
NRIsConnect" along with a dedicated portal
http://NRIsWorldwide.net for Single NRIs worldwide. Our
NRIsConnect App recently
made it to the Final round of Top Indian Mobile Apps, at NASSCOM’s emergeout contest in Aug 2010. It won't be an exaggeration if we say that we are the undisputed NRI Social Media Leader Worldwide"
Internet at its heart is the best democratic platform out there. It puts the power to decide in the hands of masses. People help people by answering questions and posting informative threads on disussion forums. People are using internet to connect with their community as well as to meet and bond with each other. Well, Indians are no different and after dominating the world in IT, Cinema, Space research we have become the first community on planet which has its own 18 dedicated social media hubs across the planet. The Indians In London community is probably the most active one out there.
Indians in London celebrate Diwali, Holi, Durga Puja, Dandiya, Garba, Navratri, Eid and many Sikh & Jain festivals together in a big way. Attendance at Garba/Dandiya is especially huge and long queues of fans can be seen outside some popular garba/dandiya venues in London. People of all ages enjoy these Indian festivals together and feel pride in their Indian Hetritage. These
NRI Community Portals worldwide have catalogued all this useful information about local venues, Indian festivals , Indian events, Local Indian Community News and Blogs etc at one place.
Event listings on these portals is free and whats more,
selling event tickets using your Paypal Id is also free, making them the best platform for
booking-fee free ticket sales of
charity and not-for-profit Indian events.
Navin further elaborates, "The main aim of our highly enthusiastic and motivated team is to do our bit in preserving the Rich Indian Culture, Indian Traditions, Art & Theatre for future generations in foreign lands by providing local regional community web portals to everyone who loves our culture. These portals are fast becoming the main point of contact for the local community in their region.
When asked "
Have you received any recognition or appreciation for your tireless work in keeping these online NRI Community platforms buzzing and helping to integrate our divided Indian communities abroad?"
Navin smiles and answers "I didn't spend days and nights in writing these
http://IndiansInUK.info &
http://IAmNewToLondon.com guides by hand to get some award or recognition. When I came to London, I knew no one, had no information and hence learned everything from experiences and started making efforts to make friends by getting involved in Indian Cultural Events. There was clearly a need for
"home away from home" kind of community portals and I didn't want everyone to re-invent the wheel again and waste time in going through the same cycle again. Greatest appreciation for me, will be people using them, enjoying the rich Indian culture and bonding with their community again."
http://IndiansInLondon.net + 18 worldwide NRI portals, is a project managed from the heart of London. Enjoy being an Indian in London like never before. Join your community and make it strong. We are sure that there’s something for every NRI abroad at one of our portals mentioned at
http://IndiafansWorldwide.com"
http://IndiansInLondon.net - A flagship venture of http://PhoenixGMN.com
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Posted by: Administrator
on Oct 17, 2010
Tagged in: Untagged
