how is pongal celebrated?
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Pongal - The four day harvest festival of Tamil Nadu\n\nPongal is the first festival beginning off each new year in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As the dates for this festival are calculated by the solar calander (ie. Western), the dates of January 13-16 never change. Each day of this festival has a special significance, however, it is celebrated more grandly in the villages, while the city folk mainly celebrate on the second day only.\n\n The first day of the festival is called Bhogi. On Bhogi all people clean out their homes from top to bottom, and collect all unwanted goods. In the evening, people will light bonfires and burn what can be burnt. In the village where I celebrated Pongal, the people lived in mud huts with thatched roves. The porches of these homes was fully covered by the thatch material, but somewhat elevated from the ground. This part of the home was taken apart and reconstructed on this day along with the front section of the walkway in front of their home (pictured to the left). Both the porch and ground in front of their home was solid mud which had dried. So, to undo this, they put in water to soften it, and dug it out and rebuilt it. After rebuilding it, they took cow dung and added water to make a paste and spread this mixture evenly over the new fixtures to coat and sanitize them. This mixture was also spread on the floor of the hut, on which we slept at night. As they don't have beds, we slept on the floor of the mud hut with a mat between our bodies and the floor. Although, the mixture had been spread on the floor, it did not at all smell fowl in any way. In addition, the family I stayed with installed a new ceiling fan for Pongal.\n\n\nPutting Kolum\n \n\nPreparing the stove for cooking. \nThe second day of the festival, Surya Pongal, is the day on which the celebrations actually begins, is the first day of the Tamil month Thai. On this day, Surya, the sun God is worshipped and women will wake early on this day to create elaborate kolum on the grounds in front of their doorway or home. Kolums are created with colored rice flour placed on the ground carefully by using one's hand. The picture shown to the right shows the beginnings of this. The women in the picture took several hours to finish that kolum. All people will wear their new dresses and use the new utensils or household items which replace the ones discarded the previous day. On this day the new rice is collected and cooked in pots until they over flow. It is this overflowing which means Pongal. This overflowing of rice is a joyous occasion, and the children and adults as well will shout out 'Pongal-o Pongal!' Children will dance and make music to the tune of these words. As far as I know, the words have no real meaning but an expression of happiness that the new harvest is here and we should enjoy it! The rice is cooked and prepared as a dish called Pongal, which is rice with dhal and sugar. This Pongal variety is called venpongal, ven meaning white. Another variety is also prepared with dhal and jaggery (sweet), called chakra1pongal, chakrai meaning sweet. To accompany the venpongal, people eat brinjal (eggplant) sambar (stew), vadai, idli, and spicy accompaniments. This is one of my favorite meals!! \n\n\nChildren wearing new clothes.\n \n\nView from top of temple steps.\n \nThe third day is called Maatu Pongal, maatu meaning cattle. This day is devoted to paying homage to cattle. Cows and Bulls are decorated with paint and bells and people pray to them. In fact, in my Pongal experience, the cattle were decorated with bells on their neck, and kum kum placed on their head, and we (My friend, her family and I.) paid respect to them by bending down, like praying in temple, and touching their feet and foreheads, followed by an aarthi (showing fire to the object of praise) and offering the cattle prasadam (food offering, in this case, pongal).. In some villages in south India, there are bull fights of varying types. These
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During Christmas  we celebrate "Simbang Gabi" or Night masses - which are held for 9 nights before Christmas. It culminates in a Dawn mass to welcome the birth of Jesus.\n\nWe love having statues of Mary in her different roles, i.e. Mary the Immaculate, The Black Virgin, The Virgin of Guadalupe, The Virgin of the Sea, Mary the Mother, Mary Queen of Heaven, etc. Mostly she is venerated as guardian/patroness in every Roman Catholic Church.
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Since Palm Sunday was so named because of the people of Jerusalem welcoming Jesus into the city by laying palm branches on the path of Jesus to honor Him as the foretold King, (this was only days before His crucifixion) you can celabrate with date and coconut dishes (dates and coconuts come from the palm tree) and  you can start a tradition similar to Thanksgiving traditions reviewing with grattitude God's work in our lives.  More specifically you could make it a day of praise and honor Jesus as it was on that day.
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Holi is a festival of colours. It is  a  harvest  celebration marking  the  climax of  spring. Bonfires  are lit, marking both  the  end of  winter  and  the  death of  evil,   and  proceeds  from  the seasonal harvest- grains,  coconuts  etc- offered  to  the  flames. The  next  day,  dhuleti  involves plenty of  colour  throwing, prayers,  fasting  and  feasting. People have  fun  throwing coloured powder  and  colourful  water  at  each other,  dancing  and  gambling over  cards. T\n\nThe Rajasthani and north Indian  population  at  Kankaria  and Jamalpur   in Ahmedabad  celebrate  Holi in great  style  with  folk  dancing  and  colour  throwing. \n  \n  Holi is  an important  festival  for  the  tribals of Gujarat. Visit  Poshina,  where  tribals  of  the Garasia  and Bhil Adivasis  gather  at  the  darbargadh,  the  tribal  fairs of Chotta Udaipur  and  the Rajpipla  hills,  and  in  the period  after Holi  the Dangs Darbar  at Saputara  and  the tribal  fairs  of  north Gujarat.
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It's the day on which lord \nkrishna was born.
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illa enaku pidikaathu sometimes thaan pidikkum
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Other than th usual ones we celebrate annually.\nHappy divorce (sort of a contradiction in terms isn't it?)\nSome people now go through a divorce ceremony.
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"bungkul dance" maybe i just guessing..never heard of it b4 what is it accually ...tell me
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I do not know which specific celebration you are talking about but my guess for all of them would be that..\na) home= it sets a mood for good will and happiness which is then reflected outside the home.\nb)Individual= gives feeling of happiness and oneness with that which is being celebrated. \nc)religion= unites people of the same faith to share in the happiness and reverence of that which is being celebrated.\nd)family= it gives feeling of happiness and pride to share traditions and pulls the unit closer together as they re evaluate that which is important to them.\n\nnotice this could be any celebration....Christmas, Ramadan, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.
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It is the Parsi new year...an indian festival. It's like a new year's for them...and it celebrates the advent of spring and "The symbolic victory of the forces of light over darkness"
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Brahma Muhurtham-\n\nTwo miles above sea level in the Brahmagiri hill ranges of Coorg, India, thousands of jostling devotees are waiting anxiously. Suddenly they hush to the faint sound of gurgling water. The gurgle gushes, and they all surge forward. Even a vigilant fortress of police can't stop them. Entire families are frantically pushing, prying, stretching and grabbing for tirtha (holy water) now tinged red with kumkum and flooding through the fingers of faithful devotees pressed shoulder to shoulder near the edge of a sparkling new body of water.\n\nWith the precision of a clock, the Cauvery has erupted once again - unexplainably - from the guts of the earth right on schedule just like last year, and the year before.\n\nAs local resident Narayan Achar explains it to India Today magazine: "For centuries, every year, on the day of Tulasankramana, the Cauvery is reborn here." And that's about all anyone knows for sure. The rest is a mystery, considered a miracle by many - Caugary's age-old miracle.\n\nThis sacred event called Muhurta (moment), occurs every year at approximately the same time.\nA variety of people, religious and otherwise, attend the Muhurta in Talacauvery, the small village where all of this occurs. Talacauvery itself figures prominately into the noteworthy popularity of the Muhurta. With a population of a only 20 cowherders, Talacauvery is humbly nestled in a green carpeted paradise of peace, invaded only during this festival, once each year. M. Achayya, a computer executive from Bangalore who comes every year says, "perhaps it is because it is not your regular hot, stuffy, dirty pilgrimage spot."\n\nOnce ceremoniously released upon her journey during the Muhurta, the Cauvery will course 120 miles through most of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Although years ago her yearly birthday was celebrated only locally, it now attracts pilgrims from throughout South India and even parts of North India.\n\nAccording to legend, Sage Agastya was sent to the south by Brahma to cure the region of a long drought. While he was there, he married Lopamudra, the daughter of Sage Kavera, whom he carried with him in his Kamandalu (water container). One day Sage Agastya set the Kamandalu down to take a bath. While he was away, the wind knocked the Kamandalu over, and Lopamudra flowed out as the river Cauvery to assuage the drought-scorched land.\n\nWith or without legend, the mysterious story of the origin of Cauvery is a mystical one fortifying great devotees with hope and faith. Faith?...that humble submission of the soul to its source in God, beyond the confines and fears of mind, body and emotions-.
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http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/fiestas/lasfallas.asp\n\nIts some party in Spain
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Party, party, party!!!  It is a pagan holliday where people get very drunk and act like wild animals.  It is also called Fat Tuesday.  It is the Tuesday just before Lent or Ash Wednesday, the Catholic holliday where people promise to give up something they really enjoy for 40 days till Easter.  It is most popularly celebrated in New Orleans.  There is a carnival atmosphere where people get very intoxicated in the streets of New Orleans.  Guys buy beaded necklaces and give them to girls for flashing their breasts.  \n\nFor me as a Christian, I think it is kinda sad.  I look forward to celebrating Easter as the time when Christ died for me and rose again.  I think that a devout Catholic should be ashamed of themself if they were to go out and act like this, then go to confession, followed by Ash Wednesday where they make a "sacrifice" to show how much they love Him.
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The holiday is especially popular in Mexico, where it is a national holiday, and is celebrated in the Philippines, in Mexican-American communities in the United States, and to a lesser extent in other Latin American countries. It is a public holiday in Brazil, where many Brazilians celebrate it by visiting cemeteries and churches, bringing flowers, lighting candles and praying.
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:}\nA Hindu celebration\nWorship directed to Pasupati is idolatry. western Christians are attracted to the idea and exotic nature of eastern religion, while Hindus in India are coming to the Lord in waves of increasing numbers.
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It is actually "Yug" (era/year) "Aadi" (start). It is the start of a new Hindu Year. Hindu calendar has various months and Ugadi (or Yugadi) is celebrated on the first day of "Chaitra" month. On the 9th day of the month, people celebrate the birth of Lord Rama. In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states of India, people celebrate it with lot of pomp and show, while at other places it is a quiet affair.
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The Customs and Traditions of the Philippines are strongly influenced by its colonized past. The Spanish colonization of the Philippines lasted for more than 350 years, thus there is a significant presence of Spanish influence in almost all facets of the Filipino culture. The Filipino language, more commonly known as Tagalog, contains many Spanish words. Filipinos are religious in nature, most of the present celebrated traditions are a mix of both Christian, Pagan and other local religious rites. As an example, each year, towns from around the country hold major festivities known as Fiesta which commemorate the patron saints of each town, villages or regional districts. The festival season is celebrated with church ceremonies, street parades in honor of the patron saints, fireworks, beauty and dance contests for generations of old and new, and in some areas there are even cockfighting tournaments. These Fiestas are also observed in countries that had a Spanish occupational past. The Southern island of the country where the majority of the Islam faith resides also celebrate their own unique customs and traditions.\n\nContents [hide]\n1 Philippine Society \n2 Other minorities \n3 The Filipino Culture Psyche \n4 Celebrations \n4.1 Major festivals \n4.2 Other festivals \n5 National Holidays \n6 Arts \n7 Cuisine \n8 Heritage \n9 Music \n10 Literature \n11 Sports \n12 Folk Traditions and Beliefs \n13 See also \n14 External links \n \n\n\n[edit]\nPhilippine Society\nThe Philippines is a mixed society, both Singular and Plural in form. Singular as one nation, but it is plural in that it is fragmented geographically and culturally. The nation is divided between Christians, Muslims, and other religio-ethno-linguistic groups; between urban and rural people; between upland and lowland people; and between the rich and the poor. Although diverse in a lot ways, the Filipinos are very hospitable and give due respect to anybody regardless of race, culture and belief.\n\n\n\n\n[edit]\nOther minorities\nCertain indigenous groups such as the Negritos, Mangyans, and Manobos who are living in remote areas of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao have largely retained the pre-Hispanic beliefs of their ancestors. Having been somewhat isolated from mainstream society, their cultures differ greatly than that of the majority of Filipinos.\n\n[edit]\nThe Filipino Culture Psyche\nBayanihan: the creation of alliances with neighbors and the helping atittude whenever one is in dire need. Oftentimes, the Bayanihan spirit in action can be seen when a bus gets a flat tire. The bystanding or surrounding Filipinos would assist the bus driver in whatever undertakings to get the bus back on going. \nClose Familial Ties: Filipinos are famous for the close family ties, and this goes even for the Filipinos mixed with other Asian or European ancestry. The primary social welfare system for the Filipino is the family. Many filipinos live near their family for most of their lives, even as independent adults. \nPakikisama: Pakikisama, or harmony, in English, involves getting along with others to maintain a harmonious relationship. \nUtang na Loob: Utang na Loob, or Debt of Gratitude, is owed by one to a person who has helped him through the trials he had undergone. There is a local saying: 'Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan', meaning, 'One who does not look back to where he started, will not get to where he is going'. \n\nAmor Propio: Concern for self image. \nDelicadeza: Sense of honor \nPalabra de Honor: "word of honor" \nAlthough these traits are generally positive, these practices also have the tendency to be applied in the wrong context. A debt of gratitute is sometimes repaid by giving special favors to the other person regardless of the moral outcome. Close familial ties can also lead to nepotism.\n\n[edit]\nCelebrations\n[edit]\nMajor festivals\nFlores de Mayo - Summer-ending festivities when the rain star