Festivals In September Month

Tarnetar Mela (Saurashtra, Gujarat)

Is an exciting and a unique fair held annually at Tarnetar in Saurashtra. The fair coincides with the festival at the Trineteshwar Temple, celebrating the wedding of the legendary Mahabharat hero, Arjuna with Draupadi. The fair is a kind of a marriage market for the local tribals – the Kolis, Bharwads and Rabaris. The traditional costumes, exquisite jewellery and wonderful Tarnetar "Chhatris" (umbrellas) with intricate embroidery and mirror work are sold. An added attraction is the lively folk dance performances such as – garba, ras, haro.

Ganesh Festival (All Over India)

Religion in India is still a living force and Indians appreciate and cultivate the festival spirit even in this age of industrialisation and political upheavals. May be Ganesh festivals bring people together and make the nation move forward and grow. Ganesh Festival is very popular in our country.The birth of Lord Ganesh is on the 4th day of the bright half of Bhadrapad Shukla (August/September). This festival is celebrated for 10 days from Ganesh Chaturthi - birth -date-to Anant Chaturdashi - the final 10th day of his immersion. Everyone loves this deity with his curving trunk, potbelly and big flat ears. He is the benevolent protector of the innocent, yet the ruthless destroyer of evil. His mount is a rat.

In several states of India, but especially in Maharashtra clay idols of Ganesh in varying sizes are made and sold. The idols are purchased and brought home the day previous to Ganesh Chaturthi, which is the day of Hartalik when women keep fast and invoke the blessings of goddess Parvati, who is Ganesh's mother.

Paryushan Parva

The Jain community like other communities throughout the world celebrates many social and religious functions annually. The superb Jain festival popularly known as ‘Paryushan Parva’ organized every year in the auspicious month ‘Bhadrapad’ (Mid-August to Mid-September) of the Hindu calendar extends from the fifth day to fourteenth day of the bright fortnight. The festival ordains the Jains to observe the ten universal supreme virtues in daily practical life. Besides assuring a blissful existence in this world and the other world for every living being, it aims at the attainment of salvation - the supreme ideal for mundane soul. The non-Jains also express high reverence for this Jain festival. All members of Jain community- high and low, young and old, and males and females, participate with full vigor and zeal in the various religious rituals and cultural programs. They listen with rapt attention to the holy sermons of the saints and learned Jain scholars arranged during the ten-day festival. In these celebrations lie dormant the seeds of the well being, peace and happiness of the common man. On the eve of this festival all activities, which add to social discord or bitterness are declared taboo from the temple pulpits. These celebrations harbinger social harmony and amity and preach the lofty Jain motto ‘Live and Let live’.

According to Sanskrit grammar the underlying idea of the festival and its interpretation is given below:

“Parismantadushayante dhante karmani yasimannasau paryushnm”

i.e., The celebration through which the karmic matter attached to the soul is totally burnt or vanquished (both internally and externally) is known Paryushan i.e., self-purification.

Pious Pachyderms

The Thrissur pooram festival is regarded as the biggest festival and attracts a large number of tourists from India and abroad every year. The festival is famous for elephants decorated with golden 'thalapattam' i.e. golden plates covering the entire portion from head to trunk, which is a specialty in Kerala. About ninety elephants assemble in the temple. In old days rich landlords used to gift elephants to temples called 'nadayiruthal'. Even now, the Guiruvayoor Devawam is said to have a herd of forty-one elephants.

Elephant and Kerala are indivisibly related. Kerala must be the only place where a statue has been erected in the memory of an elephant, Guruvayoor Kesavan, who served the presiding deity of Guruvayoor for several decades. To add more an elephant race is conducted every year at Guruvayoor.