Festive Jubilance

Kartika Poornima (Kartika purnima) is the Hindu, Jain and Sikh holy festival, celebrated on the Purnima (full moon) day or the fifteenth lunar day of Kartika (November–December). It is also known as Tripuri Poornima and Tripurari Poornima. It is sometimes called Deva-Diwali or Deva-Deepawali - the festival of lights of the gods.



Significance in Hinduism

Hindus celebrate it as a day when God incarnated himself as 'Matsya' or Fish. Vishnu took the Fish Incarnation to save Vaivasvata, the seventh Manu and the progenitor of the human race from the Deluge.

Lord Mahadev killed a demon named Tripuri on this day and hence, it is known as Tripuri Purnima. Kartik Purnima has immense religious value according to the Hindu mythology. There is a tradition of taking a bath in Ganga and donating lamps on this day. It is believed that Kartik Purnima provides Dharma, Artha, Kama and Salvation.

Kartik Purnima is considered as an auspicious day according to Hindu mythology. It is considered to be day of Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Lord Angira and Lord Sun. A person involving in baths, charity, and donation etc on this day receives fruitful results. Shri Satyanarayana story is read on this day and lamps are lit on intersections, under Peepal trees, in temples etc. Prayers offered on each Purnima beginning from Kartik Purnima give positive results.

Significance in Jainism:

Kartik Poornima is an important religious day for Jains who celebrate it by visiting Palitana a Jain pilgrimage centre.Thousands of Jain pilgrims flock to the foothills of Shatrunjay hills of Palitana taluka on the day of Kartik Poornima to undertake the auspicious yatra (journey). Also known as the Shri Shantrunjay Teerth Yatra, this walk is an important religious event in the life of a Jain devotee, who covers 216 km of rough mountainous terrain on foot to worship at the Lord Adinath temple atop the hill.

Considered to be a very auspicious day for Jains, the day also assumes more significance for the walk, as the hills, which are closed to the public during the four months of Chaturmas, are thrown open for the devotees on Kartik Poornima. The day of Kartik Poornima is very significant in Jainism.

Significance in Sikhism:

For Sikhs, too, the day of Kartik Poornima is very auspicious, as it coincides with their festival of Guru Nanak Jayanti (Guru Nanak Gurpurab). The founder of their religion, Guru Nanak was born on the day of Kartik Poornima in 1469 AD. Apart from Sikhs, the Nanakpanthi Hindus and other followers of Guru Nanak's philosophy also celebrate this festival.

La Tomatina is the food fight festival held on the last Wednesday of August each year in the town of Bunol near to the Valencia in Spain, the town located 30 kilometres from the Mediterranean, in which the participants throw the tomatoes and get involved in this tomato fight purely for fun. It is held on the last Wednesday of August, during the festivities of Buñol.



History:

La Tomatina started last Wednesday of August in Wednesday of August in 1945 when some young people went to the town square to attend the Giants and Big-Heads figures parade. The young boys decided to parade with the musician.

The energy of these young people caused one person to fall off the float. The participants flew into the fit of rage and started to hit everything in his path. There was the vegetable that fell victim to what soon became the furious crowd. People started to bombard each other with tomatoes until the local law enforcement ended the vegetable battle.

The following year, young people picked the quarrel by their own decision and brought the tomatoes from the home. Although the police broke up early tradition in the following years, the young boys had made the history without being conscious about it. La Tomatina was banned in the early 50s, which was not the problem for the participants who were arrested.



The following year the young people repeated the fight on last Wednesday of August, only this time they brought their own tomatoes from home. They were again dispersed by the police. After repeating this in the same years, the tradition was established. In 1950, the town allowed the tomato hurl to take place, however the next year it was again stopped. A lot of young were imprisoned but the Bunol residence forced the authorities to let them go. The festival again gained the popularity with more and more participants getting involved every year. After the subsequent years it was banned again with the threats of the serious penalties. In the year 1957, some young people planned to celebrate “the tomato’s funeral, with the singers, musicians and comedies. The main attraction however, was the coffin with the big tomato inside being carried by the youth and the band playing the funeral marches. Seeing this popularity of festival and the alarming demand, 1957 saw the festival becoming official with the certain rules and restrictions. These rules have gone through a lot of modifications over the years.

Another important landmark in the history of this La Tomatina festival is the year 1975. From 1975 onwards, San Luis Bertran is the patron of the town of Bunol organised the whole festival and brought in tomatoes which was previously been brought by the local people. After this soon, in 1980, the town hall took the responsibility of organizing the festival.

After that number of the participants increased year after year as well excitement about the festival. In 2002, La Tomatina of Bunol was declared as the festivity of International Tourist Interest by the Secretary Department of the tourism due to its success.

The Grape Throwing Festival is held annually during the last weekend in the September in the wine-growing village of Binnissalem, Mallorca. The festival celebrates the grape harvest and the main attractions include the grape-stomping competition, grape-throwing fight and lots of fun.



Although the history of this event is somewhat lost through the ages, it seems to have its roots in ensuring the good harvest season by removing the “not so good” grapes before the winter. The event started as the harvest celebration when the people had no idea what to do with the grapes that were not good enough to make wine from.



This festival is for sure the messy celebration but can also be the lot of fun.  The festival last two for entire 2 weeks with almost daily fights as well as the grape treading competition and certainly, lots of wine! Mallorca Grape Throwing Festival is the only Grape Throwing fight in the world, yet is seems to be less prominent than many other food fights.

The Village of the Binissalem is surrounded by the Vineyards and the festival rejoicing the annual grape harvest attracts over the thousands of visitors each year. The participants assemble in the central square of the village and wait for the organisers to fire the rocket. With this starting signal the crowd follows the traditional piper out into the field outside the village and gathers around the large heap of grapes. At the whistle blow, everyone starts the sweet and juicy of throwing grapes at each other.

Holika Dahan is an extremely popular tradition and is celebrated with fervour all across the country and is symbolic of triumph of good over evil. There are numerous legends associated with this ancient tradition and it is difficult to pin-point as to when actually the tradition started.



Holika Dahan is celebrated by burning the Holika, the devil. Holi  pooja takes place the day before the Holi Fevestival. This day is known as Holika Dahan. In Hinduism, holi is celebrated as the death of Holika in order to save Prahlad, and thus Holi gets its name. In older days, people use to contribute a piece of wood or two for the Holika bonfire.

Significance of the Holika Dahan:

The night before the Holi pyre is burnt in the North India, Nepal and parts of south India have this tradition. The youth playfully steal all sorts of things and put them in the Holika pyre.
It is noted that in some parts of India the day is actually known as Holika. There s also another activities associated with the story of Prahlad. But the burning of Holika is one that we all directly associate with Holi.

History of Holika and Prahlad:

According to the Hindu myth, there was a king named Hiranyakashipu, who is like a demons or Asuras had the intense desire to be immortal. Just to fulfil this desire he performed the required penance (Tapas) until he was given a boon by Brahma. Although God’s do not usually grant the boon of immortality, he used his cunningness to get the boon which he thought that will make him immortal. The boon gave the Hiranyakashyapu five special powers that he couldn’t be killed by neither the human beings nor animal, neither indoor nor outdoors, neither at the day nor at the night, neither by any weapons that are launched means by Astra nor by weapons that are hand held means Shastra and neither on the land nor in the water or air. As his wish was granted, Hiranyakashyapu felt that he was invincible, which made him arrogant. He even decreed that he is worshipped as God, if anyone didn’t accept his orders he or she will be punished or can be killed. His own son Prahlad was disagreed with his father and refused to worship his father as god. Prahlad continue believing and worshipping Lord Vishnu.



This thing made Hiranyakashipu angry and he made various attempts to kill Prahlad. During his attempt on his son’s life, he called upon his sister Holika for the help. Holika had the special cloak garment that prevented her from being harm her by fire. He asked him to sit on bonfire with Prahlad by tricking Prahlad to sit on her lap. However, as the fired roared the garment which Holika was wearing flew from her and covered Prahlad. Holika burnt to death and Prahlad came out unharmed.
 Vishnu appeared in form of Narasimha- half human and a half lion, at the dusk when it was neither the day nor the night yet, and took the Hiranyakashyapu at a doorstep which was neither indoor nor outdoor, placed him on his lap which was neither a land, air, or water and then used lion claws to fight Hiranyakashyapu which was neither the Astra nor Shastra. In this way, the boon of five special powers granted to Hiranyakashyapu was not longer usefull and he was killed. Thus, Prahlad and the kingdom of human beings were free from the fear of Hiranyakashyapu.

The good was triumphant over evil.

Fantasy Fest is a street party held annually in the last week of October in Key West, Florida.
The first Fantasy Fest was held in 1979 when two local businessmen, Tony Falcone and the late Bill Conkle, organized a party to stimulate business. The event has escalated to a ten day celebration that includes balls, a parade, costume competitions, AIDS fundraisers, body painting, drag queen contests, costume parties, alcohol, and pet and neighborhood parades for the whole family. Fantasy Fest has grown to rival New Orleans' Mardi Gras as an event drawing out-of-towners.



The highlight of Fantasy Fest is its parade featuring humorous floats, including one carrying the annually elected Conch King and Queen. In recent years, attendance at Fantasy Fest has surpassed 100,000 people, or more than three times the population of the island itself.
In October 2005, the event was postponed because of devastation wrought on the island by Hurricane Wilma; instead of being held at its usual time close to Halloween, it was moved to December and celebrated just before Christmas.




The Conch King and Queen

The Conch King and Conch Queen are symbolic titles bestowed upon two residents of Key West, Florida selected annually during the course of Fantasy Fest. The tradition stems from the longstanding practice of locals to refer to themselves as Conchs, and ironically to the island as though it were a separate country called the Conch Republic. The title is also a play on the name of the Queen Conch, once very common in the waters around Key West. Candidates become the Fantasy Fest King and Queen in a fundraising competition to benefit AIDS Help, an organization devoted to assisting individuals afflicted with HIV. The King and Queen candidates who raise the most money during the competition period, which can last for several months, are crowned the King and Queen of Fantasy Fest in a gala ceremony.

Burning Man is the festival that happens every year at the Black Rock Desert in the northern Nevada, in the United States. It last the week and it starts on the last Monday in August, and ends on the first Monday in September which is also known as Labour Day in U.S.



The festival is known as Burning Man because the large sculpture of a man is set on the fire on Saturday. The festival has been happening every year since 1990. Many people go to Burning Man in 2012. The Black desert is far from any cities or towns and is very dry, so the people who go to the Burning Man have to bring their own water, food and shelter.

History:

Burning Man was started in the year 1985 at San Francisco. An artist named Larry Harvey made the 9 foot tall (2.7m) wooden sculpture of the man, and decided to burn it nearby beach as the bonfire for Summer Solstice. It was the success, so he did it again in the couple of years after that. Each year the sculpture was made bigger.

In the year 1990, the police stopped Harvey from burning the man because Harvey did not have permit. Around the same time, two people named the Kavin Evans and John Law were planning thee group trip to the dry lake, called the Playa, in the Black Rock Desert. They were members of the group of Dadaists named the Cacophony Society. Harvey decided to take the sculpture, which had taken apart, to the desert to be burned. They were the members of the group of Dadaists named the Cacophony Society. Then the Harley decided to take the sculpture, which had been taken apart to the desert to be burned. Since that time the festival has happened in the desert.



On e of the members of the Cacaphony society is named Michael Mikel, who uses the name “Danger Ranger”. He was worried about people getting lost in the desert which can be very dangerous. He started the group named as the Black Rock Rangers to help keep the people safe and to help break up conflicts.

Starting in the 1991, Harvey got a permit from the Bureau of Land Management (who take care of land owned by the US government) to hold the festival. The festival became more popular every year.