CONTENTS:- I. Customs of India: the rationale behind them; II. Fast & festivals of India: their genesis; 1. New Year's day; 2. Lohri; 3. Pongal; 4. Makar Sankranti; 5. Mauni Amavasya; 6. Sankat Chauth; 7. Vasant Panchami; 8. Maghi Purnima; 9. Maha Shivratri; 10. Amalaka Ekadashi; 11. Holi; 12. Navroze; 13. Bihu; 14. Bhai Dooja; 15. Ramzan; Eid-ul-Fitr; Eid-ul-Zuha & Milad-ul-Nabi; 16. Muharaam; 17. Good Friday; 18. Easter; 19. Mahavir Jayanti; 20. Hanuman Jayanti; 21. Ganagaur; 22. Chitrai Festival; 23. Ram Navami; 24. Baisakhi; 25. Akshaya Triteeya & Parashuram Jayanti; 26. Nrisimha Jayanti; 27. Buddha Purnima; 28. Nirjala Ekadashi; 29. Ganga Dussehra; 30. Rath Yatra; 31. Teej; 32. Hari Shayani Ekadashi; 33. Guru-Vyas Poornima; 34. Raksha Bandhan; 35. Pitra-paksha or Kanagat; 36. Ganesh Chaturthi and other Ganesh festivals; 37. Janmashthami and related fasts & festivals; 38. Onam; 39. Ananta Chaturdashi; 40. Durga Puja; 41. Dussehra; 42. Pratyushan Parva; 43. Sharad Poornima; 44. Deepavali or Diwali; 45. Karwa Chauth; 46. Skand Shashthi; 47. Surya Shashthi or Chhaat; 48. Kartik festivals; 49. Guru-Purab or Jyototsava; 50. Specail vows, fasts and other observances (Kumbha Parva, the eclipse, Mal-Maas, Satyanarayana Vrata, Pradosh Vrata, Somvar Vrata, Mangalvar Vrata, Shukravar Vrata); 51. Christmas; Appendices; Glossary.
DESCRIPTION
Faith, Fairs and Festivals of India: This volume is intended to be a comprehensive compendium of all that is culturally Indian; for faiths, fairs and festivals give but only a superficial glimpse into a country's ethos that is why their details have been preceded by an in-depth analysis of how these ceremonies and associated rituals have come to be created and what they actually convey. The three appendices have been added in the end to help the reader either learn or confirm as to what is to be eaten; what is to be sung or chanted or how time is to be reckoned for particular festivals. The selected line drawings of certain festivals have been given to facilitate the reader to visualize their actual performances. Although an attempt has been made to list the faiths and festivals in their chronological order by the Gregorian calendar yet since most of the Hindu festivals are decided by the Hindu Vikram calendar and the Muslim ones by Hijri calendar, a brief idea about their time of occurrence has been given by broadly dividing the various festivals into their season-wise categorisation.
