Wednesday, January 24, 2007

FESTIVAL OF GUJARAT

Hinduism

Hindus celebrate a number of Festivals all through the year. From celebrating the advent of spring to celebrating the win of good over evil, Hindu religion and culture provide its followers endless reasons to celebrate. Given below is the list of just a few of these festivals that are celebrated with great zest and fervour.



Islamic religious festivals

See Category:Islamic festivals, Islamic calendar

Islamic religious festivals include:

Buddhist religious festivals

See Category:Buddhist festivals

Christian religious festivals

For Christian festivals see Christian year and liturgical year, Category:Christian festivals



Zoroastrian

The Parsis account for less than 0.007% of the Indian population, but as Mahatma Gandhi said, they are "in number beneath contempt, but in contribution, beyond compare." The same could be said of their festivals. Unfortunately, like the Parsis themselves, these are private and celebrated primarily within the community. The Parsis use the Shahenshahi ("Imperial") version of the Zoroastrian calendar, which differs significantly from the Qadimi ("Ancient") version that their Iranian co-religionists use. For example, New Year is celebrated in the spring by Iranians but falls in late summer for Parsis. In addition to seasonal festivals, called Gahambars, the most eminent celebratory occasions are listed below.

Jain

Sikhism

Others


DRESS & JEWELRY OF GUJRAT

Gujaratis change their dress according to the regional and local culture. Old wedding pictures of Gujaratis sometimes show the kurta (called zabbho) and pajama (called lehnghas). Kurtas have changed the appearance to more of national culture from regional culture. For quite some time, fashionable Gujarati ladies enjoyed wearing saris, but now they are switching to wearing the kameez at home and saris outside, wrapped in Gujarati style. Among men and women of the younger generations, western attire is becoming more common.

For jewellery and accessories, Gujarati ladies often hang a bunch of keys on the waist. The keyring holder is usually made in silver. Usual jewelry worn by ladies include the mangal sutra, necklace, earing, bangles, ring. With incidence of theft rising, cheaper costume jewelry is becoming more common. During weddings, Gujarati brides wear a lot of jewellery. It is common to see a Gujarati (Hindu) male wearing a gold chain and a ring. Married Gujarati (Hindu) women also traditionally wear a red 'bindi' (red powder worn in a round shape on the forehead also found in the form of stickers).

Every Hindu woman, married or not, wear 'bindi', married woman wear red powder, called 'sindoor', on the forehead on or near the hairline. In addition to this they will also wear the 'bindi' or 'tika'. During the wedding the priest will have the groom put the first red powder on the bride. Some more traditional woman still apply this red power to their forehead each morning. The red power,'sindoor', is not in a round shape but is rubbed on the forehead near the hairline. The stickers are 'bindi' and any woman, married or not, wear these in many different colors and usually come in the form of a sticker and may match the girls/womans outfits in color and design.

FOOD OF GUJARAT

The majority of Hindu Gujaratis, and all Jain Gujaratis are vegetarian. Gujarati cuisine follows the traditional Indian full meal structure of rice, cooked vegetables (curry-like in texture) and bread. The bread is usually a roti. The different types of roti (breads) that a Gujarati cooks are roti, bhakhri, thepla, puri, maal purah and puran-pohli. Ghari and Khakhra are also eaten as roti, but they are usually eaten as a snack. Khaman, Dhokla, dhokli, dal-dhokli, undhiyu, fafda, chevdoh, papdi, bhusu and Sev mamra are Gujarati dishes savoured by many communities across the world. Use of Ghee in meals is very common. For example, pouring in rice or khichdi and applying on roti. The meal is usually accompanied with a sweet and a salty snack (farsaan) like Vada. Gujarati cookbook writers like Tarla Dalal are famous internationally.

The vegetable cooking involves preparing basic sauce first by frying masala with tomatoes and onions. Vegetables are usually added later. Gujaratis are more comfortable cooking with peanut oil (shing tel). However, while living abroad they adjust their cooking method with available Canola or Sunflower oil. The making of masala is traditionally done on grinding stones. Nowadasys, people use a blender or grinder to make masala. Each person makes masala differently, hence cooking tastes different depending on the household. People from north Gujarat use dry red chilli powder, whereas people from south Gujarat prefer using green chilli and corriander in their cooking. Gujarati Jains (and many Hindus) avoid using garlic and onions in their cooking. Traditionally Gujaratis eat Mukhwas or paan at the end of a meal. In many parts of Gujarat, having Chass butter milk or soda after lunch or dinner is quite common. Gujarati families celebrate Sharad Purnima by having dinner with doodh-pauva under moonlight.

Pakistani or Muslim Gujaratis are normally non-vegetarian.

FAMOUS PERSONALITY OF GUJARAT

Religious Personalities

Literature/Philosophy

Films and entertainment

Business

Politics

Sports

Music

Scientists