By Apeejay School, Mumbai

Namrata Nayar
Deepika Menon
Sharath Menon
Prajna Bhat
Harsh Rohan Singh
Adil Hasnain
Pragya Gautam

Diwali : Diwali is a festival which is mostly celebrated all over India. It is celebrated on account of Ram who came from Vanvas after 14 years. It is celebrated in the month of October or November. It is the festival which makes children mad to worst in bursting crackers. People wear new clothes, burst bombs, rockets and many other crackers. They make special dishes, distribute sweets, etc. People are very happy on this occasion. This festival makes sad people happy, boar to enjoy, quiet to noisy and lasting with the prayer of goddess Lakshmi.

Holi : Holi is the festival of colours which is celebrated all over the world. It comes in the month of Falgun. People or mostly children enjoy themselves by throwing water colours on each other and also by playing with water balloons. They distribute sweets called Gujiya.

Onam : Gaiety, merry making and feasting assure King Mahabali that all is well in his land, Kerala. In the month of Shravan (August-September) after the monsoon when the land is lush green, Onam the state festival of Kerala is celebrated for ten days by everyone. To welcome King Mahabali to his land, houses are cleaned and everyone wears new clothes and gold ornaments. Children prepare a ten-tier flower decoration called onthappam : one tier for each of the ten days. Coconut leaves, coir and cane decorations are hung at the entrances of homes. An Onam feast is traditionally served on banana leaves and includes delicacies like sambaar, rasam, payasam, avail and kootu.

Durga Puja : Sitting astride a lion, with an evil demon at her feet, she is Durga, the goddess of strength. Durga Puja is celebrated all over India. It is a very significant festival in Bengal, performed with lots of enthusiasm and zeal. Durga is the Goddess of Shakti (strength). Arti is performed in the morning and evening to the sound of tinkling bells. Prasad of black chana, puri, halwa and fruits is served. On the 10th day known as Dashmi, the idol is taken in a long procession. During Durga Puja, there are performances of music dance and plays making this festival a cultural event. Famous Bengali sweets like rossogullas, misti doi and sandesh are prepared.

Ganesh Chaturthi : The festival is celebrated all over India, but in Maharashtra it is celebrated with a special excitement. He is the God of wisdom and prosperity and remover of all obstacles. A clay model of Ganesh is brought home and worshipped. This could be from 1 and half day to a maximum of 10 days. Puja and artis are performed for him every day and since Ganesh is an elephant God, durva, i.e. stalks of grass and garlands of bright red flower are part of the offering. Ganesh loves sweets and offerings of modaks laddoos, and other mithais are made to please him. Panchamrit (milk curd ghee, sugar and honey) is another favourite of Lord Ganesh. And then is the time for his immersion. He is seen off in style with the clashing of cymbals and beating of drums to the loud cries of ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudcha Varshi Laukar yaa” (Please come early next year).