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Festivals
Fall Festivals
Navaratri - Navaratri, meaning nine nights, is
celebrated in September-October, and is a festival of worship, dance
and music, celebrated over a period of
nine nights. During this festival Darshana holds a special puja or prayer
for the goddesses. Darshana members also set up a golu display, of dolls,
books and music instruments, objects pertaining to knowledge and the
goddess on a series of steps. An oil lamp is kept burning in front of
the Golu steps for nine days.
This is the time of doing traditional folk dances from Gujurat, a region
of India, such as Garba and Dandiya Raas, where the dancer holds two
sticks which are struck alternately to the right and left with a partner
while the group circles rhythmically creating various formations. Members
also attend Navaratri puja at other local universities and join Hindu
groups to participate in garba and raas during Navaratri.
Diwali - Diwali, the festival of lights, is celebrated
in October – November
and is considered one of the most beautiful and important Hindu festivals.
It celebrates the return of Lord Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu,
to his kingdom Ayodhya after a 14-year exile. Countless flickering oil
lamps and lights are lit in houses all over the country making it a night
of enchantment. Worship of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and fireworks
and festivities are an essential part of the occasion. Fire and light
are important symbols of Diwali, representing enlightenment and the illuminating
of darkness. The Diwali dinner is co-sponsored with Slater International
center and is open to the community campus wide.
Spring Festivals
Holi
The most colorful of all Hindu festivals is celebrated in spring (mostly
in mid April) and is observed all over Northern India. Holi heralds the
coming of spring. When celebrating Holi, men, women, and children revel
in throwing colored powder and colored water at each other. Greetings
and sweets are exchanged amongst friends and families. Darshana's celebrates
Holi for all and is very popular here at Wellesley. Those interested
in celebrating Holi meet on either Severance Green or the Chapel Lawn
and throw colored powder and water all over one another! As you can tell
by the clothes of Holi participants, the celebration was one messy affair!
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