Holi is celebrated with great joy for two days. On the first day Holika Dahan materials such as cow dung etc. are burned in the Holika pyre. The next day  Dulhandi color is applied to each other

The story is that King Hirnayakashyapa wanted to kill his son Prahlad to prevent him from worshipping Lord Vishnu. The king took the help of his sister Holika.

Both Holika and Prahlad sat on the pyre. However, Prahlad did not burn due to his true devotion towards Lord Vishnu. but Holika burnt and died even though she wore a fire proof cloth.  

On the Holika dahan day people also burn They also burn koki (sweet roti) which is tied to a thread. The Koki burns, but the thread doesn’t. This is symbolic of the immortality of the soul.

The spirtual significance of Holi

Change is a constant thing in life. To be more specific earlier we had the Satyuga followed by Tretayuga then the Dwaparyuga and finally now the Kaliyuga. during these earlier times each individual or each soul had the 7 qualities or we can also say sat guni aatma . These included

1. Peace

2. Purity

3. Power

4. Happiness

5. Love

6. Bliss

7. Knowledge

However with  change and transformation we started falling into the vices of Lust,Anger,Greed,Jealousy,Ego all this led to sorrow .

It is during this HOLI time that God reminds us to become HOLY or pure  Purity is a mattar of happiness and peace . It is important to become pure in our thoughts words and in our action .

The real Holi signifies the burning of  evils etc. that are deep-rooted in our souls. These vices cause conflicts, enmity etc. among people, in the society. It is very important in today’s world that we burn our old vices and play a real holi

Happy Holi  

India got independence from the British on 15th August 1947, but the country became a republic constitutional  on 26th January 1950. Since that day 26th January of every year is observed as ‘Republic Day’ marking that auspicious occasion.

From 1950 to the present times there has been a vast difference in India earlier during earlier times

“India was referred as Sone ki Chidya” – Golden Bird

Even today people we all remember singing the song ‘Jaha Daal Daal par sone ki chidiya karti hai basera woh bharat desh hai mera

“Dev Bhoomi” which literally means “The Land Of God”

India is referred as Dev Bhoomi . In India there are thousands of temples, shrines and other sacred places which shows the importance and presence of God. The river Ganga is considered very holy and Goddess

But with time many things have changed ,from petty to heinous crime, corruption,unemployment, discrimination, poverty have gone up. We have always blamed someone or the other for all the problems system as faulty, politicians as corrupt, governments as irresponsible and many other accusations.

Yes the government , the politicians all have a lot of power but what I want to state is that so many times we individuals remain silent and mute observer for our own selfish interest . Discrimination and crime happens many times around us . It may start with a simple thing like giving a bribe for a challan ( Violation Ticket) at a traffic signal and then getting away with it. The attitude remains the same to get away with money or power. We cannot blame the government , or the politicians or anyone for everything .

It’s Simple if we need a change we need to participate and become the change  If we remain dishonest, unaccountable and irresponsible, then definitely we will get our governments corrupt, arrogant and insensitive. If we are the master of this democracy, we need to make ourselves deserving to be in a democracy.

So let’s not consider Republic day as another Sunday , let us on this  Republic Day think and evaluate ourselves as a citizen and how we can improve ourselves and truly celebrate our Republic Day

Happy Republic Day  

Seeing a particular thing at times brings back old memories instantly. Yesterday while cleaning my cupboard I recalled the happy moments I had while creating this paper cutting project.I was in junior school in class 4th. It has been more than 30 years since i made it but it’s always a pleasure looking at these old projects.I remember how much i really enjoyed my art and craft lessons and how excited I was in folding the paper to get the unique design

Really those were brilliant days and It’s always a pleasure to go down the memory lane

I am thrilled, my blog has been nominated for the Liebster Award by Esdi from Esdi Blogs. Esdi from Esdi Blogs is an excellent and passionate blogger, All the posts are in depth and well thought. Esdi posts blogs about a number of topics like English  literature – and has written some beautiful book reviews ,  and also shares some creativity and Esdi is very good in the sketches. Please Don’t  forget to check out her beautiful blog in the below link.

https://esdiblogs.wordpress.com

Rules :

• Thank the blogger who nominated you.
• Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
• Nominate 11 bloggers.
• Ask your nominees 11 questions.
• Notify your 11 nominees.

My answers :

The questions asked to me were very deep and meaningful. I found some of them very difficult to answer as I didn’t know what to say.

1. What is success according to you? -For many people success means owing a big house, having a big job, big car but for me it is more about having inner peace and abundance of happiness. It can be seen as a combination of both . By making someone happy or smile the joy we get is success
2. How do you take care of your mental health? I do meditation everyday in the morning. Besides that I try to remain positive and happy throughout the day. If something happens, I try and tell myself this is their nature and they will behave accordingly
3. Which public figure do you admire? – Mother Teresa,- She was the kindest person and she was a person of great faith and humbleness
4. What would you want to change about yourself? -At times I think too much, even after knowing it won’t help I am trying change and overcome that and stay positive
5. Which  one country do you want to visit? -My husband and I both love travelling.You all must have read some of my travel blogs in which I share my travel experience. Once the covid situation ends. I would like to travel to U.K (London), Egypt
6. If you are given an offer to buy 3 things for free of cost, what 3 things will you choose? -Knowledge and Wisdom, Peace of Mind
7. If you have to give a huge amount as donation, for which 1 cause would you want to donate? -girl child education and empowerment
8. Why did you choose blogging? -Blogging is like keeping a diary, I use blogging to communicate my thoughts. And also I am an artist , I love to share my creative ideas and get feedback and also to connect with many people.
9. Where do you live? – India, Bangalore
10. Three of your favourite brands from any industry? – For clothes and lifestyle Forever New, only and for my creative art – camlin , golden and brustro
11. If given a time machine.. which moment will you re-live? – Re – live my childhood

You are nominated!

I nominate you, the sweet person who is reading this post right now. You can leave your blog link in the comments section, so that all of us can check out your blog.

My questions for nominees :

I really liked the questions and so i don’t want to change them , The questions remain the same

Thanks a lot for reading and for the support

My Nominees are

Pankaj from Sharmaji’s solution – https://pankaj492.wordpress.com/

Erra from Hidden Soul –https://thehiddensoul25.wordpress.com/2020/10/21/just-hold-on/

Hannah from theatozoftravel.com – https://theatozoftravel.com

Sheryl from the Pinay Ajumma – https://thepinayajumma.com

Komal from komalmankar1997 – https://komalmankar1997.wordpress.com/

Diwali, or Deepavali, is the festival of lights and is one of the most popular festivals celebrated with great pomp and grandeur across India as well as several parts of the world. The word “Deepavali” consists of two words. “Deep” means light and “vali” means “a row”. Thereby, “Deepavali” means “a row of lights”.
Origin
Diwali the festival of lights is celebrated to mark the return of Lord Rama and Sita to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. Another Diwali story in Hindu mythology is that Diwali marks the day Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura and freed the people of his kingdom. After he slayed the demon, Lord Krishna declared it a day of festivities. This signifies that we have to fight the evil or demonic forces within us by following the path of righteousness.
People also celebrate the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi during Diwali. As the goddess of prosperity, wealth and fertility,
For some communities, especially those in business and trade, Diwali marks the beginning of the Hindu financial year, samvat, and the Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped in the evening. Many shopkeepers and owners of small businesses change their account books, or bahi khaata, on this day.
In other cultures, Diwali coincides with harvest and new year celebrations. No matter which Diwali story you celebrate, it’s always a day of new beginnings and light over darkness.
Traditional practices
Preparations for the Diwali festival begin long before the actual day. The home is cleaned thoroughly and new and cleaned curtains are put up, furniture polished carpets deep vacummed and door and window cleaned . ,and every corner of the house is decorated with colourful earthen lamps candles and lanterns. . Floors are decorated with Rangoli beautiful and intricate designs. new clothes are purchased, and sweet are prepared. Gifts are bought for near and dear ones and people perform pujas for goddess Lakshmi and lord Ganesha with absolute devotion. Diwali is truly special in the fact that the festival is a part of a five-day long celebration that begins with Dhanteras and ends with Bhai Dooj.
Significance
The lighting of diyas signifies the triumph of good over evil, and with all the prayers and people meeting with love in their hearts overall there is a bright and cheerful atmosphere It is imperative that we start the journey to end the darkness within our lives and fill it with love and light. Whether it is changing our lifestyle into a more healthier one or becoming a better person, this is an auspicious occasion to start on these life changes. It is all about discovering the knowledge of our infinite potential and dispelling ignorance. Diwali is also resplendent of the dawn of knowledge through the inner light, that is the enlightenment of the soul.
The Divine light burns within us and all around us. Let this Diwali bring joy and happiness for humanity by removing the darkness of ignorance and many more evils that are creating havoc on mankind.
Let the Lights of Happiness spread across the globe

I am really happy. I have reached the 500 likes milestone on my blog. A big big THANK YOU

To all the wonderful people ,who follow my blog, for the likes, for the comments, for always reading my posts. And thanks once again for the encouragement and the support you all have given me

The Miniature Wunderland is a model railway and miniature airport attraction in Hamburg. Germany. The place looks magical with impressive details . The Model is breathtakingly designed.

It is an amazing place to spend the day. The Museum starts with the brief history , They also provide headsets which are also available in English and helps in explaining everything.

The main minature museum includes replicas of the entire cities including replicas of countries Sweden,U.S.A,Germany,Switzerland and Austria . The exhibits are absolutely mind blowing and a lot of attention is taken to detail. In many places there are button that can be pressed to see some action by the exhibits. These include work by construction workers with movement of crane, movement of ship and boat and many other activities

Some Highlights of the place include

• The displays include working trains lights change from  day to night after every 15 minutes
• There is a river that has a remote controlled boat . Also the tides can be achieved by pressing the button
• The Airport is made on a perfect replica with complete takeoffs and landings
• The roads are full of cars that auto matically move and also follow the traffic lights.
• The train from Italy to Switzerland looks very impressive

The Museum is worth a visit and anyone visiting Hamburg must also plan and see this amazing wonderland.

Dussehra or Vijayadashami is one of the most popular indian festival. Dussehra signifies the victory of good over evil, truth over false and dharma over adharma. the festival inspire us to follow the path of dharma (righteousness) and truth. it reminds us that in the end truth always wins. 

Dussehra is considered as an auspicious day. The burning of the effigy of Ravana along with Meghanad and Kumbhkarana symbolize the power of goodness and humanity is above all kind of powers. Lord Rama had fought a battle of ten days with Ravana, who had abducted his wife Sita, the day of his victory is called ‘Vijaya Dashmi’.

Ravana was a great devotee of lord Shiva and was highly learned. He was a scholar and intellectual  He had mastered the four Vedas and six Shastras. It is said that his ten heads symbolically represented the mastery over these ten scriptures in total.Also, it is believed that the ten heads symbolized the ten qualities namely Kama (lust), Krodha (anger), Lobha (greed), Moha (attachment), Madha (arrogance), Matsarya (hatred and jealousy), Manas (mind), Buddhi (intellect), chitta (consciousness) and ahamkara (ego).

It is believed that every human being has both Ram as well as Ravan inside their heads. It depends on the person solely that which character they want themselves to be represented as.

Some Indian States also celebrate the festival as the destruction of demon named Mahisasur by Goddess Durga. The Grand festival of Durga Puja is celebrated in a beautiful way in West Bengal .Each Indian state celebrates the festival in its own way but the grace and ethnicity play an important part in the festival no matter where it is being celebrated. 

Warli paintings are believed to be one of the oldest form of art in history.It is a form of tribal art mostly created by the tribal people from the North Sahyadri Range in India. 

Maharashtra is known for its Warli folk paintings. Despite being in such close proximity of the largest metropolis in India, these tribesmen are not influenced by the modern urbanization.

There are no proper records of the exact origins of this art, but its roots are believed to be traced to as early as the 10th century A.D. The warli art is the clear picture and expression of the daily and social events of the warli tribe. 

 These paintings do not depict any mythological characters or images of deities but are made on events of social and cultural importance such as marriage, harvesting session, sowing session, and other social gatherings and also show animals along with daily life in a rhythmic pattern.

 Paintings were done with the help of bamboo sticks used as brush with rice mixed with natural gum as color. First a canvas was prepared by applying a layer of mud or cow dung, once it was dried it was ready to be painted with the bamboo brush.Traditionally only two colors were used in this process, white was made up of rice flour and reddish brown from red soil called Geru. but today, a variety of colou are being used to replicate these artistic motifs on fabrics, home décor or other artistic forms.

It won’t be wrong to say that everyone is fascinated by this art .Its presence can be seen and felt everywhere from tea cups, to coffee mugs clocks and stationary , to beautiful greeting cards to the fashion market from Kurtis to Sarees , warli has taken over the whole market.

The Coco cola diwali 2010 Ad compain come back home also featured worli art.The advertisement was quite popular.

In February 2016, a group of Japanese artists adopted the Ganjad village in Palghar district in an effort to keep the art form alive. This group of social artists from Japan have also been constructing huts from cow dung, mud and bamboo sticks to promote painting on the walls.