Our Lady of Good Health ( Vailankanni )

Our Lady of Good Health also known as Our Lady of Vailankanni, is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by people as she twice appeared in the town of Velankanni, Tamil Nadu, India, in the 16th to 17th centuries. According to traditions, the first Marian apparition is said to have occurred to a young boy delivering butter-milk to a man who lived far away. During his travels, the boy stopped to rest beside a lake that was shaded by a Banyan tree. A beautiful woman, carrying a child, is said to have appeared, and asked the boy for some milk to feed her child, which he gave. When he reached the home for his milk delivery, he apologised for the delay and that there would be less milk in his pot. But when they opened the lid of the milk pot, the container was brimming with milk.

The second apparition occurred a few years later. A lame boy would sell buttermilk to passing travellers, who would pause in the shade of a large Banyan tree, to escape the heat of the day. However, he had no customers. Suddenly, an ethereal woman, holding a child appeared before him, and asked for a cup of buttermilk. He gave her a cup, which she fed to her child. The woman asked the boy to go to Nagapattinam, and find a certain Catholic man in the town, and tell him to build a chapel at Vailankanni in her honour. Apparently cured, the boy ran to Nagapattinam, where he found the man and told him his story.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health erected by the Portuguese and the Indians stands at the site where the buttermilk sellers saw Mary and Jesus.
The basilica is known as a site for pilgrims from all over India.

September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, is also commemorated as the feast of Our Lady of Good Health. The celebration starts on 29 August and ends on the day of the feast. The feast day prayers are said in Tamil, Marathi, East Indian, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Konkani, Hindi and English.

This festival gets started with a flag hoisting ceremony at the church. The flag is hoisted every day for 9 continuous days along with the other activities that catch the eyes of the devotees.

People from various parts of the country reach Velankanni Church to be a part of the feast and enjoy the same. There are musical concerts, plays, Bharatnatyam Dance performances and a car procession that are the major highlights of this wonderful event. To experience the charm and take the blessings of ‘Our Lady of Health’, book a flight, bus, train to Velankanni for 25th August.

Desert festival jaisalmar

three-day event organised by the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation in the month of February, it is an absolute bonanza that celebrates the delights of the desert. The atmosphere is alive with song and dance, with the artists dressed in bright colours and traditional finery, depicting the tragedies and accomplishments of the desert. A showcase of desert rituals and life, camel races, gymnastic stunts, several competitions like longest moustache, turban tying, Mr Desert etc, delicious food and interesting stalls selling handicrafts and other souvenirs will make it a memorable 3 days of your 

Kerala boat festival

Kerala is famous for its backwater rides, the main highlights of the state. The beautiful river, lakes and Arabian Sea are all the part of these backwater rides, where you can also visualize the boat festivals of Kerala. Boat Festival is enhanced with different sizes of the boats, where you can see the team spirit among participants, great enthusiasm among the riders and people cheering each other all around the place.

• Most Famous Boat Races in Kerala: Nehru Trophy Boat Race in Alleppey, Champakulam Moolam Boat Race at Alappuzha, Vallam Kali at Punnamada Lake and PayippadJalotsavam at PayippadLake located at a distance of 35 km from the district Alappuzha
• Time of Celebration: Usually the boat festival is held in between July to September
• Major Attraction: Unique feature of the boat festival is that it is celebrated for many reasons. It is either associated with temples or with Onam or at times held without any reason.
  

Feast of immaculate conceptiin

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conceptioncelebrates the solemn celebration of belief in the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. It is universally celebrated on December 8, nine months before the feast of the Nativity of Mary, which is celebrated on September 8. The Immaculate Conception is one of the most important Marian feasts in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, and is celebrated worldwide.

Bhai Dooj

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Bhai Dooj (भाई दूज) / Bhau-Beej / Bhai Tika / Bhai Phonta (ভাইফোঁটা) is a festival celebrated by Hindus of the Indian subcontinent, notably India and Nepal, on the second lunar day of Shukla Paksha (bright fortnight) in the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar or of Shalivahan Shaka calendar month of Kartika. It is celebrated during the Diwali or Tihar festival.

Bhai Dooj
Tilak of 7 colors is applied on the forehead
Also called	Bhau Beej, Bhai Beej, Bhai Tika, Bhai Phonta
Observed by	Hindus
Type	Religious
Significance	Public holiday in Nepal
Date	Kartika Shukla Dwitiya
2018 date	November 9[1]
2019 date	October 29[1]
Frequency	Annual

Celebration of BhaiTika in Panchkhal Valley.

Applying the Tika

Tilak of seven colors

The celebrations of this day are similar to the festival of Raksha Bandhan. On this day, brothers give gifts to their sisters.

In the southern part of the country, the day is celebrated as Yama Dwitiya.

In the kayastha community, two Bhai doojs are celebrated. The more famous one comes on the second day after Diwali. But the lesser known one is celebrated a day or two after Holi.

In Haryana, basically, a special ritual also followed, a dry coconut (named as gola in regional language) with klewa tied along its width for worshipping is also used at the time of doing aarti of your brother.

Regional namesEdit

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The festival is known as:

• Bhai Dooj (Hindi: भाई दूज) in entire Northern part of India, observed during the Diwalifestival. This is also the second day of the Vikrami Samvat New Year, the calendar followed in Northern India (including Kashmir), which starts from the lunar month of Kārtika. It is widely celebrated by Awadhis in Uttar Pradesh, Maithils in Biharas Bhardutiya and people from various other ethnic groups. The first day of this New Year is observed as Govardhan Pūja.
• Bhai Tika (Nepali: भाई टीका) in Nepal, where it is the most important festival after Dashain (Vijaya Dashmi / Dussehra). Observed on the fifth day of Tihar festival, it is widely celebrated by the Khas people.
• Bhai Phonta (Bengali: ভাই ফোঁটা) in Bengal and it takes place every year on the second day after Kali Puja.
• Bhai Bij, Bhau Beej, or Bhav Bij (Marathi: भाऊबीज) amongst the Gujarati, Marathi and Konkani-speaking communities in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka.
• Another name for the day is Yamadwitheyaor Yamadvitiya, after a legendary meeting between Yama the god of Death and his sister Yamuna (the famous river) on Dwitheya (the second day after new moon).
• Other names include Bhatru Dviteeya, or Bhatri Ditya or Bhaghini Hastha Bhojanamuin Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

According to a popular legend in Hindu mythology, after slaying the evil demonNarakasura, Lord Krishna visited his sister Subhadra who gave him a warm welcome with sweets and flowers. She also affectionately applied tilaka on Krishna's forehead. Some believe this to be the origin of the festival.

The CeremonyEdit

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A boy, wearing the tika, made for special occasion of tihar in Nepal

On the day of the festival, sisters invite their brothers for a sumptuous meal often including their favorite dishes/sweets. The procedure may be different in Bihar and central India. The whole ceremony signifies the duty of a brother to protect his sister, as well as a sister's blessings for her brother.

Carrying forward the ceremony in traditional style, sisters perform aarti for their brother and apply a red tika on the brother's forehead. This tika ceremony on the occasion of Bhai Bij signifies the sister's sincerest prayers for the long and happy life of her brother and treat them with gifts. In return, brothers bless their sisters and may treat them also with gifts or cash.

As it is customary in Haryana, Maharashtra to celebrate the auspicious occasion of Bhau-beej, women who do not have a brother worship the moon god instead. They apply mehendi on girls as their tradition.

The sister whose brother lives far away from her and can not go to her house, sends her sincerest prayers for the long and happy life of her brother through the moon god. She performs aarti for the moon. This is the reason why children of Hindu parents affectionately call the moon Chandamama(Chanda means moon and mama means mother's brother).

The celebrationEdit

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Bhai Phonta in West Bengal is celebrated with much splendor. The ceremony is marked with many rituals along with a grand feast arranged for the brothers.It is necessary that, both brother and sister are more than 5 years of age.

The festival of Bhai Bij is popular in Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa and is celebrated with great fervour and gaiety. Brothers and sisters look forward to the occasion with immense enthusiasm. To add charm to the occasion, Bhai Bij gifts are given to brothers from sisters as a token of love and appreciation.

Bhav Bij is a time for family reunions as all brothers and sisters in the family get together. Close relatives and friends are also invited to celebrate the Bhav Bij in many families.

Special dishes for the festival include the Maharashtra sweet called basundi poori or kheerni poori. On this occasion sisters give gifts to their brothers.

Bhaitika in NepalEdit

Bhaitika in Nepal is also known as Bhaitihar meaning Tihar (festival) of brothers. On this day, sisters pray to Yamraj for a long life and prosperity for their brothers.^[2] The ritual involves sisters marking the forehead of their brothers with a seven colored long tika.The rest of the ritual is similar to that performed by Hindus elsewhere.

Rabindranath Tagore and the Partition of BengalEdit

Rachel Fell McDermott, Professor of Asian Studies at Columbia University, describes Rabindranath Tagore's rakhi-bandhanceremonies, inspired by the Bhai Dooj ritual, which were organized to protest the 1905 Partition of Bengal

In 1905 Rabindranath Tagore extended the symbolism of Brother's Second, a ritual of bonding between brothers and sisters that is celebrated right after the Pujas have concluded, to evoke friendship between Hindus and Muslims: members of both communities would tie red threads of brotherhood on each others' wrists. All throughout the partition period, these rakhi-bandhan ceremonies were regularly announced in the Bengali and English papers. In addition, some landlords, even the British Indian Association, saw that the boycott and emphasis upon swadeshi items were disturbing peace with rural Muslims in their areas, and withdrew their support.^[3]