Ministry of Tourism government of Utter Pradesh has trained 220 sport guide in varanasi with special attention for kumbh fair which is taking place at Allahabad. we had to go under training which was organised by utterpradesh tourism department.we got the provisional licence.
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Pooja offering in Villages
Hi, Friends sorry for late updates from my end.
Like every year this year also I went to my village for Holi celebrations. Holi is the festival of colors, and in the villages very year people celebrates the festival and make special pooja for their ideal deity or I can say every family has one traditional deity which family has been offering pooja for generation to generation.
There is one strange tradition for making pooja offering goat sacrifice.and this pooja takes place two times in a year, so every year more than 40 goats sacrificed. I asked personally with locals and this is what tradition has been following for long time and by seeing this new generation adopt this.
But what I notice there that young people are not very much interested while goats were being sacrificed they moved out from there, because they could barely see this.
I talked to the older persons of my village regarding stopping this tradition and they replied me by saying that their deities are like this they want blood in offerings,which can not be stopped.
Vasant Panchami
Reply
Vasant Panchami (वसन्त पञ्चमी) is a Hindu festival celebrating Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, music and art. It is celebrated every year on the fifth day (Panchami) of the Indian month Magh (January-February), the first day of spring. Traditionally during this festival children are taught to write their first words and most educational institutions organise special prayer for Saraswati. The color yellow also plays an important role in this festival, in that people usually wear yellow garments, Saraswati is worshipped dressed in yellow, and yellow sweets are consumed within the families.
Every one pray goddess Sarswati to increase the knowledge of their particular area of work .this is the festival which is celebrated by everyone. Students get the statue of goddess Sarswati in school and they make a special pooja which last for two day.
It is believe that by worshiping goddess Sarswati people gain intellectual power and wisdom. And special kind of prsad is offered to goddess. This is also the beginning of spring
In Varanasi Holika is kept at a place which will be burnt by social community just before the day of Holi. from this day people get palnts and wood to this place and make it big until the day of burning so this is the a starting part of the Holi.
Goddess Saraswati
Her expression is so serene and calm even as She is majestic. She is seated on a white lotus in Padmasana, adorned by a pure white silk sari, has a book in Her lower left hand, Her lower right hand showing the chinmudra, Aksharamala in Her right upper hand, and Amrithakalasam in Her left upper hand. Both eyes are full of compassion. The vehicle assigned to each of the three goddesses also symbolically represent their special powers.
Goddess Saraswathi is the consort of Lord Brahma (Lord of Creation) and is the Goddess of wisdom and learning. Saraswati is the one who gives the essence (sara) of our own self (swa). She is considered as the personification of all knowledge – arts, sciences, crafts and other skills. She has a beautiful and elegant presence, is pure white in colour, clad in a white sari, seated on a white lotus, representing purity and brilliance. She has four hands representing four aspects of human personality in learning; mind, intellect, alertness and ego. She has the sacred scriptures in one hand and a lotus (a symbol of true knowledge) in the second. With her other two hands she plays the music of love and life on the veena.
She is dressed in white (sign of purity) and rides on a white goose (swan). The swan is known for its peculiar characteristic of being capable of separating water from milk, indicating that we should possess discrimination in separating the bad from the good. The seat being a lotus or peacock implies that the teacher is well-established in the subjective experience of truth. When sitting on a peacock she reminds us that wisdom suppresses ego.
Hindi Lessons
Shalom and Rachael they are husband and wife from Mexico.They were traveling India for four months so they decided to learn Hindi before they start traveling in India.
They got my contact Information while browsing in internet and wrote me email requesting for Hindi class.I responded them and then wrote me back for conforming the class.
They were doing very intensive Hindi course three hours of lessons each day in two sessions.Rachael was originally from India so she picked up faster than her husband.
One day I asked them why they decided to learn Hindi with me their respond was they wrote emails to few people but my respond was fast enough and they continued for two weeks.
HINDI LESSON
Dariya is a french student working in varanasi as her Dissertation on women in jail.she came in contact with me through the internet.She was also learning kathak with a teacher from Banaras Hindu University.
She started with one hour of lesson everyday but later on she began to do two hour everyday from Monday through Friday.we were doing very intensively from my own mae teaching stuff and we were reviewing through Teach Yourself by Rupert Snell.
Once she was able to read Hindi books I used to give her child
COUPLE HINDI STUDENT
Atila and Dora is a couple from Budapest capital of Hungary .Atila had already been to varanasi last year in the month of November.This year both came in the month of March and started learning Hindi.
They were staying at my friend place in Bhadaini. Atila and his wife both were doing volunteering work with Loksamati in Mehdiganj .This is a NGO working against cocoloa company for the welfare of the villagers.
Atila was teaching Emglish for the children in Loksameeti’s school and Dora was assisting him in making lesson plan.
They were very flexible with timings and we used to meet five days in week for thelesson .in the beginning they were learning just to speak but later on they also started learning Hindi script.however they had taken few lesson in Budapest before coming to varanasi.
They were here for five months up to July mean while my sister was getting married therefore I had to go to my village for the weddings.so I could not continue teaching them and they were also spending time by visiting different parts of India.
Hindi Lesson
Molly was the student of AIIS programme of Jaipour.her field study was allotted in Varanasi there for she was here.She was working on Muslim rituals at mosque .
She was very much focused on two type of Muslims shiya and shuni. what are the difference ways of praying in the mosque.
She came to know about me through one of the student of Wisconsin programe as I was working for her as research assistant.
Molly also wanted to improve her Hindi in conversation so she started class but meanwhile she went to krishnamurti foundation at Rajghat so it was difficult for her to come at assi everyday .
we decided to meet three days in a week because she used to come to interview some Muslim in shivala area.She had already learnt grammar she needs to to speak.
we were mostly making conversation class and she was translating interview for the class
भारतीय संस्कृती और परंपरा
नमस्कार । भारतीय संस्कृती में मृत्यु के बाद क्या किया जाता है और इसके क्या तरीके हैं ? इसके बारे में WHERE THERE BE DRAGONS के विद्यार्थियों ने डोम परिवार के एक आदमी से सवाल पूछा और मैने इस बात-चित का अनुवाद किया
विद्यार्थी: – How long have you been working at cremation ghats
आदमी:- He started at the age of eight years working at cremation ghat with his grand parents as this is his traditionally livelihood.
विद्यार्थी: – How does he feel about doing this job and does he feel discrimination in social life?
आदमी:-:-No,there is no discrimination in society he sits with respected Brahamn and have a chai together.second respected cast “Kshatriya” also talk with him and the social life is not disrespectful.
विद्यार्थी: -What do you think about you child’s future?
आदमी:-:- I am sending the kids in english medium school .we don’t want our kids to do same profession as we get effected from burning dead body at cremation ghats.because different kinds of person die with different disease so our body get effected and sometime we get sick
विद्यार्थी:-How do you get your turn for working at ghats?
आदमी:-:-There are ten thousands Dom working in varansi and these people are not only from varanasi .they come from different parts of the U.P. so every one gets a day for working at ghats and this decided by the king of the Dom.
विद्यार्थी:-Why the mankarnika is much more busy than this one?
आदमी:-:-Both burning ghats have region and marnkarnika cover much more longer part than harschnadra ghats.suppose if a deady body belonging to B.H.U.are or surrounding then it can not be cremated at Manikarnika ghtas.that is why mankarnika is much more busy.
विद्यार्थी:-In Hinduism who are not cremated ?
आदमी:- Five people are not cremated .these are great saint ,One who has leprosy,snake biting,one who died of chiken pax,follower of vaishnow(the kind of sadhu who holds tridandi and wear saffron colors)
विद्यार्थी:-what are rituals while cremating body at ghats? and how long does it take to burn whole body?
आदमी:-First of all when body get to the ghats .it has to be Beth in ganges and meanwhile the person who has to give the fire (in Hindu rituals mostly eldest son has to give first fire) will get saved his head and will wear a white dhoti.and “Dom” will make wooden chita on which body will be kept and the one who is giving the fire will ask for the fire with “Dom” and he will make circle and other friends and relative will also give the last piece of wood and make circle
Normally a healthy body take three to three and half hour but if body contain water or some medical treatment then some time it takes much time.
Regarding the rituals when body is almost burnt some boy hit at the head of the body it symbolize that body has completely burnt and “Dom ” gives rest of the flesh to man to offer in Ganges..In Hinduism it is said that if person pass away his ashes is offered to the Ganges and he gets out of his all bad karma.and get salvation.
After that the man get fill water port and pour at the place where body was cremated and last port of water he keeps on his left solider and throw at the place and he writes there 9 + 4:= 13 so there are 13 days rituals has to be performed at home.
विद्यार्थी:-How is electric crematorium different from wooden cremation?
आदमी:- Rituals is the same this is much more cheaper and it is Government project to stop the pollution but and unknown dead body and poor people are mostly cremated but rituals is the same.
विद्यार्थी:- what are the average number of Dead body cremated each day?
आदमी:- Including all three it around one hundred twenty five body are cremated everyday.
Hindi class
Ruth is a student from Minnesota From United States of America .Now she is in India for studying Development of Indian Economy.
She came in contact with me through the internet recommendation.she wanted to learn Hindi in Varanasi intensively as she did not have time .
How ever she was able to speak basic phrase because she is staying Rohatak in Hariyan with one o Indian family.she was interested in taking two hrs class each day.she continued for one and half week later on she went to kolkata.
Usually i give my teaching package to the students she completed my first teaching material within that period of time.
Now there is good news for those learner who wants to learn through skype class so now you can pay me through paypal account as she helped me in getting my paypal account because she is also going to learn Hindi when she gets back in America.
Now learner do not have to pay extra amount through western union and it is very easy and simple.
Hindi Class on Skype
Marion found my blog online for learning Hindi via skype.She is from Vienna Austria but currently she is living in Italy.
She is former student of Indology and Ethnology from University of Vienna but she could not finish her study from there.her passion for learning Hindi is still with her so she tried to find online hindi class via skype.
According to Marion her job and duties never permit for making journey to India for learning Hindi so she thought to start through skype.
She called on my skype account and we talked for long time regarding the class ,Time differences ,how many hours per week and mode of payment and so on
We decided to meet for four hrs per week at the weekends as she has the much more better for her and for me as well.On the first lesson the Skype was horrible that day we called each other almost four to five times but it was slow.she was loosing her Patience saying that is it usual for Skype like this ? I said no this is your luck after some it worked nicely and we had wonderful class .
This way she is improving her Hindi and Now she could communicate in Hindi with couple of daily useful phrase .This time she is England and she will be back for Hindi on 11th of April on skype .