Vasant Panchami

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.

हिंदी विद्यार्थी

अंकुर वारधवान एक हिंदूस्तानी लड़का है जो कि अपने माता और पिता के साथ आस्टरेलिया में रह्ता है ! वह  एक हिंदूस्तानी कंप्नी के लिए काम करता है ! जैसा कि वह बता रहा था की उसके परिवार मे उसको छोड़कर सबलोग हिंदी बोल सकते हैं ,इसलिय वह हिंदी सीखने के लिए बनारास आया था !

उसके माता और पिता मुम्बई के रहने वाले हैं ! लेकिन वह आस्टरेलिया पैदा हुआ है तो इसलिये उसको हिंदी नहीं आती थी !

वह बनारस में सिर्फ दो हफ्ते के लिए था, इसलिए हर दिन दो घंटे सीख रहा था !

Hindi Classs

Anna Nies  is a German  student and  friend who has been coming to Varanasi for past three years to just study Hindi.

Every year she does intensive Hindi course three hours of instructions every day. This time I arranged accommodation for her in hotel Haifa however she was very much interested in staying in hotel Ganges view but they were sold out of that particular date.

As it is my outside Hindi instruction to watch Hindi film together with student and student try to give the summary what is going on in the film.

She did this outside Hindi instruction course and she learnt Hindi 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

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.