Favorite Hindu Celebration? (Moses, tradition, God, Zen)

[Mystic-als]

Hi all,

I had the increadible fortune to travel to India when I was younger. I arrived about three or four days before the Monsoon hit. While were on the Gangies the rain came. Oh my goodness. It can rain in india!
My point. While we were there I unfortunatly didn't get to see or be part of any Hindu Celebrations.
What celebration/tradition is your favorite and why?
Which on is the most enjoyable for you?

[Arkangel]

My favorite celebration is Diwali, cause it is fun and party for three days. Lighting firecrackers all night, exchanging gifts and more fireworks in the night. In the day, it is those huge noisy firecrackers that explode like minibombs and and then those that are like rapid gunfire, and in the night beautiful fireworks like 4th July. Not all of it is rosy, it does get dangerous sometimes, fatal if no precaution is taken. Goverment issue warnings no how to use firecrackers, there is time limit no firework after 10 in the night and nothing sooner than 6 in the morning so old people can take break from the constant noise of explosions, all planes are told to come in very high, clincs are kept open for any burn victims. Well you cant have all positive can you. But i love that festival, lots of gift, time to be a kid again, and the food is great they are only made on that day, secret recipes passed on from grandmother to granddaughter.

Then it is Holi, the festival of color, we go around throwing color at each other that day. By night if you dont look like a rainbow top to bottom, then you do not have many friends. Then there is bhang "kind of booze" flowing like Ganges in monsoon.

There are more sober celebrations too, like the Independence Day on Aug 15, a dozen other festivals every month.

[Mystic-als]

We have those two here in South Africa. Mainly in Durban, a mostly indian port city.
So much FUN!!

[Moses the God Archetype*]

Holi holi holi holi, hahahahahahahaha...(estatic laughter) good fun!

[Mystic-als]

Glad you're enjoying yourself Moses the God Archetype*

[Bishka]

I'm not even Hindu, but I've really been interested and enjoy Diwali.

[Seyorni]

During Holi everyone goes out and throws powdered dye or colored water at everyone else. It's like a giant food fight.

[Bishka]

Originally Posted by Seyorni

During Holi everyone goes out and throws powdered dye or colored water at everyone else. It's like a giant food fight.

That sounds like a lot of fun!

[Seyorni]

For a serious experience of primitive, unadulterated Hinduism, the Maha Kumbh Mela is absolutely incomparable. It''s the largest festival of any kind, ever -- seventy million attendees.

http://www.divinerevelation.org/KumhMela.html

[Arkangel]

One thing Kumb Mela is famous for other than it being the largest festival, is getting lost. There have been movies about people getting lost.

I think most you know here that Hindusim has no structure, no hierarchy, no central authority. But Kumbh Mela is the only place all the parts of hindusim get together and try to discuss where the religion is going and what new can be done. But no laws get passsed, no editcs issued. Just a lose collection of hindu leaders discussing the religion and they call it the Hindu Maha Sabha (Hindu Grand Meeting/Forum). Hindusim has no single authority, no single holy book, no supreme head to all the temples, no organisation. As i mentioned earlier, hindusim is not a religion based on God or a book, but a way of life that evolved into a religion and keeps evolving. There is an addition of a new God at every Maha Sabha, meaning they agree to agree upon what many have come to believe as one more form of God through their faith, belief or experience. Slowly it gets added into the litany of the endless Gods Hindusim holds to be divine incarnation of the one true supreme Godhead.

I know we were suposed to discuss celebrations not relgion but Khumb Mela is not just a festival or carnival has many tend to believe but also a serious forum for all forms, sects of Hindusim to gather and exchange ideas and opinions. That is the purpose of Khumb Mela and the festival just grew around it and got bigger than the purpose.

I am sorry if have deviated from the main point of the thread.