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India is land abundant with culture, colors and celebrations. It's not a coincidence
that people have found innumerable ways to celebrate every aspect of their lives
to the extent that festivals have become a part of our everyday life.
Bangalore is not an exception to this. Though termed the 'silicon valley' of
India this city shares the common bond with mother country, i.e. rich culture
and age old festivals. In a time when the urbanization process has taken away
time from people to stop and take a look around, festivals in this fast paced
city seems to serve one of the few cultural links between the past and the present.
As with India, festivals and events in Bangalore are a part of the normal lifestyle.
Bangalore is home to many indigenous festivals, some of them being the Karaga,
Kadalekaye Parishe, Yugadi, Varamahalakshmi, Bangalore Habba; this apart from
the normal national festivals.
Karaga is the oldest and most important of festivals and events in Bangalore.
It is celebrated to worship goddess Shakti. Held in summers of March-April it
involves a night procession carrying an earthen pot embodying Shakti for more
than 12miles before being immersed in the Sampangi tank.
Kadalekaye Parishe is a winter festival held along with a famous fair to celebrate
the first groundnut crop of the year. This festival has got an ancient heritage
of 600 years whence it has been held every year. The bull temple where the farmers
offer their worship holds a 15 feet tall and 20 feet long impressive statue
of a bull carved out of a solid granite block, a typical specimen of the Dravidian
architecture.
The Kannadiga New Year day of Yugadi falls on the second half of March or early
April and is considered auspicious to start new ventures. Legend has it that
Brahma (God of Creation) created world on this day and people start the day
with ritual bath and prayers, the festival going on till late night.
The traditional Lakshmi (goddess of wealth) puja is marked as Varamahalakshmi
festival in Bangalore. Held in the hot August this festival dates back to the
early Vedic ages. Married women make offerings to Mother Lakshmi in the form
of garlands of cash or jewelry, praying for peace, prosperity and a solution
to financial problems.
'Habba' in Kannada means 'Festival'. The Bangalore Habba is a cultural program
where artistes come from all over the country (over 2750 artistes from Karnataka
and 250 artistes from all over India participated in the 2006 Habba). Held in
many points of Bangalore for around a week, events here include music, dance,
film panorama, street theatre, adventure sports, a golf tournament, tennis ball
cricket tournament, pulling race, vintage car rally, apart from eat outs and
shopping.
Festivals in this tropical city are colorful affairs and if you are in Bangalore
during one of them you can be lucky enough to have a glimpse of cultures and
traditions carried over from centuries blended with the natural joy and enthusiasm
of people.
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