It is a dream for many people all over the world to visit Egypt to explore its great civilization that enriched the world in the past and to find out more about the culture of its people. One of the most important facets of Egypt is the joyful nature of its people who love to celebrate. There are many feasts celebrated in Egypt, which are divided into 3 categories.

The first and most important is the religious feasts. Since the two main religions in Egypt are Islam and Christianity, Egyptians celebrate together their religious feasts. Friends and neighbors would make sweets and gift it to each other.

The main feasts for Muslims are the smaller and bigger Bairam, which are fixed by the Islamic Lunar calendar "Hijri calendar". The smaller Bairam lasts for 3 days and it comes after the holy month of Ramadan where Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. On the 1st day of the feast Muslims gather for the early morning prayers in Mosques and streets then each family gather to eat together and enjoy the cookies that were specially made for that occasion "kaahk". Little children wear new colorful clothes and go to the family and neighbors collecting money "Eideyah" to buy sweets or small fireworks.

As for the bigger Bairam, it comes on the 10th day of the month of "Zul Hedja". It commemorates the sacrifice of Abraham when he offered his son to God, honoring his sacrifice; God saved the son by replacing the offering with a ram, that's why people sacrifice the sheep. This feast takes place during the same time of the pilgrimage in Mecca. Egyptians celebrate the bigger Bairam by sacrificing the animals after the Morning Prayer, and then they usually gather for breakfast to eat from the meat that is divided between the family, friends and the poor people.

According to the Orthodox teachings that most of Egyptian Christians follow, both Christmas and Easter come after a long period of fasting where people stick to a vegan diet. The Coptic Christmas is celebrated on January 7th since they follow the Julio-Claudine Calendar. People go to church on the 6th for the mass then go home to have the Christmas dinner after midnight where they have banquets full of all the food that they were not allowed to eat during the fasting days.

The Easter is set to be the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon in spring. On the week before Easter, people go to the church for the rituals of the week of pain where all decorations in the church are covered with black. On Sunday they celebrate the day where Jesus entered Jerusalem where people received him with palm tree reeds that's why it is called the Reeds Sunday or the Salvation Sunday. During the whole week they have sad hymns and prayers "Baskhat". Then on Thursday they celebrate the day when Jesus got the promises from his disciples to follow him, then he washed their feet to honor them, in memory of that the priest conducting the prayers washes the feet of people. On Friday people spend almost the whole day in churches chanting and praying, on that day people wear black and chant a sad chanting on the tunes of the ancient Egyptian funerary hymns as it is the day when Jesus died. On Saturday they go to church for the prayers then go home after midnight to eat.

The celebration of the religious feasts away from the rituals is the same for both Muslims and Christians. There are many other religious festivals where people fast then celebrate, like the day of the birth of Prophet Mohamed and the day when he ascended to heavens to talk to God. Also the feast of Virgin Mary on August 22nd and the feast of "Ghotas" that commemorates the baptism of Jesus shortly after Christmas where people in Upper Egypt used to carry the sugar cane rods, put on top of it a candle surrounded by a hollowed mandarin fruit. They would also east Colkassia root.

The second category is the feasts that have ancient Egyptian origins like the feast of Spring "Sham el Nassime" this feast is usually the day that follows the Coptic Easter day. In that feast, people go out to the gardens or have a boat ride in the Nile. They would eat salted fish and fresh green leafy vegetables. People also color eggs and eat it for breakfast.

The Third category is the least important like the international and memorial feasts, which is not necessarily celebrated by all people. Like the New Year, Mothers day, Valentine's Day, Children day etc, where people get together and exchange gifts. There is also the 6th of October day that commemorates the Youm Kipour war between Egypt and Israel where the Egyptian Army regained most of the land of Sinai. As well as some festivals where people get the day off and probably use it to relax or to travel for a long weekend like Labour day on the 1st of May or 23rd of July revolution day etc.

There are even some occasions celebrated in Egypt without fixed dates like winning a football tournament. It doesn't really matter what are they celebrating for, the happiness that these festivities bring helps the Egyptians to carry on with the stresses and burdens of life.

Manal Karrara

   FESTIVALS OF INDIA


It is often said that India is a land of “Unity in Diversity”. There could be no better description of this vast geographical region that has been a Cultural Nation for many a millennium before organizing itself as a Political Nation. The diversity is reflected in myriad ways in everyday life- several climatic and topographic zones, some 25 major and more than a hundred minor languages with almost two dozen scripts, a huge variety of cuisine, immense bio-diversity, countless styles to dress oneself and above all the diversity of faiths. However, this uniqueness finds its best manifestation in the festivals, religious or otherwise, which are observed in the country. Perhaps not a single day passes without a festival being celebrated in one part of the country or another.

To start with, India celebrates the New Year with the same gusto as in other parts of the world. One can see rave parties being held every year on the night of 31st December. But at the same time India follows yet another calendar called the Vikram Samvat or the Year of King Vikram. The New Year according to this lunar calendar commences in late March or early April. In some parts of the country the first day of the Samvat is celebrated accordingly, but under different names. In Maharashtra it is Gudi Padwa, in Andhra Pradesh Ugadi, and for Sindhi community it is Cheti Chand (the spring moon). The minority Parsee community has its own new year called the Navroz; while in Mid-April it is Baisakhi (advent of spring season) in Punjab, Paila Baisakh (the first day of spring season) in Bengal and Bihu in Assam. The festival of Pongal or Makar Sankranti falling on 14th January is the most important date for the people of Tamilnadu in South India, whereas in Kerala it is the Onam that comes in September.

There are festivals galore in India, but three major festivals that are celebrated almost throughout the country are Holi, Vijayadashmi and Deepawali. In the beginning of the year comes Holi- the festival of colours. It comes almost at the end of the winter harvest, somewhere between the two spring months as per Indian calendar, and falling on the full moon in late March/ early April. A holy fire is lit on the Holi eve to denote the victory of piety over the evil power. On the next day people come out in the streets and splash bucketfuls of colours on friends and neighbors but anyone passing by is neither spared. The herbal colours used in the yore have given way to chemical ones and even the mud lying on the streets is being used these days, but people accept it good-naturedly.

Vijayadashmi is the major celebration of victory of good on the evil. As depicted in the epic Ramayana and other sacred literature, it is the day when Lord Rama, the 6th incarnation of the God Vishnu killed the demon King Ravana after a fierce war. It is said that Victorious Lord Rama after returning home ascended the throne of Ayodhya on the Deepawali day, which exactly comes after twenty days from this day. Actually, Vijayadashmi marks the mid-point of a month-long festivity starting as it is also the last day of the 10-day long winter Navratri festival (see below).

Among all Indian festivals, Deepawali holds the pride of place. Deepawali or Diwali literarily means the “Rows of lamps”. It coincides with the end of the harvest season in larger parts of the country and falls in late October or early November. This festival of lights, observed for five consecutive days presents a most fascinating sight when each and every house is illuminated with rows and rows of earthen oil-lamps during the night denoting victory of light over darkness.

The majority of Indians is commonly known to follow the Hindu religion. In absence of a better expression this has become the most used term. But it does not tell the whole story, because what is known as Hinduism is a wide pluralistic labyrinth. It has a plethora of gods and goddesses and one has the complete freedom of choice to worship a single god or a trinity or many gods. The two major festivals of Holi and Deepawali must be seen in this context because even though in the Hindu tradition, they are celebrated much in a secular manner cutting across narrow religious divides.

There are, of course, many other festivals that are associated with one or another religion, but it is the beauty of Indian tradition that people participate in the main festivals of minority communities without any reservation. It comes quite naturally to Indians to joyfully take part in the festivities of Id-ul-Fitr or X-Mas irrespective of religious affiliations. Even on the Muharram day, it is not uncommon to see Hindu men carrying the Taziya on their shoulders or dancing in the procession with their bodies painted with tiger strips- something perhaps unique to India. It will also be interesting to note that throughout the month of Ramadan, many Hindus arrange Iftaar Dawat for their Muslim brethren. In the same spirit, one can see both Hindus and Muslims offering prayers at the Dargahs (tombs) of Sufi saints like Hazrat Nizamuddin Olia in Delhi or Khwaja Chisti at Ajmer.

The Sikh, Jain and Buddhist, constitutionally recognized as minorities in India, but not much outside the Hindu mainstream, also have their own special days and festivals like Guru Nanak Jayanti (Birth Anniversary), Mahaveer Jayanti, Buddha Purnima and Ambedkar Jayanti, and once again everyone takes part in the festivities on such occasions. The mention must be made of two important festivals, which are based on religious beliefs but observed more as a social event. These are the Ganesh Utsav, a 10-day affair dedicated to Lord Ganesh; the elephant headed god, and Navratri or Durga Puja, another 10-day affair dedicated to mother goddess Durga. The former is observed in early September and the later in October. During these days, deities cast in Plaster of Paris are installed in artistically decorated canopies and many programmes like public debate, music and dance competitions, student debates etc. are organised. It is interesting to note that even the Valentine Day has become a popular event in India, particularly amongst the young generation.

I have attempted to capture the essential spirit of the festivals of India by drawing only an outline of the topic. It is a long list indeed that requires tons and miles of paper and profound knowledge to do justice to the subject, but I hope that discerning readers will take this as a departure point to know more about the pluralistic social milieu of India.


Lalit Surjan
lalitsurjan@yahoo.com

Note- The writer is a veteran Hindi journalist and is currently in Cairo as a volunteer with Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Organisation.

   Anapanasati (to be with the breath) Meditation:

The Pyramid Spiritual Societies Movement

(non religious,non cult,non profit voluntary organizations ,whose sole objective is to spread meditation to one and all)
Founded by
Brahmarshi Patriji
is one of the foremost new age movements of the current period on this earth.



Spiritual health is root and Physical Health is the fruit.
Anapanasati Meditation alone gives Spiritual Health to a person
Meditation is the greatest gift to be given to our lives .. by our own efforts.

The physical body has its own natural and easy rhythm of the breath. In meditation, the mind has to become totally attuned to the normal rhythmic nature of the breath of the physical body.


There are three great happenings in the science of meditation :

" The First Happening "

" When we are with the normal, natural, simple, easy, soft, tender, shallow, tranquil, peaceful flow of the breath .. the mind becomes rather empty "


Meditation is silencing the incessant chatter of the restless mind ! For that ... we ... begin ... with ... the ... breath !

The mind has to be with the breath ! That is the bottom-line! If the mind is not with the breath, it does, not become empty !

The mind has to become uncluttered and rather empty !

The mind has to lose all its unscientific socio-religious mental images and meaningless props ! In the same token, chanting of any mantra doesn't play any role in meditation ! The mouth has to be kept shut !

Since meditation is silencing the incessant chattering mind, we can't have any mental image whatsoever to concentrate upon ! No mental images whatsoever ! No visualization exercises ! And, again, no mantras in the mouth !

We have to attune ourselves to our natural and normal breath ! When we attune ourselves to the breath, the mind becomes by and by less tense ... and less dense ... and sooner than later, it becomes rather empty !

Breath is not a part of the body; but it is in the body ... and it is sufficiently material to focus upon !

Breath is the ambassador of pure consciousness in the body ! Breath is an incessantly happening thing. Breath does not age ! Breath is so simple ! Breath can be experienced ! Breath can be grasped ! Breath can be very easily attuned to !

Being with the simple, natural flow of the breath is the ' alpha ' in the science of meditation.

" The Second Happening "

" When the mind is rather empty, huge amount of cosmic energy floods into the physical body .. into the physical-ness "


A ' jungle-like mind ' doesn't allow cosmic energy to enter into the body-system.

When the mind is like a forest, it becomes a great barrier ... it does not allow any cosmic energy to seep into the physical body.

The 'jungle-like mind ' is so very impermeable. So very ' solid ' ! However, when the ' solid-like mind ' becomes a ' liquid-like mind ' or a ' vapour-like mind ', there is so much more porosity and the mind becomes that much more permeable .. and ... the cosmic energy floods into the physical body ... following the simple laws of natural physics !

The mind is the separator of the physical energy and the cosmic energy. When the mind is like a forest, it acts like a solid barrier !

So, to make our ' solid - like mind ' into a ' vapour - like mind ' ... where there are very few thoughts, and more number of gaps ... that is meditation ! And, the way is only through breath !

"The Third Happening "

" When sufficient amount of cosmic energy enters the physical body .. the result is a reasonable amount of activation of the third-eye "


The culminating result in meditation is the activation of our 'inner senses ' or the ' third-eye ' ! The end result of meditation is activation of our extra sensory perception ! The final result of meditation is activation of our SOUL CONSCIOUSNESS ! The final product of meditation is acquiring a SOLID SOUL !

In the case of a normal man, it is as if the soul is lost ! The soul is the paradise ! In the case of a normal person, the paradise has been lost ! The paradise has to be regained ... that is done in meditation.

The physical body needs to become saturated with cosmic energy ! When the body is saturated with cosmic energy, when the black patches in the etheric body are dissolved, the soul's potential becomes gradually kinetic ! And, the soul has infinite potential, and Infinite capacity ! However, all that is just dry and barren as long as we don't awaken it through our mediation !

The science of meditation is the science of energy maximization ! The science of mediation is the true science of physical health ! The science of meditation is the true science of joy ! The science of meditation is the true unifying science ! It unifies all the divided sects of humanity ! Hail unto the science of meditation !

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