Diwali, Deepavali or Dipavali is the Hindu festival of lights, which is celebrated every autumn in the northern hemisphere (spring in southern hemisphere).One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, Diwali symbolises the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance".During the celebration, temples, homes, shops and office buildings are brightly illuminated.The preparations, and rituals, for the festival typically last five days, with the climax occurring on the third day coinciding with the darkest night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. In the Gregorian calendar, the festival generally falls between mid-October and mid-November.

In the lead up to Diwali, celebrants will prepare by cleaning, renovating and decorating their homes and offices. During the climax, revellers adorn themselves in their finest clothes, illuminate the interior and exterior of their homes with diyas (lamps and candles), offer puja (prayers) to Lakshmi – the goddess of prosperity and wealth, light fireworks, partake in family feasts, where mithai (sweets) and gifts are shared. Diwali is also a major cultural event for the Hindu and Jain diaspora from the Indian subcontinent.
The five day festival originated in the Indian subcontinent and is mentioned in early Sanskrit texts. The names of the festive days of Diwali, as well as the rituals, vary by region. Diwali is usually celebrated eighteen days after the Dussehra festival with Dhanteras, or the regional equivalent, marking the first day of the festival when celebrants prepare by cleaning their homes and laying floor decorations, such as rangoli. The second day is Choti Diwali, or equivalent in north India, while for Hindus in the south of India it is Diwali proper. Western, central, eastern and northern Indian communities observe Diwali on the third day and the darkest night of the traditional month. In some parts of India, the day after Diwali is marked with the Goverdhan Puja and Diwali Padva, which is dedicated to the relationship between wife and husband. Some Hindu communities mark the last day as Bhai Dooj, which is dedicated to the bond between sister and brother, while other Hindu and Sikh craftsmen communities mark this day as Vishwakarma Puja and observe it by performing maintenance in their work spaces and offering prayers.

Some other faiths in India also celebrate their respective festivals alongside Diwali. The Jains observe their own Diwali, which marks the final liberation of Mahavira, the Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas to mark the release of Guru Hargobind from a Mughal Empire prison, while Newar Buddhists, unlike other Buddhists, celebrate Diwali by worshiping Lakshmi.The festival of Diwali is an official holiday in Fiji, Guyana, India, Malaysia (except Sarawak), Mauritius, Myanmar,Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The veena comprises a family of chordophone instruments of the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.The many regional designs have different names such as the Rudra veena, the Saraswati veena, the Vichitra veena and others.

The North Indian design, that has been used in classical Hindustani music, is a stick zither. About 3.5 to 4 feet (1 to 1.2 meters) long to fit the measurements of the musician, it has a hollow body and two large resonating gourds under each end.[6] It has four main strings which are melody type, and three auxiliary drone strings. To play, the musician plucks the melody strings downward with a plectrum worn on the first and second fingers, while the drone strings are strummed with the little finger of the playing hand. The musician stops the resonating strings, when so desired, with the fingers of the free hand. In modern times the veena has been generally replaced with the sitar in north Indian performances.

The South Indian veena design, used in classical Carnatic music, is a lute. It is a long-necked, pear-shaped lute, but instead of the lower gourd of the north Indian design it has a pear shaped wooden piece. It too, however, has 24 frets, four melody strings, three drone strings, and played quite similar. It remains an important and popular string instrument in classical Carnatic music.

As a fretted, plucked lute, the veena strings can produce pitches in full three octave range.The long hollow neck design of these Indian instruments allow portamento effects and legato ornaments found in Indian ragas. It has been a popular instrument in Indian classical music, and one revered in the Indian culture by its inclusion in the iconography of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of arts and learning. These continue to be used, albeit with different designs, in Carnatic classical music and Hindustani classical music.

Etymology and history
The Sanskrit word veena  in ancient and medieval Indian literature is a generic term for plucked string musical instruments. Veena is mentioned in the Rigveda, Samaveda and other Vedic literature such as the Shatapatha Brahmana and Taittiriya Samhita. In the ancient texts, Narada is credited with inventing the veena, and is described as a seven string instrument with frets.According to Suneera Kasliwal, a professor of Music, in the ancient texts such as the Rigveda and Atharvaveda (both pre-1000 BCE), as well as the Upanishads (c. 800–300 BCE), a string musical instrument is called Vana, a term that evolved to become Veena. The early Sanskrit texts call any stringed instrument as Vana, and these include bowed, plucked, one string, many strings, fretted, non-fretted, zither, lute or harp lyre style string instrument.

The Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni, the oldest surviving ancient Hindu text on classical music and performance arts, discusses Veena. This Sanskrit text, probably complete between 200 BCE and 200 CE, begins its discussion by stating that "the human throat is a sareer veena, or a body's musical string instrument" when it is perfected, and that the source of gandharva music is such a throat, a string instrument and flute. The same metaphor of human voice organ being a form of veena, is also found in more ancient texts of Hinduism, such as in verse 3.2.5 of the Aitareya Aranyaka, verse 8.9 of the Shankhayana Aranyaka and others. The ancient epic Mahabharata describes sage Narada as a Vedic sage famed as a "vina player".


The Hindu goddess Saraswati with veena instrument. The oldest known Saraswati-like relief carvings are from Buddhist archaeological sites dated to 200 BCE, where she holds a harp-style veena.
The Natya Shastra describes a seven string instrument and other string instruments in thirty five verses, and then explains how the instrument should be played.The technique of performance suggests that the veena in Bharata Muni's time was quite different than the zither or the lute that became popular after Natya Shastra was complete. The ancient veena, according to Allyn Miner and other scholars, was closer to a harp. The earliest lute and zither style veena playing musicians are evidenced in Hindu and Buddhist cave temple reliefs in the early centuries of the common era. Similarly, Indian sculptures from the mid 1st millennium CE depict musicians playing string instruments. By about the 6th century CE, the goddess Saraswati sculptures are predominantly with veena of the zither-style, similar to modern styles.

Bowing instruments have a very rich and old tradition in India. In folk and tribal music, various types of bowed instruments are found in different regions. Some of them come close to the classical sarangi as far as shape, making and playing techniques are concerned, thus giving clear-cut evidence that the classical sarangi has been developed from these folk instruments.The sarangi, not only in Hindustani classical music, but also in folk music, is the only instrument which comes in closest proximity to the human voice. Many forms of this are in vogue in different regions of our country, but ironically, its place and time of origin have not been established as yet.
The sarangi is the only instrument which can produce almost all the nuances of vocal music of any style, be it dhrupad, khayal, thumri, tappa or bhajan or even ghazal, with exact embellishments and intonations. That is why this Instrument has always remained in close association with vocal music, and has always been preferred by vocalists as an able accompaniment. Sarangi players have always been trained in classical music to the extent that some of them have been the ustads of famous vocalists. Some of the most famous vocalists of our times were initially trained in playing sarangi and later on took to vocal music. For example, Abdul Karim Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Amir Khan, all distinguished vocalists, originally belonged to the group of sarangi players.

Though the sarangi has all the characters of a good instrument, and is very rich in its tonal texture and techniques, it could not attain its due place in classical music. One of the reasons why it could not acquire a respectable place among other classical instruments was because of its association with dancing and singing girls of the lower castes. Here the main attraction of the performance used to be the dancer or the singer, and the sarangi player, no matter how accomplished a musician he was, always remained in the background. Later, when it (sarangi) entered the classical music and started accompanying khayal style of singing, the situation still remained the same. Although the expectations from a sarangi player were very high, his remuneration and social status always remained low.

In the latter half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, harmonium (a keyboard instrument) and violin emerged as an alternatives to sarangi. These instruments were easier to handle. The sarangi and the sarangi players slowly became an endangered species. From the beginning of the twentieth century, efforts have been made by many sarangi stalwarts to perform solo on this instrument.

Sarangi in catalogue
Usually the whole length of the sarangi varies between 2ft to 2,25 ft, width 6 inch, height 4.2 inch. It weighs approximately 2 kg. It is hollowed out, chiselled and carved from a solid piece of wood. Usually tun wood is preferred to make a sarangi, but teak or mango wood is also used. The wood is well seasoned (at least for one year) before fashioning it into a sarangi. The belly (pet or pasli) is hollowed out in the front, whereas the neck (chhati) and the head (magaz) are hollowed out from the back. Thus three main portions of the instrument may be distinguished: the body (resonator), neck and peg box.
The shape of the body of the sarangi is irregular, with the waist deeper on the left side than on the right. The sound box or the pet is covered with young goat skin, tightly glued along the rim. The main ghurach or the bridge is placed in the middle of the parchment, and is supported by a leather belt (tasma), nailed to the sides of the belly. Inserted in the chhati on the right side are three rows of small pegs (khunti) made of shisham wood for sympathetic strings. The two back rows of fifteen pegs for tuning the main set of sympathetic strings are tied diagonally on the neck under the three main strings. The front row of nine pegs turies the right hand set of sympathetic strings, which run almost vertically down the right side of the neck. The resonance strings attached to the eleven front row pegs mounted on the upper peg box pass through holes in the targahan (upper nut), and are stretched over two small ghurach (bridges) called aankh or tabij. Mostly tarab strings are made of steel, but for lower pitched strings copper wire is preferred.

The playing strings are made of gut. The usual material used for these main strings is the goat's intestine. These strings are made in various places but mostly artists get them from Agra. Several guts, i.e. five, six, or even more, are wound together to make one thick string. The first string called sur, tip or jil, the middle string pancham and the third the lowest kharaj. These are tuned in S PS respectively and are of different thickness. While accompanying the female vocalist, middle string is tuned in M.

The peg box has two hollow sections. The upper box has eleven small pegs for the sympathetic strings, whereas the lower section has four larger pegs, three of which are for the main playing strings made of gut and the fourth for a thick metal sympathetic string.

The sarangi has three bridges and two aad or nuts, one for the upper tarabs and the other for the main playing strings also called pilak. Out of three bridges two flat small ghurach (called ankh or tabij) are for sympathetic strings and one for main strings. All these were made of either ivory, stag hörn or ebony. Nowadays, due to the non-availability of ivory or stag hörn, components made of even plastic are used by some makers. The main bridge is mostly designed in the shape of an elephant through which all the strings pass. The three main playing strings pass over the bridge, whereas the sympathetic strings pass through small holes drilled into the bridge like the sarod. These holes are drilled at two levels; the lower row accommodates twenty-five sympathetic strings, whereas the upper row accommodates five strings on the left and six on the right.

The sarangi gaj (bow) is curved and is at quite a distance from the hair in comparison to the violin's bow. The stick in the past was usually made from ebony which is very hard and heavy. But nowadays shisham is preferred for making bows as artists want a lighter bow. The horse tail hair is about twenty-two inches long, which is variable. The nut is fixed in position by a strong. thread, tied in a crisscross fashion.

Rosin must be applied to the hair and a piece thereof is always kept at hand. A tuning handle, called chabi, made of wood and about four-and-a-half inches long, is used to tighten or loosen the tuning pegs of sympathetic strings.

The tuning of the sympathetic strings is done in the following manner: the upper eleven tarab strings are tuned to the main raga to be played, the fifteen left side tarabs are tuned to kramik thaat (chromatic scale), the rest of the nine tarabs are tuned to the main swaras, i.e. the important notes of the raga to be played, such as vadi, samvadi and so on, according to the player's choice. The pitch of the sarangi is C sharp Kali-ek, but while playing solos, artists prefer a tuning in F or F sharp.

While playing, the artist sits cross-legged on the floor and keeps the Instrument in front of the ehest. Bowing is very important and Synchronisation of bowing with left-hand technique is a most difficult art.Mostly three fingers of the left hand are used in a unique way, and unlike other bowed Instruments, the sound is produced by the contact of string and the root of left hand finger nails, instead of the finger tips, which is a usual practice with most other bowed Instruments.

Kali Puja, also known as Shyama Puja or Mahanisha Puja, is a festival dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali, celebrated on the new moon day of the Hindu month Kartik especially in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Tripura and Bangladesh.It coincides with the pan-Indian Lakshmi Puja day of Diwali. While the Bengalis, Odias, Assamese and Maithils adore goddess Kali on this day the rest of India worships goddess Lakshmi on Diwali. Mahanisha puja is performed by the Maithili people of Mithila region in India and Nepal.

History
Artisan making an idol of goddess Kali at Kumortuli
The festival of Kali Puja is not an ancient one. Kali Puja was practically unknown before the 18th century; however, a late 17th-century devotional text Kalika mangalkavya –by Balram mentions an annual festival dedicated to Kali. It was introduced in Bengal during the 18th century, by King (Raja) Krishnachandra of Navadvipa. Kali Puja gained popularity in the 19th century, with Krishanachandra’s grandson Ishvarchandra and the Bengali elite; wealthy landowners began patronizing the festival on a grand scale. Along with Durga Puja, Kali Puja is the biggest festival in Bengal and Assam.

Worship
Kali Puja (like Durga Puja) worshippers honour the goddess Kali in their homes in the form of clay sculptures and in pandals (temporary shrines or open pavilions). She is worshipped at night with Tantric rites and mantras. She is prescribed offerings of red hibiscus flowers, animal blood in a skull, sweets, rice and lentils, fish and meat. It is prescribed that a worshipper should meditate throughout the night until dawn. Homes and pandals may also practice rites in the Brahmanical (mainstream Hindu-style, non-Tantric) tradition with ritual dressing of Kali in her form as Adya Shakti Kali and no animals are sacrificed. She is offered food and sweets made of rice, lentils and fruits. However in Tantric tradition, Animals are ritually sacrificed on Kali Puja day and offered to the goddess.A celebration of Kali Puja in Kolkata and in Guwahati is also held in a large cremation ground where she is believed to dwell.

The pandals also house images of god Shiva - the consort of Kali, Ramakrishna and Bamakhepa- two famous Bengali Kali devotees along with scenes from mythology of Kali and her various forms along with Mahavidyas, sometimes considered as the "ten Kalis." The Mahavidyas is a group of ten Tantric goddesses headed by Kali.People visit these pandals throughout the night. Kali Puja is also the time for magic shows and theatre, fireworks. Recent custom has incorporated wine consumption.

In the Kalighat Temple in Kolkata and in Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Kali is worshipped as Lakshmi on this day so as to reflect an essence of Vaishnava Haldars on Kali worship. Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped in her three forms, Maha Lakshmi, Maha Kali and Maha Saraswati on this day.The temple is visited by thousands of devotees who offer animal sacrifices to the goddess. Another famous temple dedicated to Kali in Kolkata is Dakshineswar Kali Temple. The famous Kali devotee Ramakrishna was a priest at this temple. The celebrations have changed little from his time.

Other celebrations
A Kali Puja pandal with a replica of the Kalighat Kali Temple icon.
A child bursting firecracker in Bengal during Kali Puja

Although the widely popular annual Kali Puja celebration, also known as the Dipanwita Kali Puja, is celebrated on the new moon day of the month of Kartika, Kali is also worshipped in other new moon days too. Two other major Kali Puja observations are Ratanti Kali Puja and Phalaharini Kali Puja. Ratanti puja is celebrated on Magha Krishna Chaturdashi and Phalaharini puja is celebrated on Jyeshta Amavashya of Bengali calendar. The Phalaharini Kali Puja is specially important in the life of the saint Ramakrishna and his wife Sarada Devi, since on this day in 1872, Ramakrishna worshipped Sarada Devi as the goddess Shodashi. In many Bengali and Assamese households, Kali is worshipped daily

Lakshmi or Laxmi, is the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity.She is the wife and shakti (energy) of Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism and the Supreme Being in the Vaishnavism Tradition.With Parvati and Saraswati, she forms Tridevi, the holy trinity. Lakshmi is also an important deity in Jainism and found in Jain temples. Lakshmi has also been a goddess of abundance and fortune for Buddhists, and was represented on the oldest surviving stupas and cave temples of Buddhism. In Buddhist sects of Tibet, Nepal and southeast Asia, goddess Vasudhara mirrors the characteristics and attributes of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi with minor iconographic differences. Many people have names which means goddess Lakshmi, like Nandika, Aarna , Padmavati and Shreya.
Lakshmi is also called Sri or Thirumagal because she is endowed with six auspicious and divine qualities, or gunas, and is the divine strength of Vishnu. In Hindu religion, she was born from the churning of the primordial ocean (Samudra manthan) and she chose Vishnu as her eternal consort. When Vishnu descended on the Earth as the avatars Rama and Krishna, Lakshmi descended as his respective consort.In the ancient scriptures of India, all women are declared to be embodiments of Lakshmi. The marriage and relationship between Lakshmi and Vishnu as wife and husband is the paradigm for rituals and ceremonies for the bride and groom in Hindu weddings.Lakshmi is considered another aspect of the same supreme goddess principle in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism.

Lakshmi is depicted in Indian art as an elegantly dressed, prosperity-showering golden-coloured woman with an owl as her vehicle, signifying the importance of economic activity in maintenance of life, her ability to move, work and prevail in confusing darkness. She typically stands or sits like a yogin on a lotus pedestal and holds lotus in her hand, a symbolism for fortune, self-knowledge and spiritual liberation. Her iconography shows her with four hands, which represent the four goals of human life considered important to the Hindu way of life: dharma, kāma, artha, and moksha. She is often depicted as part of the trinity (Tridevi) consisting of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati.

Archaeological discoveries and ancient coins suggest the recognition and reverence for Lakshmi by the 1st millennium BCE. Lakshmi's iconography and statues have also been found in Hindu temples throughout southeast Asia, estimated to be from the second half of the 1st millennium CE. The festivals of Diwali and Sharad Purnima (Kojagiri Purnima) are celebrated in her honor.

Durga Ashtami or Maha Ashtami is one of the most auspicious days of ten days long Durga Puja Festival. In India fasting is undertaken by many people on this holy occasion. This day is also known for 'Astra Puja'(Worshiping Weapons) as on this day the weapons of goddess Durga are worshiped. The day is also known as Vira Ashtami as there are seen to use arms or martial arts on this day.
Plot                                          
The eighth day of Navratri or Durga Puja celebrations is known as Durgashtami, or Durga Ashtami. It is also known as Mahashtami and is one of the most auspicious day according to Hinduism. It falls on the Ashtami tithi of Chaitra month according to the Hindu calendar.
It is believed in some regions, the Goddess Kali appeared on this day from the forehead of Mother Durga and annihilated Chanda, Munda, and Rakthabija (the demons who were associates of Mahishasura). The 64 Yoginis and Ashta Nayikas (the eight consorts of Goddess Durga) are worshiped during the Durga Puja rituals on Mahashtami. The Ashta Nayikas, also known as Eight Shaktis, are interpreted differently in different regions of India. But ultimately, all the eight goddesses are incarnations of Shakti. They are the same powerful Divine Feminine, representing different energies.

The Ashta Nayikas worshiped during Durga Puja are Brahmani, Maheswari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Narasinghi, Indrani and Chamunda.
Tradition
A tradition associated with Durga Ashtami originated in North India is to honor the kanjaks in the home. A group of young, unmarried girls (a group of five or seven) are invited into the home to honor them. The tradition is based on the belief that each of these young girls( kanjaks ), represents the shakti (energy) of Durga on Earth. The group of girls are welcomed by washing their feet (a common ceremonial in India to welcome someone), welcoming them into the home, and then the rituals are done as Alati and Puja. After the rituals the girls are fed sweets and foods and honored with small gifts.

Why we celebrate Durga Ashtami

Durga Ashtami is the eight day of the Navratri and Durga Puja celebrations that take place in India every year and celebrated with religious fervour. Durga Ashtami is also known as Mahashtami and is believed to be one of the crucial days of Durga Puja. Many people observe fast for seven regular days.
Followers worship the weapons of Maa Durga on this day which is also known as Astra Puja. The day is also known as Virashtami as there are displays using arms or martial arts. It is one of the most important day for worshippers.
There is also a belief that Goddess Kali appeared from the forehead of Durga on this day to annihilate Chanda and Munda and Rakthabija. During the Durga Puja rituals on Mahashtami day the 64 Yoginis and Ashtanayikas - the eight consorts - of Durga are also worshipped.
The eight consorts of Durga, also known as Eight Shaktis, are interpreted differently in different regions of India. But ultimately all the eight goddesses are incarnations of Shakti with different aims. Sometimes they are also an attempt to give form to a particular aspect of Shakti.

The Ashtanayikas that are worshipped during Durga Puja are Brahmani, Maheswari, Kameswari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Narasinghi, Indrani and Chamunda.

Many other minor deities including many attendants and guards of Durga are worshipped on this day.


Durga devotees observe fast on Durga Ashtami. Both men and women observe the fast. Many temples perform special pujas on the day and are visited by millions of devotees.

Durga Ashtami ends with Sandhi puja, which overlaps into the next day which is also known as Mahanavami day.

• * Fried or boiled potatoes
• * Kadhi prepared with kuttu atta and sea salt
• * Aloo tikki
• * Banana chips
• * Makhane ki sabzi
• * Fruits and fruit juices
• * Sabudana kheer
• * Curd
• * Lassi
• * Kuttu atta roti with kaddu sabzi or aloo sabzi

Durga Puja, also called Durgotsava, is an annual Hindu festival in the Indian subcontinent that reveres the goddess Durga.It is particularly popular in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Tripura, Bangladesh and the diaspora from this region, and also in Nepal where it is called Dashain. The festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Ashvin, typically September or October of the Gregorian calendar, and is a multi-day festival that features elaborate temple and stage decorations (pandals), scripture recitation, performance arts, revelry, and processions. It is a major festival in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism across India and Shakta Hindu diaspora.
                                               
Durga Puja festival marks the battle of goddess Durga with the shape-shifting, deceptive and powerful buffalo demon Mahishasura, and her emerging victorious. Thus, the festival epitomises the victory of good over evil, but it also is in part a harvest festival that marks the goddess as the motherly power behind all of life and creation. The Durga Puja festival dates coincide with Vijayadashami (Dussehra) observed by other traditions of Hinduism, where the Ram Lila is enacted — the victory of Rama is marked and effigies of demon Ravana are burnt instead.

The primary goddess revered during Durga Puja is Durga, but her stage and celebrations feature other major deities of Hinduism such as goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth, prosperity), Saraswati (goddess of knowledge and music), Ganesha (god of good beginnings) and Kartikeya (god of war). The latter two are considered to be children of Durga (Parvati). The Hindu god Shiva, as Durga's husband, is also revered during this festival. The festival begins on the first day with Mahalaya, marking Durga's advent in her battle against evil. Starting with the sixth day (Sasthi), the goddess is welcomed, festive Durga worship and celebrations begin in elaborately decorated temples and pandals hosting the statues. Lakshmi and Saraswati are revered on the following days. The festival ends of the tenth day of Vijaya Dashami, when with drum beats of music and chants, Shakta Hindu communities start a procession carrying the colorful clay statues to a river or ocean and immerse them, as a form of goodbye and her return to divine cosmos and Mount Kailash.

The festival is an old tradition of Hinduism, though it is unclear how and in which century the festival began. Surviving manuscripts from the 14th century provide guidelines for Durga puja, while historical records suggest royalty and wealthy families were sponsoring major Durga Puja public festivities since at least the 16th century.[12] The prominence of Durga Puja increased during the British Raj in its provinces of Bengal and Assam. Durga Puja is a ten-day festival, of which the last five are typically special and an annual holiday in regions such as West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Tripura where it is particularly popular. In the contemporary era, the importance of Durga Puja is as much as a social festival as a religious one wherever it is observed.