Dr Yatendra Sharma was born in a Sanatana Dharma Hindu family having Sanskar of Shri Ramanandi Sampraday. He developed an interest in reading, listening, and narrating religious scriptures since his childhood. He is having a Master's degree from AMU Aligarh and a PhD in Chemical Technology from the Technical University of Graz, Austria. He is serving the mining and mineral industry of Australia for more than three decades. In 2016, he founded a religious organisation 'Shri Ram Katha Sansthan' based on the teachings of Shri Ramanandi Sampraday. He has authored and published more than 30 books/booklets on Sanatana Dharma.
Hindu festivals have significant importance in the lives of the followers of Sanatana Dharma. These festivals preserve Sanatana culture and refresh joyfully the mood of the participants from the routine monotonous daily lives. The religious ceremonies performed during Hindu festivals purify the soul, avert malicious influences and stimulate the vital powers of Nature. The festival is called 'Utsav' in Sanskrit, which is derived from 'Ud-Soo-Up' (उद्-सू-अप्) meaning joyous occasion for purifying the soul.
Each festivity is usually the combination of religious activities, such as prayers to Gods or Goddesses, followed by processions, music and dances, feeding the poor etc. Such religious and pleasure activities are enjoyed along with the whole community members, thus creating harmony among the various sects of the community. The Hindu festivals have been dedicated in whole or in part to the elimination of caste discrimination. These are guided by devotional (bhakti) sentiments. A major theme of bhakti movement throughout India has been to eradicate the evil social systems and to provide a platform for the etiquette of ritual purity to the souls.
There are numerous Hindu festivals, some celebrated in only some communities and some only in particular regional areas. There are 13 major Hindu festivals which are celebrated throughout India in all the communities, namely, Makara Sankranti, Maha Shiva Ratri, Holi, Shri Rama Navami, Maa Sita Navami, Guru Purnima, Onam, Raksha Bandhan, Krishna Janmashtami, Navaratri, Dussehra, Deepavali and Govardhan Puja. Though one may find book/books or literature in public domain specifying one reason or importance of individual festival, but there appears to be no one book collectively describing the reasons and importance of a given festival. Besides, every major Hindu festival has several reasons to celebrate based on Shruti/ religious scriptures. There appears to be no single book describing all the possible reasons to celebrate a given festival. This book has been authored with an aim to provide all the possible reasons to celebrate a given Hindu festival. Lots of efforts and hundreds of man hours have been invested by the author to search all the possible Sanatana scriptures to find various reasons for the given Hindu festivals. The author believes that this book will serve as an authentic source of information for the community to know the exact reasons of celebrating various Hindu festivities.
The sources of information of Pauranik Kathaen (legendary stories) describing several reasons of celebrating each and every Hindu festival in this book are various Sanatana Dharma scriptures including Shri Vishnu Purana, Shri Vamana Purana, Shri Brahma Purana, Shri Shiva Purana, Shrimad Bhagavatam, Samhitas of Maharshi Gautam, Maharshi Vashisth, Maharshi Shrangi, Maharshi Bhardvaj, Shri Valmiki Ramayana, Shri Ram Charit Manas, Shri Adbhut Ramayana, Upanishads, and various regional folk stories. In addition, various information is also provided by different Sampradayas of Sanatana Dharma.
Our sincere thanks to numerous friends who helped us in collecting all the data to author this book. Special thanks to Bhai Shri Kaushal Kant Shukla and Bhai Shri Sunil Garg for helping us in various ways.
Please enjoy reading and get the blessings of Gods and Goddesses.
Vedas (1122)
Upanishads (473)
Puranas (607)
Ramayana (717)
Mahabharata (332)
Dharmasastras (155)
Goddess (480)
Bhakti (239)
Saints (1387)
Gods (1246)
Shiva (353)
Journal (162)
Fiction (53)
Vedanta (347)
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