This is my response to the Culture Share Contest #2 - Holidays around the World

Living in 2 Countries has it's own advantages. While my origin is India, but for a long time now I have been living in Oman and quite settled in this place calling it a second home. Today I will share about how different are Holidays in both these Countries but nevertheless the celebration spirit is the same.

To start with India, one will see that all round the year there is some or the other festival that comes up and celebrations keep happening. But the most important holidays that we look forward to is Diwali. As per the Hindu calendar the Date of this festival keeps changing every year, but in general it falls either in the month of Oct or Nov. This year Diwali is on November 14th. Around this day there are many other auspicious days that are also celebrated. We do not have long holidays from work.

A week before celebrations start for almost every household. There are different prayer ceremonies and rituals that happen during this time. Celebrations are done with bursting of fire crackers. Almost every household has lamps, Diyas, Candles litted up at their door step. We also do some decorations at home and make the traditional Rangoli at the home entrance. There are some traditional Indian sweets and snacks that is made at home and they are all Diwali special. Not everyone makes it, majorly the Hindus make it and then they distribute it in their neighborhood. I remember as kids I used to wait for someone to send these sweets at home. I am not a Hindu so at my place we never made any special sweets but from our neighborhood we used to get ample of it. But yes we used to celebrate it other ways like decorating the home, making Rangoli, bursting crackers.

My last year Diwali celebration picture with Hubby

Like all other festivals, family meet up each other. It is either a 1 day or a 2 days holiday in offices but the schools have 2 to 3 weeks holidays. So most people plan their vacation travels around this time immediately after the Diwali day or before. Mostly during the Diwali days and few days before that people prefer to be at home with families and celebrate.

A few days before Diwali, you will see the whole city lit up with lights like how you would see around Christmas times in the western countries. The whole of India looks bright and colorful during this time. In offices we have traditional celebrations in different ways. It is a time of joy and cheer.

This was our last year Diwali Celebration, we were in Muscat but nevertheless we had celebrations with close friends.

This is the Rangoli that I had made, this year also I will do it, I enjoy a lot making these at the door entrance and then light up candles.

I also like to set up a special Altar during this time as the energies are high and good vibes around so I like to do some manifestations in this time.

This holiday is a time of Fun, Laughter, Joy and Good vibes.
But as I mentioned in the beginning in India we have many festivals and holidays, so this is not the only one. The other important ones are the Ganesh Chathurthi, where in it's not a holiday time but it is a 11 day celebration of setting up a Ganesh idol at home and then there are a lot of rituals and ceremonies for the 11 days.

Our last year Ganesh Chathurthi celebration. Being away from home we celebrate all our festivals and holidays with our friends, but for this one my Son and his Girlfriend make it a point to visit us and we celebrate it together.

Lord Ganesha is known as the Lord of intelligence and awareness, which is why he's called the vighna-harta, the remover of obstacles. When we are able to reach the state of awareness and center ourselves obstacles leave our path.

For all the festivals I like to do all the decorations and set up myself and then we have guests just pouring in. They are busy days but totally filled with fun and laughter.

The other festival that we Indians love and enjoy is Holi. Also called the festival of colors.
Again I never miss any be it wherever I am. Imagine life without colors, how dull it would be, they add so much of color, zeal and joyfulness to life.

So we are here celebrating Holi

I can go on and on with them, so let me stop here and share something with you all on Oman.
Oman is a Islamic Country, so Eid is the main Holiday here.
There are 2 types of Eid, one is Eid-al-Fitr and the other Eid-al-Adha. I will not go in depth on the explanation of the 2. Eid-al-Fitr is the one which is celebrated after the 30 days of fasting. The 2nd one Eid-al-Adha is called the short Eid and also known as the “Festival of Sacrifice”

Basically both the Eids have their own significance. In this Country for both the Eids we normally have a week long holiday or a minimum of 5 days. Our Muslim friends here send sweets. I personally do not have any special celebrations for Eid and since we get long holidays in this time I travel back to India.

The local people here in Oman celebrate Eid almost the same way like we do Diwali but in their own traditional way. They do not burst crackers, or light Diyas and make Rangoli but they do light up their houses with colorful lights, make different sweets and spend time with their families.

So this is how the major Indian and Oman festivals are celebrated.
More or less I believe around the world festival celebration is almost the same. It is about spending time with family and bringing cheer to your home and lives.

I hope you all enjoyed this post and had a good glimpse.

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