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Lolark Shasthi is a festival celebrated near the Tulsi Ghat in Varanasi, India. It falls during the monsoon season, on the sixth day of the bright half of the month of Bhadrapada (usually in September). [1]
Dedicated to Surya, the Sun God, Varanasi will witness the holy dip taken by thousands of female devotees in the ancient stepwell pond of Lolark Kund (a sacred water body) and mark the festival of Lolarak. Couples from Varanasi and its neighbouring villages will perform religious rituals and pray to Lord Lolark Aditya that they be blessed with a child. Devotees will leave their clothes and a fruit or a vegetable (from which they pledge to abstain thereafter) in the kund after taking a holy dip in the Lolark kund. Many do so with hopes for a male child/heir or offspring. As thousands come to bathe in the holy waters of the Lolark kund at sun rise, a makeshift colourful bazaar mushrooms around the kund. Families cook puris on open camp fires all around the ancient kund. Steps lead down to the Kund from three sides. On the fourth side, the kund takes the shape of an enlonged, arched well, pointing into the direction of the rising sun (Ganges). Some devotees also throw considerable amounts of gold jewellery into the pond, which may later be harvested and distributed amongst the Mahant and Brahmins in order to finance the event and its clean-up afterwards.
Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half of the lunar month of Phalguna. The festival commemorates the wedding of Shiva and Parvati, and the occasion that Shiva performs his divine dance, called the Tandava.
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Parikrama or Pradakshina is clockwise circumambulation of sacred entities, and the path along which this is performed, as practiced in the Indic religions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. In Buddhism, it refers only to the path along which this is performed. In Indic religions, the parikrama is typically done after completion of traditional worship and after paying homage to the deity. Parikrama must be done with dhyāna.
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In Hinduism, the yatra (pilgrimage) to the tirthas has special significance for earning the punya needed to attain the moksha (salvation) by performing the darśana, the parikrama (circumambulation), the yajna, the Dhyana, the puja (worship), the prarthana, the dakshina, the seva, the bhandara, etc. These sacred places are usually located on the banks of sacred waters, such as sacred rivers or their tributaries, the kundas, the ghats, or the stepwells, or the temple tanks.
The Govardhana Shila is a rock from the Govardhana Hill in Braj, Uttar Pradesh, India. Govardhan Hill holds a unique position in Hindu scriptures related to Krishna, the land called Braj where He was born. Known as Govardhan or Giriraj and being the sacred centre of Braj, it is identified as a natural form of Krishna. Indian art overwhelmingly prefers the iconic image, but some aniconism does occur in folk worship, early Buddhism, Shiva's Banalinga, and Vishnu's Shaligrama). They have solar significance, and their use in worship predates the Hindu period in India. The stone is usually brown in colour.
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Damodar Kund(Gujarati: દામોદર કુંડ), located at the foothills of Girnar hills, near Junagadh in the Indian state of Gujarat, is considered a sacred lake as per Hindu beliefs.
Parshuram Kund is a Hindu pilgrimage site in the Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh. The Kund originally was established by the pilgrims coming from Assam in the 1970s and was promoted as a tourist place. It is situated on the Brahmaputra plateau in the lower reaches of the Lohit River and about 48 km from Tezu in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Dedicated to the sage Parashurama, the popular site attracts pilgrims from Nepal, from across India,including the nearby states of Manipur and Assam. Over 70,000 devotees and sadhus take a holy dip in its water each year on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, in the month of January.
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Durga Mandir, also known as Durga Kund Mandir and Durga Temple, is one of the most famous temples in the holy city of Varanasi. This temple has great religious importance in Hinduism and is dedicated to Durga. Durga Mandir was constructed in 18th century by Rani Bhabani of Natore.
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Ganga Dussehra, also known as Gangavataran, is a Hindu festival celebrating the avatarana (descent) of the Ganges. It is believed by Hindus that the holy river Ganges descended from heaven to earth on this day. Ganga Dussehra takes place on Dashami of the waxing moon of the Hindu calendar month Jyeshtha. The festival celebration lasts ten days, including the nine days preceding this holy day.
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