Tweet (CHAKRA) Losar, also known as Tibetan New Year is celebrated mainly by Tibetans for fifteen days. The main celebrations take place on the 1st 3 days. On the 1st day, a drink called changkol is made from chhang (similar to beer). The 2nd day of Losar is known as King’s Losar (gyalpo losar). Losar is [...]

Tweet (CHAKRA) On February 20th, 2012 millions of Hinduism followers around the world celebrated a festival dedicated to Lord Shiva called Maha Shivaratri (Sivarathri) Maha Shivaratri means “The Night of Shiva”. The religious ceremonies mainly occur during night. This is a celebration observed in honor of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was married to Parvati on this day. This [...]

Tweet Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai and is dedicated to Lord Murugan (the son of Shiva and Parvati) or Kartikeya. It is celebrated not only in countries where the Tamil community constitutes a majority, but also in countries where [...]

Tweet (CHAKRA) Sangha Day, also called Magha Puja Day, is one of the most holiest days on the Theravada Buddhist calendar and is celebrated across many nations, but most common in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. In Thailand it is marked with Buddhist Monks chanting, candle processions around the temple (Wat), and presentation of gifts of [...]

Tweet Happy Chinese & Buddhist new year to all our readers. New Year occurs on different days in different countries following Buddhism. In Mahayan countries, New Year celebrations starts on the first full moon day in January. These countries celebrate the day according to their ethnic background and culture. People of China, Korea and Vietnam celebrate it [...]

Tweet (CHAKRA) Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti is a special day in Sikhism and is celebrated by Sikhs around the globe. This year in 2012, Guru Gobind Singh jayanti falls on January 5th. Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti is the birthday of their 10th and last guru and this day witnesses’ large processions and special prayer gatherings at [...]

Tweet (CHAKRA) The year of 2011 was full of big events, stories and deaths, but can be summed up in 3 themes. The themes that our readers were most interested in and hungry for were around 1. the political corruption cases around the Congress government and Rahul/Sonia Gandhi 2. the mistreatment of Hindus in Pakistan  [...]

Tweet (CHAKRA) Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur is a religious observance for the Sikhism followers. Sikhism followers remember the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur on November 24. He was beheaded as he refused to be forced to accept Islam as his religion and now stands as an example of freedom of choosing each one’s religion. [...]

Tweet Lhabab Duchen is one of the four Buddhism festivals commemorating four events in the life of the Lord Buddha, followed in  Tibetan traditions.  Lhabab Düchen occurs on the 22nd day of the 9th month on a Tibetan calendar. This is a Buddhist festival celebrated to observe the descent of Buddha from heaven back to [...]

Tweet This is last day of Diwali celebration for members of the Jain community. This festival in Jainism is celebrated on the fifth day of the month of Kartik. It is also known as ‘Saubhagya Pachami’ and as the ‘Labha Panchami’. The Kayatsarga of 51 Logassa, 51 Swastikas, 51 Khamasanas and the Jap Pad of ‘Namo [...]