Festival Celebrations: Lohri, Basaki, Holi, Dhushera, Diwali, Rahki, Tikka (Bhai Dhooj)
Valentin Day, Halloween, Christmas Celebrations:
Lodri Celebrations in Delhi – 13th, 2018.
Lohri, the most fervently celebrating festival of punjab, is a furry of activities planned at various places in Dehli, including five star hotels. To make it extra special, hotels invites you to join in high energy celebrations with bonfire and dhol in an alfresco area, followed by an authentic culinary journey of Punjab at 'The Great Kabab Factory', including the most celebrated dishes from Punjab.
Lohri festival – 201 8 - Festival Warmth celebrate it with a chic spin.
The folk music associated with the festival goes much beyond the ‘pop’, It is Sundar Mundariye – a fun folk ballad about a beautiful girl and Dulla Bhatti- a Lohri legend , a man associated with helping the poor and his love heroics. Indulge in tunes of folk singer like Minu Bakshior veterans like Gurdas Maan, who do contemporary renditions of traditional songs.
From secretly licking off that last grain of sweetened, cinnamon-infused rice to basking in the warmth of the grand bonfire as you try and cling to the folk notes your parents try to hit- the festival of Lohri is a time of pure indulgence.
Celebrated each year on January 13th, to mark the winter solstice and commemorate the traditional onset of the harvest season in Punjab, the festival is full of sights and flavored fervor of jiggery high relatives and endearing rituals.
Partake with delicious gaity with your family by chanting along to ‘ishvar aa, dalidar ja, dalidar di jaar chulle paa’ (evoking Gods to banish the dismal cold) and singing about the heroics of the legend of Dulla Bhatti. Here’s your quick guideto celebrating Lohri with homebound love.
Besides folk music, to have some warm valor to combat the chill, we need some sugar in our lives. Some special sweets and drinks for the festival.
There’s a quick and easy way to add sweetness to the celebration by cooking some fresh, homemade chikki or patti.
Aandarsa (Lohri Sweet)
In Punjab this sweet is prepared from rice and is only prepared during Lohri festival. Chikki or Patti: All you need is a concoction of dry fruits, gud or jiggery, and a helping of ghee. Start with melting a rough brick of jiggery in ghee till it melts and caramelizes.
In a pan, add ghee and roast peanuts, sesame seeds and chopped cashews.
Now, pour the gurd into the dry fruit, mix.
In a separate greased mold, pour the final mixture and let it settle.
Do not refrigerate. Once the mix cools, you’ll have patti ready.
Modern Lodri Sweets:
Jaggery Nuts Halwa::Ingredients: 100gms ghee, ¾ cup whole wheat flour, 2 cups water, 1 cup jaggery, 4 cardamom pods (powdered)
Method: Add flour to pre-heated ghee and roast it on low heat till it turns golden brown.
Add jaggery, water and heat till jaggery is dissolved. Boil and keep stirring till the mixture turns smooth. Add cardamom powder, mix well, top with nuts, chocolate chips and serve warm.
Quick Rewri Cheesecake:
Ingredients – You need milk, sugar, processed cheese, a handful of rewris, gelatin and fresh cream.
Mix the ingredients, bring to a boil, put in a bowl and set in the chiller for 15minutes. It’s going to be a Lohri relish!
Jaggery Punch:
Ingredients: 1 and ½ Cup orange juice, ¼ orange peel, 1 cup jiggery, 1 and ½ cup sweet lime juice, 2tbsp lemon juice, 4 strands of lemon grass
Method: place orange skin and lemon glass in a container. Add 1 cup hot water, cover it and set it aside for ten minutes.
Melt jiggery, and allow the mixture to cool. Strain and add the jaggery to the container. Mix orange, lemon and sweet lime juices. Pour it in a martini glass and serve.
Lohri Festival Sweets:
The traditional sweets of this festival are:
Gajjak – (this can be of gur or white sugar with sesame seeds)
Rewari - small sugar or gur dices or balls with sesame seeds.
Kheil – Puffed rice with gur.
Bhugga; Pinnis; Groundnut shelled; Sugar cane sticks; Popcorn; Marunda
Holi - The festival of Colors:-
Holi festival colors comes after Basant.
This is celebrated by setting huge piles of wood to burn 'Holika' (the evil aunt who wanted to burn ‘Prahlad’, her nephew, but Prahlad was spared and instead “Holika” was burned), thus the celebrations for the victory of Good over Evil.
It is a festival of colors and love- a day to forget all differences and get together.
Hair & Skin Care for Holi Chemical and metallic colors are health hazards, especially
harmful to Skin and Hair. Without precautions negative health effects like severe skin rashes, allergies, dry brittle hair and eye injury are some of them.
Children Playing with Colors
Tips for safe Holi Cerebrations
Holi – 2016:
Get Glowing this Holi:
Holi Bloom- Holi users in Vasant - the season of soring. As the season’s first flowers appear, the visual treat celebrates fertility and the regenerative power of nature.
The passion: Recklessness and liberation mark the change from a brooding winter to bright sunshine. Vasant is also related to ‘vaasna’ or passion. Kamadeva, or god of love, personifies spring.
The Legend: Demon king Hiranyakashyap hated his son, Prahalad, for his dedication to Lord Vishnu.
He asked Holika, his sister, to murder Prahalad. She was immune to fire. But when she took Prahalad and set on a pyle, Lord Vishnu reduced only her to ashes. Then Lord Vishnu appeared in Narasimha avatar and killed Hiranyakashyap, bringing peace to the kingdom.
Holi is cerebrated throughout India. There’s more to Holi than seasons and mythological legends, particularly in a pluralistic society like India’s. In western UP, Holi is celebrated with women beating men with Lathis - its called lathmar Holi. Similarly, on this day, Brahmin elders and village headmen are hounded and made the butt of social ridicule and jokes.
True spirit: The freedom of the spirit of Vasant ought not to be over in a day; for it to have deeper meaning, it must endure. The colors of Holi aren’t just meant to lighten up our spirit but also act as a soul curry that nourishes and sustains us within.
Foreign Account: American anthropologist and Indologist Mckim Marriott recorded his account of Holi in Krishangarhi: ‘Under the tutelage of Krishna, each person plays and, for the moment, may experience the role of the opposite, the servile wife acts the domineering husband; the ravisher acts the ravished; the menial acts the master; the enemy acts the friend; the stricture youth acts as the rulers of the republic –each actor playfully takes the role of others in relation to his own usual self. Each may, thereby, learn to play his own routine role afresh, surely with renewed understanding, possibly with greater grace, perhaps with reciprocating love.’
Besides playing colors in Holi, there is festivities with parties and music. Those who play Holi are offered with sweets especially with Guggias.
Hang The Hangover:
No Holi party worth it’s color is complete without alcohol and bhaang on the menu, of course music and food have their own importance.
The over dose of intoxicants can often mar the fun. Try these tips to ensure you can dodge the hangover.
For starters, while heading to a Holi party start your day with a breakfast high on protein followed by a bowl full of raw fruits veggies.
1. Coconut water: Drink a lot of this. It makes you feel hydrated and it packs more potassium than a banana, which is the key nutrient for feeling better after a hangover. It also contains anti-oxidants and electrolytes that are also key components of any hangover treatment.
2. Fruits: Fructose – the sugar in fruit – helps to naturally boost the body’s energy and it increases the rate at which the body gets rid of toxins. Try including apples and bananas as they help in curing the hangover. Banana helps in regaining essential minerals like potassium and provides electrolytes which the body loses.
3. Green tea: Refrain from having tea or coffee when you feel hangover and go for green tea instead. Green tea is packed with antioxidants. It helps you recover fast by flushing out the toxins.
4. Lemon & Honey: Lemon juice is a popular home remedy for hangovers. It is a solution of queasiness, dizziness, and gives relief to all kinds of muscle aches caused due to excessive intake of alcohol. It offers vitamin C which stabilizes your blood sugar levels that tend to fluctuate when one is high. The best trait of lemon is that it makes a gentle medicine that can be taken anytime. On the other hand, fresh lemon juice prepared in hot water with little honey also gives fast relief.
Safety first:
Options- Try using alternatives like organic colors.
Face It: avoid a facial before or immediately after playing Holi, as it removes the protective layer of the skin in this first case and leads to abrasion in the other.
Skin Deep: People suffering from diabetes, thyroid disorders and asthma have dry skin. They are more prone to skin allergies and infections.
Look Out For Trouble: water balloons can cause blunt trauma to the eye. Wear protective glasses.
Ten Hair Care and Skin care tips:
*Cover your body as much as you can so less area is smeared in color and as a result less area to remove color from.
*Try to make your whole body slippery by applying a thick layer of coconut oil or any oil on your body and hair. It is this oily coat which will play a major role in protecting from the immediate effect of harmful chemicals of colors. Also this grease will help to wash off colors easily.
*A day before Holi-day, paint your hands and feet nails with nail polish. Also before going out to play apply a thick layer of Vaseline under your nails, behind your ears and on lips.
The strong chemicals in the colors leave your skin dry, so a thick application of petroleum jelly is recommended.
*It is advisable to play Holi with natural and skin herbal colors or with those made by reputed companies using natural protects.
*Do not wait for the color to react and damage your skin further. In case of any rash or allergy treatment would include taking a non-sedative, anti-allergic tablet.
*Protect your hair from getting damaged by wearing a cap or turban. Try to avoid direct contact of colors with the hair.
*Use lukewarm water to wash off the colors from your face and then apply a mixture of sea salt, glycerin and a few drops of aroma oil which have an anti-bacterial and anti- fungal effect which can prevent the skin from harsh effects of chemicals in the colors.
*Rub lemon edges over your skin to get rid of the color. The natural bleaching agent in lemon helps remove the sturdy strain then wash it off. After washing it off make sure to apply plenty of moisturizer to prevent the skin from dryness.
*Most important thing to keep in mind is not to rub your skin vigorously with soap to wipe the face off colors. Instead, use a cleanser followed with a lot of moisturizer. Strickly avoid bleaching, waxing or facial for a week before and after Holi. This routine is recommended because these procedures leave the skin pores open which can prove to be harmful as the residue of colors can easily seep into these pores and make their way to inner layers of skin.
*If your hair becomes dry, apply oil and sleep overnight. Next day wash it with a mild shampoo. Condition your hair with a rich and deep conditioner and complete your hair wash.
Some more tips 'Take Care of Skin Before and after playing Holi'.
Holi is the festival of colors and leaves some colorful memories for us to cherish. But we are left with messed up skin, spoiled rough hair and may have skin rash.
Take following steps to protect yourself in Holi:
1. Layer your skin with a barrier, like some paraffin cream.
2. Carry a small bag with some wet wipes, a lip balm, sun block and a small towel.
3. Trim your nails properly. Coat your nails with a thick nail lacquer and lastly put petroleum jelly around the cuticles. Advise dermatologists
4. You could also take the bright hues head-on by pre-coloring your hair in the trendiest shades.
5.˜Try fusing mahogany with shades of brown and plum tones”, says Shefali Shetty of beauty Salon.
In addition for safe Holi!
Buy a pair of water goggles and guard your eyes against chemicals.
And put on a plastic cape for head.
Happy Holi -March 2018, to my viewers
Healthy Tips for safe Holi for your Skin and Hair.
Natural colors to play Holi with.
You can make colors using natural products for Red, use red sandalwood,
or Hibiscus flowers. Dry them and make a powder.
For Yellow, mix turmeric with any flour or take yellow-colored flowers, such as marigold. Dry and crush them to make a powder. Also, Turmeric (haldi) can be mixed with gram flour for dry color. Or, add to water, boil, leave overnight and use.
For Brown, use coffee beans or black tea leaves.
For Green use the leaves of Gulmohur tree. or for
Green: Henna powder can be mixed with gram flour (besan)
or maize flour (makki) and used as dry green color.
Some more safe colors: Create Your Own Colors:
Orange: Simmer: Tesu flowers in water and leave overnight.
Strain and use the water to play Holi.
Yellow:
Purple: Boil beetroot in water. Cool and use the water. or, extract
beetroot juice, add a little water and then use it.
Red: peels of red pomegranate (Anaar) when boiled in water gives a red color.
Avoid Hair, skin Damage this Holi:
Foolproof tips to ensure your hair and skin remain un-damage by Holi festivities.
Before Holi:
*First thing you need to do before venturing out for Holi, is to apply sunscreen
with a SPF higher than 20, 20 minutes before stepping out.
These days sunscreens have built-in moisturizers, so you can use it on arms
and other exposed areas as well.
*Apply transparent nail polish or petroleum jelly on your nails as a protective
coating to keep strains off.
*Applying coconut oil or any other oil half an hour before stepping out
can reduce the possibility of hair damage. The oil creates a barrier for your hair,
which also makes it easy to
remove colors later. Also, it’s best to tie your hair up on Holi.
*Don’t forget to apply a thick layer of lip balm as lips are a sensitive area.
This will prevent colors from sticking to lips.
After Holi:
*Real problem of removing colors from your face after Holi, comes.
First rinse your face with plain water and apply a cleansing cream or face lotion.
It is important that all impurities and toxic substances are removed
from your pores. So, it is best to use a cleanser
containing natural ingredients such as tea tree extracts.
*Wash your hair with a good shampoo. Don’t forget to apply conditioner
as your hair needs nourishment after being exposed to damaging colors.
*After playing with colors all day, often in bright sunlight, our eyes tend
to become really stressed. It becomes essential to apply an efficient
under eye cream, full of vitamin E, before ending the day.
This will make you look fresh the next morning and
will clear your dark circles and patches overnight.
Holi cerebrations & Holi Festival sweets.
Effective Rejuvenating Face Packs:
After Holi you need to get your glow back after all that Holi colors. So, get a natural glow with these highly effective rejuvenating face packs
1. Sandalwood Mask: Sandalwood does wonders for your skin It nourishes the skin and gives it a radiant glow and eliminates acne. Rose when used for beauty care makes your skin baby soft.
Ingredients: 3tbsp fresh rose petal paste; 1tsp fresh cream/yogurt and 1tsp sandalwood.
Method: Mix all ingredients to form a smooth paste and apply to skin. Leave it on for 10mts. wash off with cold milk and then with water.
2. Rejuvenating Lotus Pack: Lotus has Vitamin C and is loaded with antioxidants. It gives you an instantly brighter complexion.
Ingredients: stem of 2 lotus flowers, juice of ½ cucumber and 1tsp milk powder
Method: mash the lotus stem and add milk powder, then cucumber juice and mix well. Apply this thin mix with the help of a makeup brush. Leave it on for 10mts and wash off with tap water.
3. Muskmelon anti-tan pack: rich in vitamins K and E, muskmelon keeps your skin radiant and gives it an instant glow.
Ingredients: pulp of 1 muskmelon; 1tsp honey and 1tsp olive oil
Method: Completely cool the pulp of the melon then add honey and olive oil to it. Mix well and apply for 20mts. wash off with cold water. You can add a little rose water if you have oily skin.
4. Crushed Wild Rose Pack: the ancient Greeks and Romans used rose petals to perfume their baths and beautify their skin. Rose calms and detoxifies your skin of polluting agents.
Ingredients: Juice of rose petals from 2 roses; 1 drop of glycerin; 1tsp rose water and 1tsp cream of milk
Method: use a mortar to grind the rose petals. Then add glycerin and rose water. Mix well. Refrigerate for 10mts. Add cream of milk just before applying. Leave on for 20mts. Then wash with cold water. This pack helps you gain a natural glow and will soothe your skin of any dryness caused by the chemicals in the color.