7 WONDERS OF INDIA: PURI BEACH FESTIVAL

Every year one of the most awaited festivals of the country (India) is the Puri Beach Festival. We can understand from the name of the festival itself that it is celebrated on the mystic beach of Puri. And the name of the beach is Swargadwara(Orissa).This festival is inspired from the beach festival of Goa. If you want to experience the world famous, art and culture of Orissa then Puri beach festival is the place to be. Once here you can enjoy the interaction with local people of Orissa and get closer to the real essence of this very state.


HISTORY OF THE FESTIVAL
In the year 1993(29thOctober), the very first Puri Beach Festival was inaugurated by two great personalities, Late Sri Biju Pattnaik and Gulam Nabi Ajad. Since then this festival has proved to be a great success as it is known to be the most popular festival of Orissa where tourists gather not only from India but abroad as well.

WHEN IS IT CELEBRATED
The Puri Beach Festival is a five day festival which is celebrated every year in the month of November. And this year it is scheduled to be from 23rd to 27th of November. Each year Hotel and Restaurant Association of Orissa (HRAO) are the organizers of the festival. While the Government of India, the Department of Tourism and Development Commission of Handicrafts are the co-sponsors of this world famous festival.   

HOW IS PURI BEACH FESTIVAL CELEBRATED?

The Puri Beach Festival offers world class entertainment to every age group as one can find varieties of cultural performances, handicrafts, Fashion shows, rock concerts, Beach Parties, food festivals, DJs and sports competitions. Artists who have made their name around the world from the country (India) perform here for increasing the entertainment factor of the festival. You can enjoy different dance forms being performed in the festival such as classical dance, folk dance, contemporary dance, lyrical dance etc. If you want more of local dance forms of Orissa then you can sit back and watch the spectacular Odissi, Lambadi and Lepcha performances. If you are a sports lover then you are not going to be left behind in being entertained in the festival as there are various sports competitions held such as beach volley ball, Kabadi, Malkhab etc. You can also visit the Handloom and Handicrafts exhibition which will be held everyday and here for sure you will be fascinated by the creativity. It will not be wrong if we describe the festival to be a blend of art-dance-music-sports.

The Puri Beach Festival is most famous for the “Sand Art” and every year visitors mainly visit with the motive to witness this exquisite art form. It is a new concept which is introduced and is proved to be a huge success for the festival. The Sand Art is a theme and concept based activity where carvings are made out of sand. For instance in one year the theme shall be ancient monumental structures and the other year it shall be something else and these themes are portrayed in an artistic manner by the artists.

To sum up, the Puri beach festival is a must to visit as it will transform you to a different world and will prove to be a one of a kind holiday trip.

The Scary As Well As Entertaining Festival of Halloween

Halloween is celebrated as a holiday which is a blend of remnants of traditional harvest festival celebrations with customs that extraordinary such as costume wearing, trick-or-treating, playing pranks on others and attractive images based on the change of the seasons, death, and the superstition.

Till recent times it was considered as a children's holiday, but in past few recent activities related to this occasion like costume parties, themed decorations, and even trick-or-treating have grown very much popular among the adults as well, which makes the Halloween a celebration for all the ages.

According to legends it is said to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people used to light bonfires and wear costumes to scare off bad spirits. During the 18th century, Pope Gregory III chose November 1st as a time to honour all saints and martyrs. The day was known as All Saints’ Day which included some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before this day was known as All Hallows’ Eve, which later came to be known as Halloween. As time passed by, Halloween evolved into a secular holiday.

The evolvement of artifacts and symbols related with Halloween formed with time. Jack-o-lanterns are generally carried by the people in order to frighten the ghosts. The most significant symbol of Halloween is the native pumpkins used by the North Americans. These much softer and much larger, which makes it easier to carve.

The present day  imagery of Halloween are derived from various sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula) and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy). Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks and scarecrows, are also common imageries of Halloween. The homes of the people are generally decorated with these symbols during Halloween. The general themes of Halloween imagery involves death, evil, mysterious and mythical monsters. The traditional colours related to this event are black, orange and even purple at times.

Trick-or-treating and dressing
Trick-or-treating is a traditional event of Halloween celebrated by the children. During this event children go to houses while wearing peculiar and scary costumes, asking for treats like candy or even money. As the name of the event, “Trick or treat", the word "trick" here, is referred to threat, which is related to mischief performed on the people who do not offer any treat. 

Costumes
Halloween costumes play a significant role in celebrating the event.  These costumes are basically related to superstitious figures like monsters, ghosts, witches and devils. Over time, the costume worn during this time has extended to famous as well as fiction characters and also of celebrities.

Games
There are several games that are played during the Halloween parties. One of the common games is dunking, in which apples are left to float in a tub or a large basin of water and the players must use their teeth to remove the apples form the tub or basin. Another common game played during this event is the hanging of syrup-coated scones by strings and the participants must eat these scones without using their hands while they remain hanging by the strings. There are several types of games played during the parties of Halloween; some of which are very scary.

Countries celebrating the Halloween
 Halloween was first originated in Ireland but this fanciful event is very much popular in United States and many other countries like Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, England, France, Germany and many other countries across the globe.

Time
The Halloween festival is celebrated on October 31 and, the parties and trick or treating related to this event is initiated later during the evening time.