Wednesday, October 28, 2009

CHHATH PUJA CELEBRATIONS AT DELHI

Dear friends,
Here is a report by Indraneel Sen which throws light on Chhath Puja Celebrations in Delhi.
---Dr. Pankaj Sharma
Chhath is an ancient Hindu festival dedicated to Lord Surya.This festival is uniquely popular in Bihar and Jharkhand. It is celebrated as gratitude to the sun for providing the necessities of life on earth and also for fulfilling particular wishes. Celebrations were in full swing here at Delhi. A big number of people celebrated this festival with pomp and zeal. The banks of the Yamuna were the centre of attraction. Devotees flocked in large numbers for offering evening and the morning pujas. Keeping aside age differences, all the participants of this festival were at their full peak of enjoyment.
This four-day festival commences with the worshipper cooking traditional vegetarian food and offering it to the sun god. This day is called Naha- Kha (literally Bathe and eat).The worshipper goes through one meal on this day. On the second day, a special ritual, called Kharna, is performed in the evening after Sun sets down. On this day also, the worshiper takes only one meal from the offerings (Prasad) cooked to the Sun God. Friends and relatives are invited to the household on this day to share the Prasad of the ritual. From this day onwards, for the next 36 hours, the worshiper goes on a fast without water. The third day is spent preparing the Prasad at home. In the evening the devotees go to a river’s bank or pond where the Prasad is offered to the setting sun. On the final day of this festival all the devotees go to a river for offering Prasad to the rising sun. After that the devotees break their fast and Prasad is shared with all the people around.
(Report and Photographs by-Indraneel Sen, New Delhi)



















Sunday, October 11, 2009

Dear Friends,
Born on 29th December-1960, Akhil Hardia (Indore, India) had an inclination towards art photography since long. As he grew young, his liking took final shape and he decided to choose photography art as his companion. Presently he works with reputed Hindi Daily, “Dainik Bhaskar”, Indore as Photo Journalist. As a photo journalist he is always in search of something meaningful that may give some positive message to society.
He has exhibited his photographs through 05 solo and various group exhibitions in different cities of the country. He is a regular participant in national/international contests of art photography and has achieved about 120 awards and more than 700 acceptances in these contests. He has been honoured with “Artist Federation Internationale Di L-Art Photographique” (AFIAP) by Federation Internationale de L-Art Photographique, France, and “Associateship” of India International Photographic Council” (AIIPC), Delhi. He has been invited as jury-member in various national/international competitions of art photography. He is member of IIPC, Delhi, FIP, Kolkata, Indore Press Club, CCI, and PPA, Indore. Mr. Hardia is a truthful photo artist and has profound interest in touching social realities.
--Dr. Pankaj Sharma