The significance of this month in India

Last month the beginning of "Shrawan" started. It means to hear. So in this month we try to hear only good things. In this month there are two most important days. One has passed and one is to come.

Coconut Day - Full moon day - was on the 5th of August - Respect for the sea, weather and mother nature is shown by offerings of coconuts. It is mostly done on the coastal areas of India. In the inner areas of India it is celebrated as Raksha Bandan, where the relationships of brother and sister are celebrated. Not only for family but to encourage these positive emotions for the whole community. To see all as your brothers and sisters. To encourage acceptance, peace and the end of fighting and disharmony.

Lord Krishnas Birthday - is on the 13th of August - The whole week is celebrated by reading about the life of Lord Krishna, especially the Bhagavad Gita. Here we try to learn from his life and teachings and learn to incorporate them into our own lives.

The month of Bhadrapada, according to the Indian calendar, starts on the 20th of
August. From the 23rd of August the clay idol of Lord Ganesh is worshipped for ten days. Lord Ganesh is the god of stable intelligence. We need steady and stable thinking power for all of our work. Lord Ganesh removes all types of obstacles and bad situations in our lives. So we should always worship Lord Ganesh before starting any kind of new work.

God is energy but we give it a form as it is very difficult to worship only energy. We are habituated to worship a god but we should try to worship the energy and principles of Lord Ganesh. That is why at the end of the ten days we place the clay Ganesh idol into the water where it dissolves. So the significance of this month is that we should try to gain the benefits of worshipping the Ganesh idol and the principles he represents but after that try to worship only the principles and the invisible energy of God.

The next 15 days of this month, from full moon to no moon day, we worship our family ancestors, our previous generations. It is said that in our body we all have seven generations of blood from our fathers side and five generations from our mothers side. All over india people celebrate in this way, for our ancestors. We are here because of them so we must remember, give honour and express our gratitude to them.