what is bihu and subho nobo borso...sound very intresting...greetings to all whatever they are..just wanted to know...

I AM, Celebrating Easter where I live, this Good Friday evening! It is pouring rain outside, reflecting the seasonal spring here, at hand..

Happy Celebrations to all, celebrating the many, listed tonight! A poem to share with you all, as it came to me, only moments ago...

Palm to palm
around tables and doorways,
love is passed on
through the act of a handshake;
clutching, palm to palm in solidarity,
sharing our human love.

D.D. Sonnenburg
April 14, 2006 06:54 PM

http://spiritsinmotion.blogspot.com/

Hi Harb

Bihu is the Assamese New Year and Shubho Nobo Borsho is the bengali New Year, simply translated as Shubh Nav Varsha. Interestingly many things , including a full moon fell on the sme day this year.

Hi North

Happy celebrations indeed and thanks for the lovely poem

thank you jasjit, hi anu...so that is that...all new years. lol, i did not know baisakhi is a new year day too.

a gurbani tuk heard in childhood is coming to my mind...baisakh suhava tan lage je sant bhet rahe soe...age bhul gai lol perhaps...sur nar mun jan amrit senvde je amrit gur ten paia? jasjit, what could be its explanation....viakhia??

Hi Anusheh,

Many Blessings to you, and all,

North
http://spiritsinmotion.blogspot.com/

Happy new year!!!!!

Feliz año! Happy new year

Hello Clave and Tienda

Thank You for your greetings and for visiting this blog. Its wonderful to see so many diverse people from far away lands come together and wish each other love and light. Saw your websites. Great stuff. Tienda your work looks creative and beautiful and Clave how fascinting to have someone from a women's band. Will check out the videos.

Fun times and great wonderous adventures to you both.
love

Good Morning Harb

Here's my take on the lines. baisakh suhava tan lage je sant bhete har soe...Baisakh is beauteous only (comes to fruition) if you (the true seeker) meet har (the infinite).

sur nar mun jan amrit senvde je amrit gur ten paia? I guess since for many amrit paan on Baisakhi has becom a ritual of baptism to khalsahood or purity or whatever the lines clearly say that the true amrit paan is only when men and monks take the amrit of the true Guru's words/teachings/guidance. All else mere ritual. IMO

However this line does not follow that for that is the last line of the vakh which begins with 'Vaisakh dheeran kyon vadiya jina prem bichoh, har saajn purakh visar ke lagi maya dhoh.Putar ,kalatra na sang dhana har avinaasi auh. Palch, palch sagli muyee jhoothey dhandhey moh. Ikas har ke naam bin aagey lahiye khoh. Dehvisar viguchana prabh bin avar na koyi. Preetam charni jo lagey , tin ki nirmal soy. Nanak ki prabh benati, prabh milay prapat hoy. Bisakh suhava tan lage jaan sant bhet har sohe.'

:-)

thank you jasjit. perhaps 'sant bhete har soe' could also mean 'if the sant (true seeker) surrenders himself to the lord...' though 'meets har' could also be true as the very moment he surrenders har he meets har.

anyway, aapan nun tan baisakh hun suhava hi lagega lol. we have started it with surrendering to the har in the form of recalling guru's lines...moreover, you were made to give the bheta of karah parsad and i was made to go to guru's place itself, that is Talwandi Sabo, to listen to his word.

Goooood Morning dear bloggers!

First (though late by a few days) wish you all Shubho Nobo Borsho!

Was out of town celebrating baisakhi at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Went there on the evening of baisakhi and it was just wonderful. The whole place was lit up and the reflection of the temple on the water surface was fantafabulous!

Go to see the night procession when the Granth Sahib is taken on a palaquin from the main temple into another chamber for the night and brought back again in the morning.

Everything was so organised and smooth; so calm and peaceful... Best way I could have started the New Year.

Also visited Wagah Border and almost got squashed by the crowd. The stadium on the Pakistan side was comparativley empty. They had two separate sections -a Zenana and a Mardana section. Was wishing I could have watched the guard exchange from Pakistan's side!

Wish you all a very happy and prosperous and peaceful Year Ahead.

Love
Chaitali

Sir/Madam, i liked ur blogspot and ideas . it is an interesteding forum. i wish people could meet face to face. v.k.

Thanks Virendra. Welcome to the blog:-)

Bihu is the most important festival of the Assamese culture and of the state of Assam in North-East India. (The Assamese word Bihu is also used to imply Bihu dance and Bihu folk songs.) The three major Bihus celebrations have agragrian origins though in recent decades they have taken definite urban features and have become popular festivals in urban and commercialized milieus. Assamese people start the celebration of all types of Bihu by presenting offerings to God ( usually in the naamghor-temple)and then the other rituals follow.

Rongali bihu:

The most popular one is the RONGALI BIHU or the Bohag Bihu which refers to the onset of the Assamese New Year (around April 15) and the coming of Spring. This marks the first day of the Hindu solar calendar and is also observed in Bengal, Kerala, Manipur, Nepal, Orissa, Punjab and Tamil Nadu though called by different names. It's a time of merriment and feasting and continues for several days. The farmers prepare the fields for cultivation of paddy and there is a feeling of joy around. The ladies make pithas and larus (traditional food made of rice and coconut) which gives the real essence of the season. The first day of the bihu is called goru bihu or cow bihu, where the cows are washed and worshipped, which falls on the last day of the previous year, usually on April 14. This is followed by manuh (human) bihu on April 15, the New Year Day. The folk songs associated with the Bohag Bihu are called Bihugeets or Bihu songs.

The form of celebration varies.

Mukoli Bihu: Young unmarried men and women attired in traditional golden silk muga dance the bihu and sing bihu songs in the open fields. The songs have themes of romance and sexual love, requited or unrequited. Sometimes the songs describe tragic events too, but treated very lightly. The dance celebrates female sexuality.

Husori: Village elders move from household to households singing caroles, also in the style of bihu geets, called husuris. They are traditionally welcomed into the courtyard and thanked after the singing with an offering of tamul in a xorai, whereupon the singers bless the household for the coming year. Generally the singers are all male [1].

Jeng Bihu: This is Bihu dance and song performed and watched only by women. The name "jeng" comes from the fact that in earlier days women in the villages used to surround the place of their performance with sticks dug into the ground called jeng in Assamese.

Stage Bihu: In recent years, bihu dancing on stage has become popular in urban areas, where mukoli bihu or husori is not appropriate. Makeshift stages are erected in open parks by local youth or cultural organizations and dance troupes are invited to perform. The performances are not confined to the bihu dance form, but may incorporate all forms of theatrical performances to keep the audience enthralled well into the early hours. Performances could include standup comedy, to concerts by solo singers. The stage form of bihu has become so popular, that organizers have begun extending the celebrations to bohagi bidai, or farewell to the Bohag month, which are similar performances held a month later.

Rongali Bihu is also a fertility festival, where the bihu dance with its sensous movements using the hips, arms, etc, by the young women call out to celebrate their fertility. In this aspect, the bihu dance can also be called a mating ritual by the young men and women.

Kongali bihu:
KAATI BIHU or Kongali Bihu (mid-October) has a different flavour as there is less merriment and the atmosphere has a sense of constrain and solemnity. During this time of the year, the paddy in the fields are in the growing stage and the granaries of the farmers are almost empty. Thus it can be also referred as the empty (kongaali) bihu. People fast during the day and in the evening offer prayers to the tulaxi plant and also in the paddy fields by lighting a saki (earthen lamp), with the hope that there is a good harvest and also to ward off any evil eyes, this also helps to control the insects. There is also exchange of sweets and greetings at this time.

Bhogali bihu:

MAGH BIHU or Bhogali Bihu (mid-January) marks the end of harvesting season and there is a lot of feasting and eating during this period. The granaries are full and thus the people come together and make a small hut type structures called mejis with the hay of the harvest fields and during the night, prepare food and there is community feasting everywhere. The entire night (called uruka) is spent around a bonfire with people singing bihu songs, beating drums or playing games. The next morning, people gather around the mejis and throw pithas (rice cakes) and betel nuts to it while burning it at the same time. They offer their prayers to the fire god and mark the end of the harvesting year.

Urban bihu:

The rural festival made its transition to urban life when Radha Govinda Baruah (founder of The Assam Tribune group of newspapers) organized the first Bihu festival in Guwahati about six decades ago. Unlike the rural version, the dancers danced on a makeshift elevated stage in an open area that came to be known as a Bihutoli. Many such Bihutolis have sprouted since then in Guwahati and other urban areas. The traditional snacks, pitha, that each household made are now available in the market, and Bihu songs sell briskly in cassette and CD's during the Bihu season. The commercialization of Bihu is continuing.

Thanks for the detailed information Samudra. It was very interesting to read. A Happy (belated) Bihu to you.