Namaskar,

I hope you had lovely festive celebrations last month I certainly enjoyed the festive season. Best wishes to you and your family.

Introduction

The Hindu festivals, fasts, rituals, holy baths and the observance of sacred days are part and parcel of the great cultural heritage. They are religious and social and a great source of spiritual and moral enrichment. They also lend zest, variety, colour and grandeur to an otherwise insipid, routine and care-worn day-to–day human existence. The Hindu festivals are more than what they appear to be. They are essentially a way of living and thinking in the course of existence, and as such bring their whole right to bear on the individual and the society.

Unlike the deities of the Hindu pantheon, the festivals are numerous and frequent, but basically religious, psychological and intimately connected with the changes of seasons, though many of them have lost the history of their origin in the mists of hoary past. With passage of time they have undergone a process of transformation and evolution and many new festivals have been grafted upon the old ones.

A Hindu festival is, in fact, something more than a ‘festival’. It is cathartic in nature, and as a means of purification strengthens the spirit within. Their goal is to find enjoyment through renunciation and self-denial. They are more of an exploration of the colourful things of life, without being bound to or obsessed by them.

(Contact Email: pyg_hounslow@hotmail.com)

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LIST OF IMPORTANT HINDU FESTIVALS & VRATS FOR U.K. From 28-10-2019 TO 14-11-2020 - V.S. 2076 (Prepared according to local UK Time).

Important Note:

The Hindu festivals are generally based on a certain Tithi (roughly translated as the lunar phase) or the Nakshatra (Position of Asterisms with respect to the moon and the earth) in a given month or the transition of other heavenly bodies. When the time and place differ a lot from the place for which the Panchang (Religious Almanac) is computed the occurrence of the festival on a given day could change. To correctly compute the time and date of a festival, one must compute the Tithi, Nakshatra etc. for that place in terms of the local time of that place. The festival celebration times and days/dates listed here are calculated according to local UK times and these may differ from other places in the world (e.g. India, USA).

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2019/2020 Eclipse Details

25 December 2019 – Annular Solar Eclipse (GMT) (Not Visible in UK) - (25th late night)

Beginning 02:29:48, Greatest 05:14:30, End 08:05:42

(Visible in - Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UAE)

10 January 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse (GMT) (Moon rise 15:49 Leicester) (Visible in UK and it is not observed) –

Eclipse Details:- Beginning - 17:05:36, Mid - 19:10:00, End - 21:14:24

(Visible in - Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia.)

5 June 2020 – Penumbral Lunar Eclipse BST (Moon rise 21:12 BST Leicester) (Visible in UK and it is not observed) –

During the Moon rise you will see the ending of the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse (Moon rise 21:12 Leicester)

Eclipse Details:- Beginning - 18:43:24, Mid - 20:25:00, End - 22:06:30

(Visible in - Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia.)

21 June 2020 – Annular Solar Eclipse BST (Not Visible in UK) -

Beginning 04:45:54, Greatest 07:41:18, End 10:34:42

(Visible in - Africa, SE Europe, Asia.) [Annular: C Africa, S Asia, China, Pacific]

The instant of greatest eclipse takes place on 2020 Jun 21 at 07:41:18. This is 6.2 days after the Moon reaches apogee. During the eclipse, the Sun is in the constellation Taurus.

5 July 2020 – Penumbral Lunar Eclipse BST (Moon Set 04:43am BST Leicester) (Visible in UK and it is not observed) –

During the Moon set you will see the beginning of the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse (Moon set 4:43am Leicester).

Eclipse Details:- Beginning - 04:04:12, Mid - 05:30:00, End - 06:55:30

(Visible in - Americas, SW Europe, Africa.)

30 November 2020 – Penumbral Lunar Eclipse (Moon set 07:47am GMT Leicester) (Not Visible in UK and it is not observed) –

Eclipse Details:– Beginning - 07:29:54, Mid - 09:42:48, End - 11:55:42

(Visible in - Asia, Australia, Pacific, Americas.)

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Adhik Aaso (Ashvin) Maas – Starts Thursday, September 17^th 2020, 12:00 BST & ends Friday, October 16^th 2020, 20:31 BST

According to the sidereal zodiac system this year the Sun enters the zodiac sign Virgo (Kanya) on September 16^th, 14:38 B.S.T. (British Summer Time) and stays in this zodiac sign until October 17^th, 02:35 B.S.T. During this period two new moons (Amavasya) occur, the first new moon occur on September 17^th, 12:00 B.S.T. and the second new moon occur on October 16^th, 20:31 B.S.T. and hence the Adhik Maas. The Adhik Maas occurs at the beginning of the lunar month Aaso (ashvin), hence it’s called as Adhik Aaso (Ashvin), and the following lunar month is regular lunar month Aaso (Ashvin).

Blue moon

The term "blue moon" is most often defined as the second full moon occurring within a single month. In 2020 the two full moons (Purnima) occurs in the month of October. The first full moon on 1^st October – 22:05 (BST) and the second full moon on 31^st October – 14:49 (GMT).

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