Flowers

The part of a plant which blossom is called as Flower. Flowers give rise to fruit and seeds. Many flowers have evolved to be attractive to animals, so as to cause them to be vectors for the transfer of pollen. Flowers is also used as the reproduction of flowering plants, flowers have long been admired and used by humans to beautify their environment, and also as objects of ritual, religion, medicine, love and also as a source of food.

The commonly known flowers are -

• Rose - Rose is found in variety of colors. Among which the common colors are of Red Rose, White Rose and Pink Rose. And uncommon color of rose are Black Rose, Purple Rose, Yellow Rose, Lavender Rose, Orange Rose, Blue Rose and Green Rose.

• Lotus - Most common color of Lotus Flowers are white,pink,lavender and red.

• Sunflower - Sunflowers usually have yellow petals and a brown center.

• Shoeflower/Hibiscus -Hibiscus flowers are large, trumpet shaped flowers that have five or more petals. The color and the size of the flowers make them quite prominent attracting humans and insects. These flowers can be of white, pink, red, purple or yellow color.

• Lily - These trumpet-shaped flowers grow to a 6-inch diameter. The stems grow to 3 feet long, carrying four to eight blossoms. Sparse foliage is dark green. Because blooms open at various times, most lilies live one to two weeks. The Lily is very commonly found flower. The colors of Lily flower include white, yellow, pink, red and orange.

• Mogra - The Mogra are small flowers, usually found in White Color.

• Daisy - Daisy flowers come in variety of colors like, White, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, etc.

 NOTE - As a parent, you should take your child to some gardening events, or some park where they can see these flowers, and can understand the colors and the look of flower.

Post Diwali Wishes

Diwali is over now as well as the sweets, but not the spirit. We from our whole heartily make sweets and favorite dishes on Diwali for our family and friends. On Diwali night, we burn crackers and go for " Diwali Milan" to our family and friends house to give them Diwali wishes.

What is Diwali?

Diwali, also known as "Festival of Lights". It is a 5 day festival, starting on Dhanteras. It falls in between the months of mid-October and mid- November. On Diwali, whole India gets an official holiday.

Diwali is one of the most important festivals of the year and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities together in their homes

Why we celebrate Diwali?

 Diwali is just not celebrated only for sweets and crackers, there are few legends and reasons behind celebrating Diwali. 

1. Goddess Lakshmi’s Birthday: It is said, that The Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi incarnated on the new moon day (amaavasyaa) of the Kartik month during the churning of the ocean (samudra-manthan), hence the day is associated with Goddess Lakshmi.   
2. Lord Vishnu Rescued Goddess Lakshmi: On this very day, Lord Vishnu in his fifth incarnation as Vaman-avtaara rescued Lakshmi from the prison of King Bali and this is another reason of worshipping Goddess Lakshmi on Diwali.
3. Lord Krishna Killed Narakaasur: On the day preceding Diwali, Lord Krishna killed the demon king Narakaasur and rescued 16,000 women from his captivity. The celebration of this freedom went on for two days including the Diwali day as a victory festival. 
4. The Return of the Pandavas: According to the great epic ‘Mahabharata’, it was ‘Kartik Amavashya’ when the Pandavas appeared from their 12 years of banishment as a result of their defeat in the hands of the Kauravas at the game of dice (gambling). The subjects who loved the Pandavas celebrated the day by lighting the earthen lamps.  
5. The Victory of Lord Rama: According to the epic ‘Ramayana’, it was the new moon day of Kartik when Lord Ram, Goddess Sita and Lord Lakshman returned to Ayodhya after vanquishing Ravana and conquering Lanka. The citizens of Ayodhya decorated the entire city with the earthen lamps and illuminated it like never before.
6. Coronation of Vikramaditya: One of the greatest Hindu King Vikramaditya was coroneted on the Diwali day, hence Diwali became a historical event as well.  
7. Special Day for the Arya Samaj: It was the new moon day of Kartik (Diwali day) when Maharshi Dayananda, one of the greatest reformers of Hinduism and the founder of Arya Samaj attained his nirvana.
8. Special Day for the Jains: Mahavir Tirthankar, considered to be the founder of modern Jainism also attained his nirvana on Diwali day.  
9. Special Day for the Sikhs: The third Sikh Guru Amar Das institutionalized Diwali as a Red-Letter Day when all Sikhs would gather to receive the Gurus blessings. In 1577, the foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar was laid on Diwali. In 1619, the sixth Sikh Guru Hargobind, who was held by the Mughal Emperor Jahengir, was released from the Gwalior fort along with 52 kings.
10. The Pope’s Diwali Speech: In 1999, Pope John Paul II performed a special Eucharist in an Indian church where the altar was decorated with Diwali lamps, the Pope had a ‘tilak’ marked on his forehead and his speech was bristled with references to the festival of light.

Diwali is over, but since it is still fresh in little ones mind. It will be easy to explain 1-2 legends to them and associate the legends to the festival, discuss with them the way whole family celebrated the Diwali. The live example will register the festival into their mind, permanently.

Dhanteras

Dhanteras, is the first day of 3 day Diwali Festival, celebrated in North region of India. Dhan means wealth and teras means 13th day of the fortnight.

On Dhanteras, the "Owl" form of Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped to provide prosperity and well being. Dhanteras holds special significance for the business community due to the customary purchases of precious metals on this day.

Dhanteras Celebration-

On this Auspicious day, people worship Lord Yamaraj, the God of death, on this day and light a 'Yama-Diya' in the night to offer prayers to him to bless them with prosperity, well being and protection. They also purchase either a new utensil, or silver or gold coin or some other precious metal as a sign of good luck on the day of Dhanteras. The day of Dhanteras has great importance for the mercantile community of Western India. In the rural areas the cultivators worship their cattle because they form the main source of their income and livelihood. 

Legends of Dhanteras -

There are few famous legends of Dhanteras. Among which one of them, is  a story of son of King Hima and his intelligent wife. It was predicted about King Hima's son that he would die on the fourth day of his marriage and the reason behind his death would be snakebite. When his wife came to know about such a prediction she decided not to let her husband die and for this she made a plan. On the fourth day of their marriage she collected all the jewelery and wealth at the entrance of her husband's boudoir and lighted lamps all around the place and started telling stories and singing songs one after another in order to not let her husband sleep. When God Yamaraj, came to take him along with himself in the form of snake, he was not able to see because of lights coming out from the jewellery, and he sat on the jeweleries, and kept listening to the melodious songs whole night, and in the morning left silently. Thus, the wife saved her husband's life from the cruel clutches of death. Since then the day of dhanteras is also known as the day of 'Yamadeepdaan' and it has become a tradition to light a diya on dhanteras and to keep it burning throughout the night in reverential adoration of Lord Yama, the God of death.