The Culture Central

A major part of India is celebrating Vijayadashmi today. We at DesiCrafts are wishing all Indians who celebrate Dussehra or Vijayadashmi. May goddess Durga bring courage in your life and give you strength to fight for the right causes when necessary. 

Hello there! Long time no see? We are here finally. 

Have a look at this big basket of wooden printing block that just arrived to our workshop today. We are so excited and very ready to start listing them on our websites. To talk little bit about new collection, it is all about festivals, holidays and favours. A lot of printing is going to happen :) 

After Diwali, Holi is the biggest festival in North India. Weeks before Holi, families plan for shopping, renovation of the house, dinner, lunch and breakfast menu and also for paying a visit to relatives and friends. In many cities of north India, such as Vrindavan, Banaras and Kanpur, Holi is a fortnight long festival. It starts about a a week before Dhulendi and ends with Ganga Mela (a festival very specific to the state of Uttar Pradesh).

In other parts of North India its a two days long celebration. First night of Holi is the celebration of End of the Evil. Families gather around the fire in circle and offer Sugarcane, Green Gram and other seasonal crops to the fire. People also throw Gulaal - colorful podwer, Gujia - Sweets and Pop-corns in the fire. The reason behind this is mostly unknown. According to the Hindu mythology, the fire is considered holy and everything becomes pure after going through fire. Throwing food items in fire could be a symbolic act to make the food items pure and free from any evil till next Holi celebrations.