MOTHER'S DAY
Sunaday | 9 May 2010

BUDDHA PURNIMA
Friday | 26-28 May 2010

MOTHER'S DAY :- In honor of every Mother Sunaday | 9 May 2010

• Mother's day is celebrated worldwide in honor of every Mother. A national holiday to express gratitude and love to that special woman in our lives. • Mother's day history dates back to the times when the Greek's celebrated their annual spring festival and honored Rhea the mother of many deities. • Then to the Romans who paid homage to Cybele, the great Mother of all God's. • Christians celebrated it in the honor of Mother Mary, mother of Jesus Christ on the fourth Sunday of Easter season. • In England, this day extended to all Mother's and was celebrated as Mothering Sunday. • Further in USA, an Appalachian called Anna Jarvis, organized a day dedicated to the improvisation of the poor health conditions in her society. She thought that this idea could be best advocated through women and thus called this day as Mother's Work Day. • Further a Boston poet named Julia Ward Howe motivated mother's to take a rally for peace as she felt that they bore the sufferings of loss of human life more than anyone else . • After Anna Jarvis, her daughter also named Anna started a campaign in the memory of her mother. In one of her Sunday's lesson, her mother used to say that she prayed and wished that someday, someone would find a Mother's Day. • Anna went around meeting businessmen, politician, top government officials requesting them to recognize a day for honoring Mother's. • At one of her first services, at her church in West Virginia she handed out a white carnation, her mother's favorite flower. Five years later the House of Representatives requested the Federal Government officials to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. • In 1914, Anna's efforts finally paid off, when Woodrow Wilson passed the bill declaring Mother's Day as a national holiday. • In United States of America, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May and this is widely accepted voluntarily by countries worldwide. • It is on this day that sons and daughters express their gratitude to their Mother's through dinners, gifts, messages and spend time with them. • Fully reserved restaurants, busy telephones lines, lots of gift purchases are commonly seen on this day. • The warmth and cheer of Mother's day also extends to grand mother's, aunts, sister's, guardians or any person who has played the role of a Mother in ones life.

BUDDHA PURNIMA :- The festival dedicated to Gautam Buddha. Wed- Friday | 26-28 May 2010

• Buddha Purnima is dedicated to Lord Gautam Buddha , one of the finest preachers from India. • He was the enlighten one and Edwin Arnold rightfully named him " Light of Asia ". • Buddha's messages were simple and has deeply touched billions of people worldwide. • Gautam Buddha whose princely name was Siddhartha was born to a King named Shudhodana. He was the king of Kapilavastu in the foothills of Himalayas. He was his only son.. • Once an astrologer had predicted that prince Siddartha would either be a very well known emperor or a world-renowned preacher. His father scared that his son might take up this difficult part of life took every precaution to ensure that prince Siddhartha should not be exposed to the miseries of life. • Siddartha moved from childhood to teenage and finally in his twenties. He had never seen the outside world. Finally he desired to have a peek into this kingdom. The King ordered that the entire kingdom should look bright and cheerful without signs of poverty and misery. • When Siddartha was on this move he saw a very old man who was frail and weak. He asked his charioteer, Chenna, who was that creature. Chenna explained that he was an old man and a human being. He explained that all of us will one day would turn old. This left Siddartha with many thoughts in his mind. • To cheer him up, the king again announced that the kingdom should be all cheerful and gay. He organized a procession for Siddhartha. But again on this move out he saw a sick man and a corpse being carried to the funeral ground. Chenna explained him that sometimes we also suffer from health problems and one day we all have to die. • On his final round, he came across a monk and Chenna once again explained that he was an ascetic who had given up the luxurious life and was over and above the fear and sorrow of life. He had attained a blissful stage of life. • This thought clinched into the mind of the young prince. On the mid-night of a full moon day he bid farewell to this beloved parents, lovely life Yashodhara and young handsome son Rahul and went into the deep woods in search of answers to the queries of human miseries. • He was hardly in his late twenties and roamed around for nearly seven years. Finally on the Vaishaaka Poornima Day, he attained enlightenment and the light of realization dawned upon him . • His love for the downtrodden and destitute of the society helped spreading harmony among people. • He respected the smallest of devotion which was in deep faith . • His preaching touched the hearts of billions of devotees worldwide. • He was against the idea of slaughtering animals. • Lord Gautam Buddha passed into eternity after completing his Sahastra Chandra Darshana ( 1000 full Moon days ) , in his 80th year , on the Vaishaakha day , the day of his birth and also the day of his Enlightenment . • Buddha purnima is considered as a very auspicious day for Indians , Asians and people world over. • The serene and pious aura of Lord Gautam Buddha helps us to believe in simplicity of life .