DATTAREYA

An Enchanting Native Festival
Lord Dattaguru - India is a country of various cultures,traditions and festivals.There is no dearth of mythologies here that have been passed on by generations.Whether one believes them or not,they surely are interesting and captivating. Listening those you will surely be transported immediately to a different world altogether.
Personally I am not very religious,so I view all these festivals more as cultural rather than as religious. Besides,these festivals gives us one more reason to celebrate and spread joy,so I always look forward to them.The more the merrier.One such festival is Lord Dattareya puja - Read More

In Maharashtra,this festival starts around the 2nd week of Dec ( every year ) and lasts for about 7days. Besides the religious activity,its cultural activity is also quite interesting.

Near where I stay, some marathi community people are celebrating the festival,so I got a glimpse of how exactly it is celebrated. I was left intrigued.They have invited some rural musicians ( men and women ) who specially sings bhajans and other religious songs,hymns.They also recite stories/mythologies and poems.They use instruments like dholak,ektara,bells/trinkets etc.During story telling they suddenly break into a chorus song many times,so it is quite interesting to watch them.

I am marathi-challenged,so I don't understand what exactly they are saying ( although I can make out bits n pieces of it ),however simply watching them also makes you feel good.I spent quite some time watching their programe that was organised in front of the Lord Dattareya temple near my vicinity.They started around 8pm ( though they have programs in the mornings as well as in the afternoons ) and sang and danced into the night ( till midnight, ),and a small crowd from neighbouring compounds in that area poured in just to watch them.I was left enchanted watching the show till the end.
They will be around few more days,so all my evenings are booked till then!