Want Wealth and Good Fortune? Pray to Laxmi

This is the time to be praying to the Goddess Laxmi for her blessings. I am not Hindu, but this pagan is praying to this Goddess, as despite the past days' rain and lowering dark clouds, the moon light has managed to break through to illuminate my backyard just about bedtime the past few nights. It's awesome! Kojagiri Poornima: Auspicious occasion to offer prayer to Goddess Laxmi Published by: Sudhir Kumar Published: Sat, 03 Oct 2009 at 18:00 IST New Delhi: Celebration for the Kojagiri poornima has begun across Maharashtra today. The festival falls in the month of September or October every year. It is believed to be one of the auspicious occasions for offering prayers to the Goddess Laxmi. People believe that offering prayers to Goddess Laxmi on this particular occasion bring prosperity and richness. It is believed that Goddess Laxmi goes to everyone's place asking 'kojagiriti' that means ‘who is waking up'. Those found awaken are blessed with prosperity and wellness by the Goddess Laxmi. Another story goes behind its celebration. There was a famous and rich king. But his prosperity became a matter of past after all his wealth lost. His prudent queen worshipped Goddess Laxmi and kept waking throughout the night. Her worship pleased the Goddess Laxmi. By Goddess' grace, they got back their wealth and prosperity. More information about this harvest celebration: Sharad Poornima Kojagiri Poornima by pavan on October 2, 2009 Sharad Poornima is also known as Kojagari Poornima. Sharad Poornima is a harvest festival celebrated on the full moon day of the Hindu lunar month of Ashwin (September-October). This is a traditional celebration of the moon and is also called the Kaumudi celebration, Kaumudi meaning moonlight. At night, goddess Laxmi is worshiped and night vigil is observed. According to a folk-tale, once a king fell on evil days, and was in great financial straits, but then his queen observed this fast and night vigil, and worshiped the goddess of wealth, Laxmi. Some people believe[who?] that on this night Laxmi moves about from place to place asking, “Who is awake?” (”Kojagarti?”). So people sit in the moonlight singing songs, or keep themselves entertained in some other way. They fast from solid food and take only fluids like coconut water or milk. According to the Vedic scriptures, the Divine Raas Lila of Lord Krishna with Radha and Gopis happened on the night of Sharad Poornima. It is a harvest festival and is celebrated throughout the country, particularly by Maharashtrians.

Goddess Diwali: Prayer - It Can't Hurt!

Diwali: Can Goddess of wealth help plunging market? 2008-10-28 10:20:00 By Radha Kant Bharati Light is the symbol of prosperity and joy. In the Indian sub-continent a great tradition coming down from centuries is Deepavali i.e. festival of lights. It is celebrated after twenty days from Dashahara on Amavasya 15th Day of dark fortnight of Kartika month of Indian calendar. Diwali or Deepavali signifies different things to different people of our Indian society. Popularly it is believed that on this day Lord Rama returned back to Ayodhya after completing period of 14 years in exile. Thus the occasion of Diwali is the celebration of victory of Lord Rama. Side by side it is also celebration of Naraka Chaturdashi, the day when the Demon of Darkness and Dirt Narakasura was destroyed by Lord Krishna. According to another popular believe the festival is linked with Laxmi Goddess of wealth and prosperity. On this day Goddess Laxmi goes around visiting clean, lighted and decorated houses during the night and distributes gifts and blessings. The festival of lights is celebrated in different ways in different regions of Indian sub-continent. On this pious occasion feasting, merry making and joyful get-togethers are main features. Nowadays, all over India the festival of Diwali is celebrated with pomp and show and with bursting crackers well past midnight. All our festival seasons coincide with an increase in air, water and sound pollution levels. Noise levels have been a matter of concern as they are harmful to health and welfare of all. Noise pollution can cause both physiological and psychological problems. Subjected to 45 decibels of noise, an average person cannot sleep. At 120 decibels the ear registers pain, but hearing damage begins at a much lower level, about 85 decibels. Apart from hearing loss, noise can cause lack of sleep, irritability, heartburn, indigestion, ulcers, high blood pressure, and possibly heart disease. Noise-induced stress creates severe tension in daily living and contributes to mental illness. Keeping in view the increasing trend in noise levels, various regulations have been issued from time to time to control noise pollution in ambient air, at source and at manufacturing stage. The Supreme Court has literally put a cap on ‘noise’, crackers can emit. It is 125 decibels on an average. The ruling has had a salutary effect. In pursuance of the judgement and to collect bench mark data, all the regulatory agencies of the State Government/ Union Territories have been advised to comply with stipulated norms and to draw an Action Plan for ensuring the compliance of the directions. The concerned agencies have also been advised to strengthen/establish environmental cells at the State and District levels to check noise pollution and also to undertake survey in major cities specially before and after the festivals to ensure compliance. Intensive campaigns are also launched in print and electronic media about deleterious effects of noise pollution. For creating awareness, most of the State Governments sent their monitoring reports of survey undertaken before and on Diwali day and the reports so far have revealed that there has been a reasonable success in arresting the menace of noise pollution. The conflict between competing interests in society - safety, health, and calm on the one hand, and tradition on the other hand, has evolved over time, and the health effects are receiving greater attention. There has been a concerted effort over the past few years to reduce noise pollution by opting for light based fireworks as-well-as maintaining the spirit of Deepavali. Courtesy: Press Information Bureau