festivals and vruth

india is a religion based country with multi culture and tradition. dharma is attached to religion . festivals and vruth are attached to religious belief . it is said that for 30 days there are 33 festivals. that many festivals indians observe..treasure of hindu mythological stories talks about god's avatar's which adds a special meaning to our festivals. young or old likes to listen to these stories. india is the country where there is an university in naimesharinya to study about these stories.
upa means nearby -vasa means stay. so while fasting we stay near god. vruths are observed in two ways- with reason or without reason .upvas means forgoing food. upvas can be attached to vruth. vruth can be without food, only liquid, salt less, sugar less, self made food,or taking one meal a day. in observing vruth there is determination , procedure, discipline, a vow, bhakthi equivalent to tapasya(austerity). vrathi becomes strong mentally and physically by leading a systematic` and disciplined life . early bath , doing pooja visiting temple ,having one time light food , will help us come out of this wordly pleasure.
health comes first. aged people , pregnant women, people on medication will not be able to observe strict vruth . taking light food is always allowed. with good intension and true bakthi is only needed to please god.
indians worship the five elements of nature sky ,air, agni vayu and water. offering special flowers, fruits to particular god is also considered good. like arugampil (grass) to vinayaka, bilwa leaves to lord shiva,tazampoo to laxmi ,tulsi to vishnu.sacred months of the year are celebrated. certain trees and plants are worshiped .in india for seven days of the week there are stories and vruthas , which is followed by young and old. once or twice fasting during the week is good for health.
there is a procedure to observe vruth. vruthi while observing fast if he has a light diet on the previous day and has the food before the sunset on the vruth day and takes the meals early on the next day can enjoy the full fructification of the vruth.on the day of vruth afternoon nap should be avoided. there is a saying that to get rid of curse, a demon takes away the religious merit(punya)of the vruthi . (anyone knows the full story can help)
we should strictly observe the vruth for fulfilled satisfaction.