Social Science Questions & Answers

Maha Shivratri, the night of the worship of Lord Shiva, occurs on the 14th night of the new moon during the dark half of the month of Phalguna (Feb / March) when Hindus offer special prayer to the lord of destruction. Reasons to celebrate Maha Shivaratri The absolute formless God, Sadashiv appeared in the form of “Lingodbhav Moorti” exactly at …

Maha Shivratri or Maha Sivaratri or Shivaratri or Sivarathri (Great Night of Shiva or Night of Shiva) is a festival celebrated every year on the 13th night / 14th day in the Krishna Paksha (waning moon) of the month of Maagha (as per Shalivahana or Gujarati Vikrama) or Phalguna (as per Vikrama) in the Hindu Calendar (that is, the night …

China clay, or kaolin, is usually mined from pits like this, for making pottery, or china, as well as other things such as plastics. To make porcelain (the finest kind of china) it is fused with china stone, or petuntse, at very high temperature.

The annual Ice Festival is held in Harbin, northern China, and the capital of the Heilongjiang Province. Harbin is known for its very cold winters. The month-long festival starts on January 5. Harbin’s Ice Festival is one of the world’s four largest Ice and Snow Festivals, along with Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec City Winter Carnival and Norway’s Ski …

Probably the most important figure in modern Chinese history is Mao Tse-tung (1893-1976). Mao began organizing Communist groups in 1920. Fighting between Mao’s Communists and Chiang Kaishek’s Nationalists started in 1927 and continued until 1949 (though they did unite against the Japanese invaders in 1937). After the Nationalist forces had fled to Taiwan in 1949, the establishment of the People’s …

The most important holiday for Chinese around the world is undoubtedly Chinese New Year – and it all started out of fear. The centuries-old legend on the origins of the New Year celebration varies from teller to teller, but they all include a story of a terrible mythical monster who preyed on villagers. The lion-like monster’s name was Nian which …

Lohri celebrates fertility and the joy of life, and in the event of the birth of a male child or a marriage in the family, it assumes a larger significance wherein the host family arranges for a feast and merry-making with the traditional bhangra dance along with rhythm instruments, like the dhol and the gidda. The first Lohri of a …

Seventy percent of India‘s population lives in villages, and a vast majority of people solely depend on agriculture. As a result, we find that most Hindu festivals are directly or indirectly linked to agriculture and related activities. Pongal is one such big festival, celebrated every year in mid January – mostly in the south of India and especially in Tamil …

The custom of sending Christmas cards started in the United Kingdom in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He was a civil servant (Government worker) who was very interested in the new ‘Public Post Office’ and wondered how it could be used more by ordinary people.Sir Henry had the idea of Christmas Cards and with his friend John Horsley, who was …

There are many different reasons why candles are associated with Christmas, although no one knows when they first became connected!They were used during ancient winter solstice celebrations a way of remembering that spring would soon come.One of the earliest records of candles being used at Christmas is from the middle ages where a large candle was used to represent the …