vishu greetings on apr 15th, 2011 CE

apr 14th, 2011 CE

vishu is the spring festival for malayali hindus, and is particularly associated with the baby krishna.

http://www.indiavideo.org/greetings/vishu/

here is a wonderful video about vishu, including the 'kani': the offering that children are supposed to see first thing in the morning on vishu day. your mother will wake you up, tell you not to open your eyes, and lead you to the puja room to see the 'kani' (lit. offering, visual) as the first thing you see that day.

then all the elders give younger people vishu kaineettam, ie. money ! no wonders kids love this festival, and they wear new gold-bordered clothes that day. 

the color is gold: and the appropriate flower is the delicate indian laburnum, or kani-konna with its bell-like flower clusters that bloom around this time. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.kriyayoga.com/photography/photo_gallery/d/20783-2/cassia_fistula-dsc05716.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.kriyayoga.com/photography/photo_gallery/v/beautiful_tropical_flowers/cassia_fistula-dsc05716.jpg.html&h=428&w=640&sz=139&tbnid=Jwgrf6zWcTLQkM:&tbnh=92&tbnw=137&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dindian%2Blaburnum%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=indian+laburnum&usg=__YfeQsUiI_gzOsr9CTe1Mt8CxdnU=&sa=X&ei=27qmTdL0NMPLrQfujvDoCQ&ved=0CC8Q9QEwBA -- copyright vests with the website kriyayoga.com

vishu is a celebration of the spring equinox, and it happens generally on the first day of the first day of medam (taurus), that is the day the sun first rises in the constellation taurus. (because of the precession of the equinox, the current equinox ie mar 21st is off by almost 3 weeks from the day the of sunrise in taurus, which continues to be the correctly identified in the hindu calendar. at one point, long ago, the equinox was indeed on apr 14th.) 

vishu (also baisakhi, tamil new years day, and similar festivals in other parts of the country) usually falls on apr 14th, but this year it is delayed by one day to apr 15th.

it was a group of people who had gathered to celebrate baisakhi that were massacred by the british on apr 13th, 1919, at jallianwallah bagh.

=======

disclaimer: i have no financial interest in indiavideo.org, but they have great videos and i recommend them.