Manka Khala's annual celebrations

Early Celebrations:

For thousands of years people have held celebrations and festivals where they would have feasts and decorations. Some of the earliest celebrations in the northern hemisphere were the summer and winter solstice, but more especially the winter solstice as this marked the time of the days getting longer and the nights getting shorter. The winter solstice also coincided with other festivals which were celebrated from around mid December to early January. These festivals were decorated with items of the times, such as, garland and other greenery, candles, feasting and dancing. One of the other celebrations of this time was the Festival of Saturn or Saturnalia. For Christmas, the earliest reference is from the Calendar of 354, which mentions the celebration of Christmas for December 25. At the time no one knew the actual birth date of Jesus but it is assumed that early Christian leaders picked this date to coincide with many other pagan festivals as a means of facilitating their transition into Christianity. Although today many bible scholars believe that Christ was actually born in the early spring. This was a way of combining all the celebrations of this time frame into one celebration with all its accompanying decorations and merriment. In those days most of the decorations were outside and not inside, garland, candles, trees and food were set in the streets and hung on the outside of buildings. The Christmas tree was said to represent God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost because it was triangular in shape.

The Spread of Christmas and its Decorations:

As Christianity spread throughout Europe so to were the old festivals and decorations incorporated into the new Christian celebrations. The idea of using greenery as decorations was meant to signify rebirth or the birth of Christ. So items such as ivy, green boughs, garland and green trees were used to decorate towns and communities. Its believed that the Christmas tree and its decorations originated in Germany, where it was decorated with candles and then later tinsel and hand blown glass balls. Through royal marriage Queen Charlotte the wife of King George III brought the Christmas tree tradition from Germany and introduced it into England. This was later reinforced by Prince Albert during the time of Queen Victoria. And as German immigrants came to America they also brought with them, their Christmas traditions and decorations. Over time Christmas trees became a dominate symbol of the Christmas season and its accompanying decorations.

Modern Outdoor Christmas Decorations:

Today as people decorate they use real and artificial garland and greenery, including ivy, poinsettias and wreaths to bring a festive mood not only to the inside of the house but the outside as well. Many neighborhoods, communities or even whole towns get together to decorate for the Christmas season with life size nutcrackers, lights, giant wreaths and nativity scenes. Often communities give awards to homes for their outdoor decorations. A neighborhood in NW Houston, Texas has each street pick a theme and all or most of the homes on that street decorate for that theme, such as snowmen, Santa, Christmas carols and nativity scenes. From early December through Christmas Day people drive up and down those streets to see the wintery scenes of the season and to enjoy the beauty of the outdoor decorations. The same scene is played out in much of the world, even in nations that are typically non-Christian where the holiday is more of an economic event and less about celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Marriage ceremony in Dagestani Weddings. What is nikah?

Weddings Like all Caucasian weddings, Dagestani weddings are very raucous affairs. Many guests are invited and there are bags of entertainment. One could say that they are feast for the whole world.

It is common, in the Caucasus, for weddings to be prepared well in advance. All details of the wedding are planned from the birth of a child. A dowry is prepared for the children and savings are put aside. Once the joyful day arrives, it is a like a true fairytale.

Nowhere are weddings more joyful and harmonious than in the Caucasus. Caucasian but particularly Dagestani wedding ceremonies, are no exception to this rule. It is common to hold two weddings, the first of which takes place in the bride’s home, the second of which is held in the groom’s home.

Usually a large crowd is invited for a wedding feast in Dagestan. It can be between 500 to 2000 guests. They come from all over the village and all over the world.

Usually, an arrangement is made with the parents of the bride and a mahr (dowry) is paid to them. This tradition is observed to this day and can even strengthen people’s economic standing.

In the past, the Daghestani wedding was practised with a kidnapping of the bride. This was if the groom was of a lower class than the bride and could not obtain permission to marry his true love. The “kidnapping” was always carried out with the bride’s permission.

Nowadays, this tradition is practically extinct and the custom of stealing the bride has become a rarity. However in accordance with tradition, a person’s nationality and the village and region in which they live are taken into account when searching for a potential spouse.

Customs and traditions in Daghestan are preserved to a greater extent in rural areas. For example, nikah. Nikah is an Islamic ceremony of marriage, it is an essential part of Muslim marriage. Therefore, to perform nikah is compulsory for any muslim who wants to live in lawful marriage unity.

Daghestani custom is shown, in particular, with regard to respecting one’s elders. In accordance with the adat (law), younger siblings do not get married before their elders.

There is an age-old custom in Dagestan that the young couple will have a betrothal ceremony before the actual wedding. Here, they can prove their feelings and suitability for one another. The organisers of the wedding will then carry out the wedding ritual, offer to arrange the union, give the bride presents, and agree on a date for the wedding with the parents of the couple. They then announce the proposal to the ZAGS (Registry Office) and begin the pre-wedding preparations.

On the day of the wedding, the bride’s parents will say to their daughter “My child, life flashes by in an instant. It comes and it goes. Do not forget to live life to the full.” It is a solemn day for the parents of the bride, since their daughter must leave home.

After the ZAGS, the young couple will visit a mosque for the completion of the Shariah marriage (marriage according to Islamic rules). It is called nikah ( another variation of spelling is nikaah ). After the nikah the young couple will go and lay down flowers at certain historical monuments. From here, they will go to a hall for the celebrations. The wedding begins with a veneration of couple’s parents; the bride and groom thank and pay homage to their parents and bow down to them. In Dagestan it is a symbol of good family ties, love, care and homage.

In true Caucasian style, the table is generously covered with traditional, national food and drink such as shashliki, hinqal, kurze etc..

With cultural weddings there are lots of singing and dancing, while with religious marriage ceremonies it may be practised, but in a moderation. The young couple are then given presents, money and sweets. On each of the presents, there will be a note that informs the couple of when they can open the present. As an example, the writing can be: “on the first day of family life,” “on the birth of the first child” or “on your silver wedding anniversary.It is preferable to give cash money for a gift at a Dagestani wedding.

The wedding finishes late in the evening. After the wedding ceremony, all guests go to the groom’s place. One of the most poignant moments in the wedding ceremony is when the bride enters the groom’s house. On entry, the guests shower her with nuts, sweets and coins.

For Caucasian weddings, it is normal that the wedding feast lasts for a few days – it all depends on the finacial situation and social status of the families of both the bride and groom.

Limousines are associated with extreme glamour, style, and luxury. People with enormous wealth have been using limousines for their transportation for very long time. It is a common wish of everybody to include the royal sense and glamour of travelling in luxury limousines on different occasions.

To serve this luxury requirement, limo rental companies have made it possible for all common people to use luxury limousines to serve their requirements. Now, everybody can add style and glamour to their happy occasions by renting a luxury limousine from limousine rental companies in their area.

Nowadays, it has become a trend to hire limousines on occasions like wedding and parties. Limousine rental companies are providing specially customized limousines for every occasion. People can find specialized limousines for wedding, bachelor and bachelorette parties, or normal transportation purposes.

You must have enjoyed several bachelor or bachelorette parties of your friends. But have you even been to a bachelor or bachelorette party organized in a luxury limousine with posh interiors and all required party amenities (like tantalizing drinks and audio-video instruments).

Nowadays trend of hiring a limo bus is being popular because the number of people invited for a bachelor or bachelorette party usually rise than expected. Even, the facilities available inside a limo bus surpass the expectations of all people coming for parties. These limo buses (specialized for party purposes) have everything for a comfortable and blasting party.

You can enjoy all the luxuries like a limousine along with enough space to accommodate people more than your expectations. You can enjoy a mini dance floor too where you can dance with your friends on rhythms of your favorite tunes. If you have hired a pole dancer to add spices to your bachelor or bachelorette party then nothing can be as good as a party bus.

After bachelor and bachelorette party, limousines are also considered essential for wedding events. Every bride and groom wants to be escorted in a plush limousine to the wedding venue. It adds extra glitter to the celebration and makes the wedding day more memorable for wedding couple. Riding a limousine on wedding day gives proud feeling to both bride and groom.

There are many advantages of hiring a limousine. If you are planning for any such happy event or celebration you can think of hiring a limousine this time. You will experience the change caused by a luxury limousine.