Devotees bring Lord Surya unique and distinctive prasad (holy food), which usually consists of sweets, Kheer, Thekua, and fruits stored in a bamboo tokari. Salt, onions, or garlic should not be added to the prasad. Date fruits are the most essential offering during this Chhath puja (Khajur). After the last aarti to Lord Sun, the devotee distributes the date fruits to everyone in attendance.

According to Commonwealth University studies, a single month of sleeping in a 66-degree room increased respondents' fat-burning abilities by up to 10%. Sleeping in the cold can help you lose weight, according to research, since the body's metabolism speeds up to keep you warm.

Just like Venice, Bangkok is also a city built on dozens of canals and with buildings standing on stilts. Although most of these canals have now been paved in, the nickname has stuck. However, another, less-cheerful point of similarity is the sinking of Bangkok. Due to rising sea levels and extensive development, Bangkok is sinking at a rate of 2 - 2.5 cm per year. Parts of Bangkok could be submerged in a few decades, so you might want to prepone your vacation there.

 

Buying an original work of Inuit art delight many tourists that travel to Greenland. A tiny statue known as a tupilak is the most accessible specimen of this art. The tupilaks were previously carved from bone and were thought to be a significant piece of witchcraft that could murder one of the artist's adversaries, according to Inuit tradition. Some Inuit carvers have been successful in crafting monstrous tupilaks from wood, narwhal tusks, or reindeer horns in modern times. Tupilaks are available for purchase at gift shops and are no longer connected to witchcraft.

Termites actually have intricate social systems, believe it or not. Because they are eusocial insects, they follow a caste system. Each caste plays a distinctive and significant role in maintaining the colony's efficiency. While some termites are in charge of construction, others are in charge of egg production. There is even a particular caste of termites that is only responsible for fighting!

Japan’s big-name stars are its densely populated cities, and it’s not a country you’d think of as a scarcely populated, mountain wilderness. However, around 70% of Japan is made up of forest and mountains that aren’t suitable for farming or living in. There are over 100 active volcanoes, and its tallest mountain is the famed Mount Fuji, with its elevation of 3,776 feet.

Many Viking women rose to positions of power and influence as priestesses and oracles in ancient culture. Many became poets, keeping on the oral traditions of the Vikings and passing them on to the next generation. The mythical shieldmaidens, female warriors who battled alongside men on the battlefield, were the most famous Viking ladies. Scholars continue to debate their existence, however, there is evidence from Byzantine Empire documents that they did exist.

If you've ever considered memorizing all of the different species of butterflies, it might take a little longer than you expected. Those species that are usually found in the lower 48 states of the United States would be a good place to start. Still, that figure is close to 575, so we recommend making note cards or focusing on the butterflies you see in and around your yard this spring and summer.

The demise of massive stars results in black holes because the gravity of the star overwhelms the natural pressure that the star maintains to sustain its form. When the pressure from nuclear reactions drops, gravity overwhelms and destroys the star's core, and the star's various layers are hurled off into space, resulting in a supernova. The rest of the core collapses, leaving a place overrun by density and devoid of volume — a black hole.

Perhaps it's because of Monaco's stunning sun-drenched setting on the French Riviera. Perhaps it is due to its population of well educated doctors and medical personnel. Perhaps it is due to the popularity of the Mediterranean diet, which has been shown to be the healthiest in the world. Of any event, the average life expectancy in Monaco is 89.4 years old, making it the highest in the world, not just in Europe.

Domestic cats are usually considered to be quite small and dainty creatures. But did you know the world’s longest cat was a Maine Coon called Stewie which was measured at 48.5 inches? Whereas, the record for the tallest cat belonged to Arcturus at a whopping 19.05 inches tall! Those are some big cats.

If you like tea, it could originate from Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, a name linked with tea. The first tea plant on the island, brought from China by the British in 1824, was showcased in the Royal Botanical Gardens near Kandy and has evolved into a big enterprise. This teardrop-shaped island nation is still a major tea producer and exporter, with more than one million of its 22 million inhabitants employed in the tea sector.

You could be well on your way to a healthier and longer life if you routinely fill your supermarket cart with a variety of vegetables.

On occasion, hypnosis is shown on television. It's usually part of a plot where the hypnotised person loses control and becomes a "puppet." In reality, people in a relaxed state of hypnosis are fully conscious. They should be able to hear, understand, and remember what the hypnotist says. There should be no worries about being hypnotised and made to cluck like a chicken or sent on a murder spree. They are simply experiencing deep relaxation as a result of their concentrated attention.

Jessica Tandy, who was 81 years old, held the record for the oldest Oscar winner. She was honored for her performance in "Driving Miss Daisy" as the Best Actress.

Aside from skin care products, collagen supplements and foods can help your body produce more collagen. A healthy diet is essential for having beautiful skin. Because collagen is a protein, you must consume a high-protein diet. Leafy vegetables, soy products, red fruits and vegetables, oranges, lemons, beans, carrots, and avocados are all collagen-boosting foods.

Wyoming Territory became the first state to grant the right to vote to women above the age of 21 in 1869. Historians believe that, in addition to granting women equal rights with males, MPs passed the statute in order to attract more settlers to the state.

If you want to have an everlasting connection with a loved one who has passed away, you can compress their ashes and turn them into a man-made diamond. You will be able to cherish them in this manner for the rest of your life.

Both men and women can get hernias, but men are more likely to do so. Babies are susceptible to hernias as well, which occurs while the abdominal walls are still forming and tissue pushes through a weak place in the belly naturally.

If you need the toilet you can knock on someone’s door and ask to use their bathroom in Scotland – and by law, they cannot deny you. 
 

Dolores Umbridge, the worst villain in the Harry Potter series, wound condemned to Azkaban after Order of the Phoenix. According to Pottermore, the reason was that she was involved in imprisoning, torturing, and even ordering the deaths of several innocent witches and wizards during the Second Wizarding War. Being the worst fictional villain since Hannibal Lecter, on the other hand, is a fairly good justification to be imprisoned in Azkaban on its own. Was she worse than him who shall not be named? Maybe not, but wizards and witches like this one were crucial to his machinations, so she's surely in the running for the worst of the wizarding worst.

According to Alzheimer's Orange County, "as the size and proportion of the U.S. population 65 and older continue to expand, the number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias will climb each year." The number of persons with Alzheimer's and other dementias is predicted to increase by more than 40% from 2015 to 7.1 million by 2025. With an estimated 13.8 million, this will almost triple by 2050.

Toby Gard, the creator of Lara Croft, joked that it became clear that Tomb Raider needed a female protagonist when he realised that third-person games require a lot of staring at the main character's butt, so he should probably make that butt a lady's butt to keep him sane during the long hours. In reality, Core was probably afraid of being sued by Lucasfilm for their obvious Indiana Jones rip-off, so they needed a new character who couldn't be confused with Harrison Ford. The simplest way to accomplish this was to switch genders.

Here's a rather contentious DC fact! Diana's romantic interests included both men and women when she was created in 1941. It's understandable when your identity is defined by your struggle with love and you're from an island populated entirely by women. Her creator, William Moulton Marston, was particularly inspired by his polyamorous situation. By the way, this was in 1940, when homosexuality was illegal.