Festivals are part of one’s custom, culture and tradition. They are there for us to celebrate. It helps us forget our routine. It gives us some momentary, mental and physical relaxation and thus frees us from die shackles of monotonous work.
In India alone there are over 100 festivals celebrated throughout a year. The reason is that there are all religions like, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhism, Jainism, Parsis and so on.
Indian festivals are chiefly season-oriented; summer, winter, spring and autumn. Besides, there is much other regional festival like South, North, East, West, etc. Every festival tells a message pertaining to our customs, traditional values, mythology, culture, even historical events and the birth of the New Year too.
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Diwali, festival of lights is the major festival in India for the Hindus. However, there are many others like Lord Ganesh Chaturthi, Dusshera, Vijayadasami, Holi, Janmashtami, Sri Ram Navami, Onam and all. But more than anything else, it is worth mentioning that not a single Hindu festival is celebrated without providing a livelihood for the poor.
Camphor, betel leaves and nuts, crackers, lowers and garlands, coconuts, bananas, plantain leaves, turmeric, honey and many such commodities, with which every festival is celebrated, help the poor farmers and the laborers to earn money for their bread. Even clay soil also fetches money to the poor as they make out Lord Ganesh idols with that.
For Muslims, Ramzan is the most important festival. This is the beginning of the new month according to Arabic calendar. Muslims, who follow the strict custom of fasting for the whole month, break their fasting on being announced in the Mosque after the sighting of the Moon. Their devotion is praise-worthy.
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Christmas Eve tops all festivals celebrated by Christian’s world over. It is the birth of Jesus Christ.
They assemble at the church for the mid-night mass and greet their friends and relatives.
Similarly, there are other festivals too. Temple festivals, Food festivals, Folk festivals, Fairs and many others. However, if there is an eve that unites one irrespective of one’s race, religion, caste creed, origin and all other differences and promotes total integration throughout the world, it is the English New Year!
New Year is the true secular festival. People, in spite of their differences, greet each other during New Year forgetting their own straits.