Festivals

India is known for its religious festivals. perhaps no country in the world has as many religious festivals as India. All Indian communities have religious festivals, and they have much in common. The sivarathri of the Hindus is a day of fasting and keeping awake at night in an attitude of prayer and supplication. The fasting is for self-purification and self- restraint. Orthodox Hindu fast on every moonless eleventh day of the month, which they call ekadasi. A similar day is observed by Muslims on the 27TH day of Ramzan. It is a moonless night and is known as Shab-e-kaddar. Devotees keep awake and pray for Allah’s blessings. Again, in the 8th lunar month on the 14th night, the devout Muslims keep awake and pray for prosperity. There is another night in the 7th month of the lunar year (27th moonless night) known as shab-e-miraJ ON WHICH THE ORTHODOX Muslims keep awake the whole night. This is known as night of ascension. The prophet Muhammad was supposed to have read communion with God on that night.

The Christians observe Good Friday as a day of fasting and prayer. They spend three hours in the church (symbolic of the three hours Christ spent on the Cross), reading the Bible, praying, or listening to the service.

It is the day on which Christ was crucified. LENT is an important period for Christians. This season lasts for forty days (excluding Sundays). These forty days have a great significance for Christians, because Christ fasted and lived in the wilderness for forty days before he started his ministry of God on earth. For Christians, these forty days are for meditation, self-examination, self-purification, and for drawing closer to GOD. It begins on Ash-Wednesday. Ash is a symbol of repentance, humility and simplicity. For Christians, it has the same meaning as vibhuthi has for Hindus. The meaning of fasting and keeping awake at night is the same in all religions. Gandhiji fasted whenever he wanted to purify himself. The young students must realize that all religions of the world uphold the same principles of love, sacrifice and self-denial.

All the major religions have festivals related to their prophet’s lives or with God’s incarnations or avatars. Most Hindu festivals commemorate various manifestations of Godhood. Gokulashtami, mahasivarathri, dasara and numerous other Hindu festivals are all centered around God or around the manifestations of God and so are the Muslims Ramzan, bakrid and id. Christmas, of course, is a celebration of the birth of Christ.

Rural India celebrates all the festivals of urban India, but in a smaller ay. Rural Hindus and Muslims believe in many village deities. One of the fascinating things about rural festivals is that Hindus, Muslims and Christians often celebrate many festivals together in a spirit of communal harmony. As Baba has said, there is only one caste, the caste of humanity; there is only one religion, the religion of love.

Indians as a people are deeply religious-minded. It has never been possible for Indians to think of life independently of religion. Though emotional and at times superstitious, Indians no matter what their religion is, are a warm and hospitable people. The family plays a very important role in the Indian way of life. The ties among members of an Indian family are much stronger than in a Western family. All Indian religions demand that youngsters show respect to their elders. Looking after parents in their old age is a sacred duty. Indians believe in old traditions, but they are very tolerant of traditions and customs other than theirs. They attach great importance to character and try to develop fine morals in their youngsters.

The Indian outlook of tolerance, forbearance and fortitude is the result of the Indian people’s reverence for their past, it’s myths, rituals, literature, religious customs and its fine arts. We must strive to make our past relevant to our present in a meaningful way.

Let us prove ourselves worthy of our great heritage. Let us try to live in the perspective of truth, uploading the five cardinal principles, the panch Sheela of our sanathana dharma- Sathya, dharma, santhi, prema, and ahimsa. Let us try to spread the SAI MESSAGE of love and purity of life and make the world a happier place for all. VANDE MATARAM!

There is only one Religion, – the Religion of love;

There is only one Caste, – the Caste of humanity;

There is only one language, – the language of the heart;

There is only one God, – HE IS OMNIPRESENT.

[Source: The Path Divine, Sri Sathya Sai Balvikas, Dharmakshetra, Mumbai]