Festivals in India have morphed from not only religious reasons but also due to the seasons, geographies and other reasons. Today, we shall explore the meaning of festivals. This goes beyond eating and having fun.
Take the example of Diwali. While bursting fire crackers and indulging in sweets and other savouries, it is a way for our body to enter into the winter phase by indulging in sweets made of nuts and ghee. Before the cold winters come upon us we all visit each other and spend time with families and friends. Isn’t this a good way to look at how festivals and seasons align with each other? About firecrackers, the small little insects that remain in the atmosphere due to the after effects of monsoon are scared away. This doesn’t mean we burst too many to cause smoke and fog!
Hence, Deepawali or Diwali is not about lighting the diyas, but lighting the lamp within us – the lamp of knowledge. It gives a symbolic way of teaching us to live life in a better way, an enlightened way.
Hijri or the Muslim calender follows festivals according to 12 lunations and the sliding of the seasons. This is a great example of following astronomy or lunar effects.
Till now a lot of people assumed that climate has no relation to festivals however you will be in for a surprise when you know that we have been influenced by the sun and the moon for a long time before we even had clocks and calendars!
The seasonal festivals are all associated with the astronomical position of the Sun, the religious significance and economic as well as crop pattern. Sankranti is the harvest festival which also combines with the new economic cycle with the start of winter solstice. Harvest festival is celebrated in various parts of India in the name of Lohri, Pongal and Ugadi. The foods consumed during this time also help combat the winter especially with the aid of jaggery, peanuts and sesame.
Spring season is celebrated through the Holi festival. The significance of the “Flame of the Forest” or kesuda is highlighted here for the bodily heat to disperse by taking a bath with cooled down boiled water of kesuda flowers. The process of dipping the flowers and boiling it takes a week and it not only helps lower body temperature but also a natural orange colour that is so very much associated with the colour of Rajasthan. The spring equinox is associated with this season.
So you see, major and minor festivals in India have a reason for our body to adapt to the changes in seasons and there are reasons for their celebration given our agricultural predominance.
