Why we celebrate festivals?

In every major Religion, there are many festivals earmarked for certain days. There are some major festivals like Christmas, Easter and New Year. In India, Deepavali,(festival of lights), Sankaranthi(harvest festival) and new year is celebrated with gaiety. The practice around the globe is “Feasting, wearing new cloths, drinking and attending parties and attending mass in churches. In India too, feasting and wearing new cloths form part of the festival celebrations. In addition, fire crackers are lit emitting colorful lights everywhere. In the houses, lights are lit throughout the outer periphery and in the central place etc. Decorating with colorful rangoli designs and forming flower designs are in the vogue.

Now let us go to the central theme of the festival itself. Why they are celebrated? Christmas is celebrated as the day on which Jesus took birth. He was of Divine Origin. He was sent to the earth by the Father in heaven to guide and teach the people, the purpose of human existence. How one should live and behave with others in society? The duties and disciplines that should be followed by one and all were revealed by him. Reverence to parents, teachers, serving the infirm and poor, sharing our resources with the have not are some of the moral teachings given by him. We celebrate the Holy Christmas singing “Merry Christmas”. Do we remember or follow the teachings of Jesus? Likewise, there are many Hindu festivals. The central theme is forgotten while feasting and wearing new cloths remain. Deepavali is one such festival when we light up our home with earthen lights and pray to god to illumine our inner conscious.

Let us come to the celebration of New Year. To count time, man has invented clock and calanders. We believe that the year starts on a particular moment on a particular day. It may have the origin from Roman or Greek. Each month represents a different God and each day is marked in the memory of some Roman or Greek deities. If you consider, every moment is new, then you need not wait an entire year to shed your bad deeds and take up good one. For instance, if you want to leave ‘smoking or drinking’, you need not wait for the entire year to pass and to start adopting them on New Year day only. Every moment being new and hence any good resolution can be adopted that very moment. You need not postpone it to the dawning of New Year. Hence adopt the central theme of festivals by following the teachings of the great people instead of merely feasting and drinking and attending parties.