In India, the celebrations of fairs and festivals form a wondrous and joyful series
of events, marking the rites of passage between birth, death and renewal. There
are said to be more festivals in India than there are days of the year; not unlikely
in a country where small, local village rituals of worship and propitiation are
celebrated with as much as fervor as are high holy days across the nation, occasions
that can draw floods of people numbering half a million or more. Fairs and festivals
are moments of remembrance and commemoration of the birthdays and great deeds
of gods, goddesses, hero’s, heroine’s, gurus, prophet’s and saints. They are times
when people gather together, linked by ties of shared social and religious beliefs.
Each of India’s many religious groups – Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists,
Jains and others – has its own such days.
The ancient tradition of celebrating festivals goes back to the Vedic times of
the Aryans. The Vedic scriptures and literature give many references to festivals
when celebrations where carried on to honor gods, rivers, trees, mountains, the
coming of monsoons, the end of winter or the first flush of spring. The celebrations
included not only fasting and prayers, but also equally events of social and cultural
significance. Performances of music, dance and drama took place side by side with
more rugged physical activities: displays of valor and virility through chariot
and boat races or wrestling matches and animal fights in which rams, wild bulls,
elephants, oxen, horses and even rhinoceroses took part. Then, as always, there
was much feasting and merriment to be enjoyed. There were YAJNAS (sacrificial
fires), where milk, clarified butter and ghee were offered to gods before being
shared between worshippers. Special foods were cooked and served, prepared from
freshly harvested crops. Elaborate garlands and ropes of flowers were woven as
an offering to the gods and also to be worn over festive robes and jewelry. Such
an assembly provided opportunity to trade, buy and sell all manner if goods, from
live stock to silks, spices and handcrafted objects of ritual or daily use. |
Ancient Indians  used to express these occasions through the words ‘SAMAJA’
(a gathering of people), ‘UTSAVA’ (a festival) and ‘YATRA’ (a pilgrimage or temple
chariot procession). And though today we might use the word ‘MELA’ (meaning a
fair) rather than a SAMAJA, it is astonishing how steadily and faithfully these
traditions have endured over the centuries. Even today, festivals are symbolic
of a link between the home, the villages and a larger outside world. Within the
home, celebrations are expressed by the love and care given to its decoration
by the women of the house; the freshly washed courtyards are embellished with
designs made in flower petals, colored powder or rice flour; walls are painted
with scenes from the epics is made brilliant with bits of mirrored glass; doorways
are hung with auspicious mango leaves or marigold flowers. Each festival in each
religion has its own particular foods and sweets appropriate to the season and
crops, and days are spent in their careful preparation. |
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