SPRINGTIME
Spring is the most beautiful season of the year. It is flamboyant, cheerful, joyous & happy season of the year. Many poets describe spring as the queen of all seasons. After a dull, lifeless, colorless cold season, spring brings life in the world. Everyone wakes up from their hibernation & open their eyes with lot of hope & happiness. Animals get busy to bring new life in the world, plants & trees start to bloom with colorful flowers & leaves and gradually they grow fruits. It is such a vibrant season, which brings happiness to everyone’s mind.
In our human world, we welcome spring with many festivals. All over the world, almost every country celebrates spring in their own style & rituals. Here, I will discuss about some of the well known spring festivals of the world.
In the Northern hemisphere, officially spring starts from 1st of March. In East Asia, spring begins on 4th of February and lasts for 3 months. In the Southern hemisphere, in countries like South Africa, Australia & New Zealand, spring traditionally begins on 1st of September.
In India, the most popular & colorful festival of spring is Holi. This most vibrant festival falls on a full moon day during the month of March. Holi is associated with Lord Krishna. On this occasion, the people sprinkle colored water and powders on one & all.
Bihu is another spring festival of India in the Assam Province. This is truly a regional festival, which brings a sense of solidarity & unity among the people of this region. Bihu is a festival to celebrate fertility. Rangoli Bihu is a combination of Spring, New Year & Agriculture festival. The first day of Rangoli Bihu is known as Gori Bihu. Household cattle’s get special attention & they are decorated with colorful garlands made of flowers & they are given good food.
In China, the spring festival is widely known as Chinese New Year. The festival is celebrated grandly across the country with various cultural activities & firework shows. Dragon & Lion dancing are the most common activities during the Chinese New Year.
In Japan, they celebrate spring on the 18th of March with 1000 men dressed as Samurai Warriors & they take out procession from the Nikko Toshogu shrine.
In Romania, Martisor is an old celebration at the beginning of spring on 1st of March. Decorative ribbons made of red & white strings are offered by most of the people on this day. It is believed that, the one who wears the red & white string will be strong & healthy for the year to come.
Easter is the most famous Christian festival. This is a celebration of life and resurrection of Christ. On Good Friday, alters are stripped & candles extinguished to represent the darkness of the grave. On Easter, light springs from darkness & it is believed that, Christ rises from the tomb. In Orthodox Churches shortly before midnight, all the lights are extinguished and the crowded Church becomes dark & silent. Everyone holds an unlit candle. The Priest lights the paschal candle, which has been ritually blessed and inscribed with the year. He then lights the candles of those people nearby to him, who in turn light the candles of their neighbors, until the Church is filled with light and the Priest starts to sing. Egg is one of the symbols of this festival since they represent new life and potential. Eggs are dyed red during this festival.
Spring Equinox is one of the four great solar festivals of the year. Day and night are equal, poised & balanced. Spring Equinox is sacred to dawn. Just as the dawn is the time of new light so, the vernal equinox is considered as the time of new life too.
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My name is MOUSUMI PAL & I am a housewife. At present, I am residing in Romania. I am a trained Primary Teacher & taught in a school in New Delhi, India. I was attached with a social service organization in India & I served the poor & underprivileged people.
Spring is the most beautiful season of the year. It is flamboyant, cheerful, joyous & happy season of the year. Many poets describe spring as the queen of all seasons. After a dull, lifeless, colorless cold season, spring brings life in the world. Everyone wakes up from their hibernation & open their eyes with lot of hope & happiness. Animals get busy to bring new life in the world, plants & trees start to bloom with colorful flowers & leaves and gradually they grow fruits. It is such a vibrant season, which brings happiness to everyone’s mind.
In our human world, we welcome spring with many festivals. All over the world, almost every country celebrates spring in their own style & rituals. Here, I will discuss about some of the well known spring festivals of the world.
In the Northern hemisphere, officially spring starts from 1st of March. In East Asia, spring begins on 4th of February and lasts for 3 months. In the Southern hemisphere, in countries like South Africa, Australia & New Zealand, spring traditionally begins on 1st of September.
In India, the most popular & colorful festival of spring is Holi. This most vibrant festival falls on a full moon day during the month of March. Holi is associated with Lord Krishna. On this occasion, the people sprinkle colored water and powders on one & all.
Bihu is another spring festival of India in the Assam Province. This is truly a regional festival, which brings a sense of solidarity & unity among the people of this region. Bihu is a festival to celebrate fertility. Rangoli Bihu is a combination of Spring, New Year & Agriculture festival. The first day of Rangoli Bihu is known as Gori Bihu. Household cattle’s get special attention & they are decorated with colorful garlands made of flowers & they are given good food.
In China, the spring festival is widely known as Chinese New Year. The festival is celebrated grandly across the country with various cultural activities & firework shows. Dragon & Lion dancing are the most common activities during the Chinese New Year.
In Japan, they celebrate spring on the 18th of March with 1000 men dressed as Samurai Warriors & they take out procession from the Nikko Toshogu shrine.
In Romania, Martisor is an old celebration at the beginning of spring on 1st of March. Decorative ribbons made of red & white strings are offered by most of the people on this day. It is believed that, the one who wears the red & white string will be strong & healthy for the year to come.
Easter is the most famous Christian festival. This is a celebration of life and resurrection of Christ. On Good Friday, alters are stripped & candles extinguished to represent the darkness of the grave. On Easter, light springs from darkness & it is believed that, Christ rises from the tomb. In Orthodox Churches shortly before midnight, all the lights are extinguished and the crowded Church becomes dark & silent. Everyone holds an unlit candle. The Priest lights the paschal candle, which has been ritually blessed and inscribed with the year. He then lights the candles of those people nearby to him, who in turn light the candles of their neighbors, until the Church is filled with light and the Priest starts to sing. Egg is one of the symbols of this festival since they represent new life and potential. Eggs are dyed red during this festival.
Spring Equinox is one of the four great solar festivals of the year. Day and night are equal, poised & balanced. Spring Equinox is sacred to dawn. Just as the dawn is the time of new light so, the vernal equinox is considered as the time of new life too.
***************
My name is MOUSUMI PAL & I am a housewife. At present, I am residing in Romania. I am a trained Primary Teacher & taught in a school in New Delhi, India. I was attached with a social service organization in India & I served the poor & underprivileged people.
email: babia1@hotmail.com
nice article !!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIts a called a classic post...
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