Quick Facts and Stats Summary: Festival marking the death of Buddha, his achievement of Parinirvana, final enlightenment. 2021 Date: 15th February Celebrated by: Buddhists, particularly Mahayana Buddhists Linked Holidays: Vesak Background and Theological Significance Nirvana is the ultimate aim for a Buddhist. Buddha himself is seen as the first to have achieved it, at around […]
Quick Facts and Stats Summary: Winter Solstice Festival commemorating the deaths of forty Sikh Martyrs 2021 Date: 13th January Celebrated by: Sikhs Linked Holidays: Lohri, Winter Solstice Background and Theological Significance Maghi has its origins in the wars fought between the Sikh community, the Khalsa, and the Mughal Empire in the 1600s and 1700s. It […]
Quick Facts Summary: A Sikh festival celebrating the birth of the founder of the faith Guru Nanak 2020 Date: 30th November Celebrated by: Sikhs, Nanakpanthis, parts of India (as a National Holiday) Linked Holidays: Gurpurab festivals, Vaisakhi (Sikhism) Background and Theological Significance Guru Nanak Gurpurab, also known as Guru Nanak Jayanti and Guru Nanak’s Prakash […]
Quick Facts Summary: a five-day ‘festival of lights’ celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists 2020 Date: 14th November (regional variations) and two days either side Celebrated by: Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Indians Linked Holidays: Tihar and Swanti (Nepalese variations of Diwali), Bandi Chhor Divas (Sikhism), Raksha Bandhan (Hinduism), Galungan (Balinese Hinduism), Kali Puja (Hinduism) […]
Quick Facts Summary: a three-day Christian commemoration of the saints and all the faithful departed. 2020 Date: 31st October, 1st November, 2nd November Celebrated by: Western Christians, Western Culture Linked Holidays: Hallowe’en (Western), Samhain (Pagan) Background and Theological Significance Hallowtide, also called Allhallowtide or the Hallowmas season, is a triduum (three day observance) in the […]
Quick Facts Summary: A festival month in East Asia in which people leave food and offerings for ancestors and others who have are suffering in the afterlife. 2020 Date: September 2nd. The Seventh month of the East Asian Lunar Calendar. Celebrated by: Buddhists, Taoists, Chinese and East Asian societies. Linked Holidays: Sweeping Tomb Festival, Phi […]
Quick Facts and Stats Summary: Hindu Chariot procession, specifically the procession of Lord Jaganath, his elder brother and younger sister, to Lord Jaganath’s birthplace and the temple of their Aunt in Puri in the Indian state of Odisha 2019 Date: July 4th, date varies Celebrated by: Hindus, Indians especially in the East of the subcontinent. […]
Quick Facts Summary: a celebration of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere 2020 Date: 21st June (exact timing depends on location) Celebrated by: Numerous cultures worldwide, modern pagans Linked Holidays: December Solstice, Wiccan Wheel of the Year festivals, Feast of St John the Baptist Background and […]
