Five Major Festivals Celebrated By Hindus In South Asia And Their Importance: Pongal, Deepavali, Thaipoosam, Mahashivratri And Navarathri

Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world. It was originated in India. It’s formed from a combination of the Indus River Valley, Aryan and Dravidian cultures. Hinduism has no single founder and does not only have single holy text. It’s being practised by a significant proportion of the population in India and across the world like in South Asia. Its historical traditions and philosophies are founded on four Vedas which are the ancient history of different ages of Hinduism. In Hinduism, there are 6 sect-like Vaishnava sects, Shiva sect, Kaumaram sect, Saktham sect, Ganapathyam sect and Saumaram sect. Each of these sects has its own festivals. In Hinduism, festivals are given primacy and not merely on the basis of religion rather they are taken as celebrating brotherhood and goodwill with everyone.

The festivals are an expression of the spirit of celebration. The festivals that celebrate by the Hindus in every season has a valid reason. There are many festivals celebrated by Hindus in South Asia until now and it has much importance. The five major festivals celebrated by Hindus in South Asia are Pongal, Deepavali, Mahashivaratri, Navaratri and Thaipoosam.

Pongal

Pongal is one of the main festivals celebrated by Hindus in South Asia. It is an ancient Tamil festival. Pongal festival is a festival that is related to Saumaram (Surya) sect. Usually, this festival falls on the Tamil month of Thai (January). Thai Pongal is celebrated on the first day of Uthirayanam which is the sun transitions from the southern direction to the northern direction (Paanam, 1992). Hindus celebrate this festival as a day to thank the God Surya (Sun). It is because without the sun there would be no harvest and nature giving its grace to agriculture. Without agriculture, there would be no food for us. So, on this day they celebrate the harvest and the sun’s entrance into the Capricorn. They celebrate this festival at home or in the temple together with their family members. Usually Pongal festival will celebrate by Hindus for four days. One day before Pongal they will celebrate the Bogi festival which they will discard old things and bring new things. This is important because they discard all the negative things and thoughts from their mind and start their life with new and fresh minds (Rajakrishnan, 2006). On the second day they will celebrate Surya Pongal. They will wake up early in the morning before sunrise, take bath and do the Pongal at the entrance of the house or temple. They will prepare Pongal (sweet rice) and eat that together with their family members. On the third day, they celebrate Mattu (cattle) Pongal which is to thank and show gratitude to the cow that is be instrumental and helpful for the agricultural work. On this day they will decorate the cow and prepare Pongal (sweet rice), then they will fed the Pongal food to the cow as a thankful for them. On the fourth day, they celebrate ‘Kanum Pongal’ which is celebrated by unmarried women to get a good husband that is suitable for them and at the same time get blessings from the elders for their good and healthy life.

Deepavali

Deepavali is one of the main festival celebrated by the hindus in South Asia. This festival is a festival related to Vaishnava sect. Usually, this festival falls on Tamil month of Ippasi (end of October or beginning of November). Before Deepavali, the people will do preparation to celebrate like cleaning the house, buy new clothes, prepare snacks. On this day, the Hindus will wake up early in the morning and take oil bath before the prayer. Taking oil bath is good for our body and it keep our body cool and fresh the entire day. After take oil bath, they will place the new clothes in pooja room to thank the god for his grace then only they will wear the new clothes and get a blessing from the elders. On this day, people will lit the lamps in pooja rooms and also around the house because they believe that God as the eternal flame removes the darkness of ignorance from all beings thereby enlightens higher wisdom in them (Manimaran, 2006). During Deepavali, people will invite relatives, friends, neighbours to their house to celebrate together with them and they also will prepare some snacks like murukku and foods for them.

Thaipoosam

Thaipoosam is one of the major festivals celebrated by the Hindus in South Asia. This festival is a festival related to Kaumaram (Murugan) sect. This festival is usually celebrated in temples especially at Lord Muruga temples. This festival is celebrated in the tamil month of Thai (January). In our country, this festival is celebrated very popularly at Batu Cave temple, Ipoh Kallumalai temple and Penang Thanneermalai temple. The main thing during this festival is make many type of offerings like carrying kavadis (paal kavadi, panneer kavadi) and milks, shaving their head, offer fruits, flowers to god and at the same time offer food for peoples. The devotees will prepare them for this festival like eat only vegetarian food and keep their self clean and maintain self-discipline for 48 days before the festival. During this festival the devotees offer many things to thankfull to the God for what they get or achive in their life.

Mahasivaratri

Mahasivaratri is the one of the festivals celebrated by the hindus in South Asia. It also called as the great night of Shiva. Its celebrates loard Shiva’s emanation of the universe through his cosmic dance. This festival is a festival that is related to the Shiva sect. Usually, this festival falls on the month of Magha (January – February). The Hindus will stay awake the whole night and perform poojas, practice meditations, chant vedic mantras and sing devotional songs. Attending Mahasivaratri Puja at the temple will bring positivity and purity to the environment, peace to the mind, destroy bad karmas and it also help to transform the negative emotions of a person. On this day, the Hindus will with light food or fruits that are easily digestible and this will help to detoxify our body. In the point of astrological view, on Mahasivaratri the sun and the moon will be in the particular alignment and this will help to elevate our mind.

Navaratri

The meaning of Navaratri is ‘nine nights’. In Sanskrit ‘nava’ means nine and ‘ratri’ means night. This festival usually celebrated for 10 days. Nine days celebrations (three days celebration for each one of them) are for three different forms of reincarnated of Mother God Athi Parasakthi (Parvathi as the consort of Shiva, Lakshmi as the consort of Vishnu, Saraswathi as the consort of Brahma). The 10th day will be a grand celebration called Vijayatasami. In these days devotes will pray to God Durga to give them energy, strength to fight against the bad things in the world and evil forces. On 7th day of this festival, they will celebrate for lord Saraswathi. On this day the students will thankful for what they have and get a blessing from lord Saraswathi. The 9th day will be the day of ‘Ayudha Puja’ which is to express gratitude to God for help them to fulfil their duties and make them successful in their life. During this festival, the devotees will fast by eating vegetarian foods and avoiding certain spices while cooking and avoiding drinking alcohol.

Conclusion

Nowadays, Hinduism in South Asia has faced many challenges but it still functions without losing its own identity. In conclusion, we can said that all the festivals that celebrate by Hindus in South Asia are based on God and its mainly give important to thanking the god. Some of the festivals celebrated at home with their family members, some of the festivals are celebrated in temples and some of the festivals can be celebrated at both places. All the festivals give them happiness, teach them health lifestyle by fasting and keep their body clean always, help them to maintain self-discipline, reduce the negative thoughts and give them strength to overcome the problems. So that we can said that each and every festival has their own reasons and benefits. Others religions people can know and understand the beliefs, thoughts, worship and culture of Hindus by these festivals.