8 Majour Religions and Their Festivals

Religious FestivalsAccording to Answers.com (n.d):?A religion is ??A localise of beliefs, values, and practices ground on the get a lineings of a spiritual guide oner.??A fete is ? ?An role for banquet or festivity, e peculiar(prenominal)ly a solar twenty-four hour period or clip of spectral signifi plentyce that recurs at regular intervals.?Therefore a unearthly fete is a fiesta having religious signifi lavatoryce. Festivals ar a sequence of exultation. This could be angiotensin converting enzyme or devil mean solar days or set everyplace a daylong plosive speech sound. normal modelings screw intromit celebrations of nativitys, birthdays, death, marriage, or an core that is keep by a specific religion. Other festivals of celebration mess excessively accept events that argon significant within tidy sums lives, much(prenominal) as starting school, graduating levels at school, Father?s/ return?s day, world youth day or get in concert a specific reli gious group. These events can be keep back with close family, the wider family, within communities, religions or the whole world, all dep dyinging on the occasion. For the purpose of this paper, a religious festival will include any event that occurs one- familyly, that is followed by a group of religious nation. It can be set by d take or quantify of the family. The phoebe bird major religions of - Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - and their religions atomic payoff 18 discussed in draft below with their dates of occasion of the current grade of 2009. This information is taken from the BBC website (n.d.) and the unit text, funding Religion (2005). HinduismHoli 11.03.09Holi is the festival of colour which is famed everywhere several days to stigmatize new life level and seasons. It is often seen as a age of ?fun? instead than a religious event, as the people celebrate with activities that subscribe colour with paint and laughable in larg e groups. Holi is in like manner an event w! here there is no discrimination of people by age, caste, sex activity and class. The origin of the festival of Holi is based around a taradiddle of a playful young boy, Krishna, who threw coloured water all over some milkmaids. This developed into the fun and games and celebration of Holi, and bonfires argon illume as a symbol of tidy overcoming evil. Diwali 17.10.09Diwali is a five day celebration that is more commonly referred to as the ?festival of lights?. During this time, hearths are thoroughly cleaned out and oil lamps are lit. It can be celebrated oppositely throughout India, so farthermost the main focussing is the renewal of life, and therefore new invariant are worn on the initiative day. It excessively represents the number 1 of winter and the sowing season. For children, Diwali is celebrated with fire acidifys and the exchanging of sweets. BuddhismNirvana 15.02.09Nirvana (also hit the hay as Par nirvana) is the celebration of Buddha?s death when he rea ched match Nirvana. The aim of this day is to focus Buddhists imagineing on their lives and how they can work towards gaining pause and their Nirvana. Nirvana is seen to be the ultimate aim of Buddhism as it signifies the end of rebirth. It is celebrated by mediation within the home or by attending Buddhist temples where the death of Buddha and different juvenile deaths are mulled upon. The people prepare food and work on presents much(prenominal) as m iodiny, household gifts and clothes. Wesak May Full moon 20.05.09Wesak (also cognise as Vekak or Budda twenty-four hours) is the celebration of Buddha?s birth, understanding and death. The focus is on the inculcateing of Buddha, and the night of his enlightenment. Wesak is an other festival of colours and joy, where followers begin their celebration earlier get hold of at the temples to meditate and take the five precepts. Homes are cleaned and grace in preparation for the day and offerings are made to the monks and t he temples as a sign of respect to Buddha and his tea! chings. JudaismPassover 09.04.09Passover is a time of recall of how the children of Israel unexpended slavery behind them when they were destituted from Egypt by Moses. During the evening of this day the story is told closely Moses warning the Pharaoh with idol?s noble plagues and how the Israelites were told by God through Moses to make a rag over their door with lamb?s blood to be spared of these terrible events. The festival lasts eight-spot days in objurgation of the eight days this story took place, and they celebrate being ?free? people of Egypt. A special service called Seder takes place over a repast at a round table. Rosh Hashanah 19.09.09 - 20.09.09Rosh Hashanah attach the beginning two days in the Judaic calendar. The people think that this is a time to reflect on face-to-face growth and to clarify life priorities and what was achieved in the previous year. It is also a time to for shake off any sins in the past year. The substitution feature of the cere mony conducted at the tabernacle is the blowing of a chock up?s horn as they focus on God?s kinship. On the first evening a special repast is eaten by the people. Yom Kippur 28.09.09Yom Kippur is a solemn day, a day of Atonement. The Jewish people immediate for a occlusion of 25 days as they reflect on the past year and ask God to clear their sins. There is a conclusion of 10 days in the midst of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, referred to as the days of repentance, which allows time for the Jews to set things right in their lives. A large meal is usually shared among people forwards moderation; however People can fast or be free of something of value to them for 25 days. There are umteen services that are conducted in the synagogue during this time, that represent the beginning, mettle and end of this time. Hanukkah Begins 12.12.09Hanukkah is an 8 day holiday. It also cognize as the festivals of lights, and celebrates the greatest miracle in Jewish history. The story g oes that on an occasion that there was only complete! oil to last for one day, however the lamp was lit for 8 days. Now the tradition is that one atomic number 48 is on the Hanukkah candle is lit per day. The Hanukkah symbolises how God looked after the Jewish people in a time of difficulty. ChristianityLent Begins 25.02.09Lent is head of six weeks leading up to Easter, a total of 40 days (not including sunshines) that begins on modify Wednesday and ends with Easter. It is symbolic for Christians to fast during this time in recognition of the 40 days saviour went into the desert to avoid any lure forwards his crucifixion. The day before Ash Wednesday is Shrove Tuesday where traditionally Christians ate pancakes to empty the cupboards of food before commencing their fasting period. In right away?s society this period of lent is seen more as a time to snuff it up luxurious items that we do not really pauperism for 40 days, such as cigarettes, television, chocolate or figurer games. Easter Day 12.04.09Easter is the celebrati on of the death and resurrection of rescuer. messiah was crucified as a consequence of blasphemy, because he claimed to be the Son of God. On Good Friday a 3 hour service is held at churches to listen to the story of the lead up to Jesus? death. alive(p) cross buns are eaten on this day as the cross represents the cross that Jesus died on, and a reminder that Jesus died to save us all. Easter Sunday marks Jesus? resurrection. Jesus promised to send the Holy timber so the disciples would know that God would never leave them. Christmas Day 25.12.09Christmas the day of celebrating the birth of Jesus, who the Christians believe to be the son of God. eld prior to Jesus? birth date are known as BC (before Christ) and years following his birth are known as AD (from the Latin Anno Domini meaning in the year of our Lord). On Christmas Eve, a midnight church service is offered to celebrate the time of Jesus? birth. On Christmas Day families gather together for a meal and transform pre sents as a symbol of the disciples manner of speakin! g gifts to Jesus. The word Christmas comes from the oral communication Christ and mass celebrating Christ. IslamRamadan 22.08.09 - 21.09.09Ramadan is a time where Muslims celebrate the time when the religious book of the Qur?an was presented to the Prophet. It is a time of fasting during the twenty-four hour period hours, as a time of spiritual reflection, prayer and doing good deeds. self- parapet is intended to give Muslims good self discipline, self restraint and generosity. The people generally start a meal before sunrise and after sunset following the example of the Prophet. Muslims try to read the verses of the Qur?an during this time. At the end of the feasting period a big celebration takes place, where Muslims tog in the outmatch clothes, give gifts to children and spend time with family and friends. Donations are made during this time, to match others can buy new clothes for this special occasion. Eid-ul-Adha 28.11.09 - 01.12.09Eid-ul-Adha also known as Eid, is a celebration of sacrifice. It marks the annual journey to Makkah, however only pilgrims to Makkah celebrate it fully. It is celebrated over 1-3 days. Muslims rob in their best clothes, go to the Mosque for prayer and thank Allah for their blessings they have received. They visit family and offer presents to children. Donations are made during this time, to come across others can buy new clothes for this special occasion. Our PresentationAlara and I chose to present this information to the class of university level students who are read primary school educators as a way for them to teach their students well-nigh religion. We began with an introduction activity of matching cards which could be used in upper primary to see what students already know about the different religions (prior knowledge), or with younger students as a revision activity to see what they have learnt. We chose to decorate up as the religious leaders and speak about the religious festivals. This creates a more interesting way for students to control in th! e learning of different religions that may otherwise await boring. It is also a good way to encourage students from other religions in the class to discuss what they celebrate, how and why. References and BibliographyAuthor Unknown (n.d). Answers.com. Retrieved March 10. 2009 fromhttp://www.answers.comMorrissey, J., Mudge, P., Taylor, A., Bailey, G., & Rule, P. (2005). animated Religion, (3rd ed.). Melbourne: Pearson Longman. The BBC (n.d) BBC - Schools ? Religion. Retrieved March 10 2009 fromhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/ If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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