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The Festivals Anand K Bhatt "I was born in 1944 in Lalooland. Did M.A. in Economics (Allahabad University) and later, on a sabbatical, did M.A. in Development Economics from Sussex University (U.K.). After putting in 34 years in the Indian Administrative Service, I put in my papers in 2003 when I was Additional Secretary to Govt. of India (working as Chairman, Forward Markets Commission, Govt. of India). Since 2003 I am Administrative Member in the Mumbai Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal which is a body to look into the grievances of central government employees. I belonged to Madhya Pradesh cadre which is full of forests and wild life. I developed a keen interest in forests, trees and plants, both wild and ornamental. I was Divisional Commissioner in Bastar (now in Chhattisgarh) which has the largest area under forests in entire Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. I occasionally do some birdwatching as a hobby and like to read novels. I do try to write occasionally on anything which comes to my mind."

I realized that unlike Christmas or Id-ul-Fitr, there is no festival in Hindu religion which is observed and celebrated in the entire country with equal verve and enthusiasm. This shows how all-encompassing and flexible Hindu religion is; Different regions, different agro-climatic conditions and different days which become important.

Before my Tribunal closed down for a week for the winter vacation which included the Christmas and the New Year, I wished Merry Christmas to my Secretary. She sheepishly admitted that she did not celebrate Christmas. I was surprised. Then she explained that she belonged to a sect called Jehovah’s Witnesses. They did not celebrate Christmas as according to them it had pagan origins and that many a Christian look forward to the festival not for the sake of Christ, but for the sake of financial gains only.

I had not heard of this sect, and realizing this she gave me a printout the next day containing information about Jehovah's Witnesses and then I searched on the web. According to what I could gather, the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that after the death of last apostle, the Church gradually diverged in a ‘great apostasy’ from the original teachings of Jesus on several major points. Jehovah is the original name for God which finds mention in the original Hebrew Scriptures, and which the later translations simplified to God.

‘Ye are my witness, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen, that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he; before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am Jehovah, and beside me there is no savior.’ (Isaiah 43:10,11).

Then in John 18:37; Revelation 8:14 Jesus told his disciples, ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witness of me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.’

At present there are about 6.6 million Jehovah’s Witnesses the world over, with about 1.331 million adults in the US. Influenced by Restorationism, they see their faith as continually improving, imperfect restoration of first century Christianity. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that true understanding of the scriptures began to be reassembled by Charles Taze Russell and his associates when they formed the Bible study group in the 1870s in Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

To come back to the main theme, my Secretary’s revelation led me to thinking as to whether this happens to other religious sects also, especially in India. I realized that unlike Christmas or Id-ul-Fitr, there is no festival in Hindu religion which is observed and celebrated in the entire country with equal verve and enthusiasm. This shows how all-encompassing and flexible Hindu religion is; Different regions, different agro-climatic conditions and different days which become important. One can also see that one festival takes an entirely different shape in another area. Dashera for the northern India becomes associated with Ram and Ravana. In the upper caste of Kshatriyas it becomes shastra puja (worship of weapons) as it was their profession and for many the most important possession for their livelihood. Bengal on the same day observes Durga Puja, which is associated with the mythology of Durga killing the demon Mahishasura. Some areas like Jabalpur in Central India during Dashera establish the statue of Kali with protruding tongue red with blood, instead of Durga. Bengal gives little importance to Diwali which again is associated with the mythology of Ram in northern India and for the business class with the worship of the goddess of wealth (Lakshmi). Spring for Punjab becomes Baisakhi, whereas for the Bengali it is associated with another goddess Saraswati (goddess of learning). South has no place for Holi which is a riotous festival for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Kerala has Onam and Tamilnadu Pongal which is observed on Makar Sankranti (14 January) when the sun moves from Sagittarius to Capricorn.

The question I wanted to ask my Secretary which I did not was what the Jehovah’s Witnesses observe to bring catharsis to their celebratory instinct. I thought it might hurt her.

© Janmeja Singh Johl

Why do we observe festivals? They have religious nexus to remind us of our way of life, of our mythology and associated folklores, and tend to strengthen the bond which we have with our customs, traditions and culture. One point that strikes you about Hindu festivals is that they are festivals connected with seasons and harvesting in addition to being associated with religion. Maybe they were associated with religion as an afterthought only to give them a more permanent character. Association with seasons and harvesting could also be the reason for different festivals being important in different regions.

But there are other reasons. One is as I mentioned above. Everybody has a celebratory instinct which has to find expression after certain intervals. Illumination, fireworks, crackers and throwing colors and colored water are the ways to express this instinct. Some people do it at the time of marriage of their sons and daughters. It is another thing that Hindus have so many festivals that we skip some of them and concentrate on a few. India Government has the largest number of holidays (16) to cover all the festivals of all the religions in the typical secular fashion, and when 16 holidays were not found enough, a large list of restricted holidays were appended and you were allowed to take 2-3 of them in the year.

But the real delight of festivals is gastronomic. Sweets and savories galore, and every festival has its own special dishes to relish and enjoy. No wonder India has the largest number of diabetics in the world.

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