Festivals: Paths to Unity
Festivals play a significant role among all religions, but especially among Hindu and Sikh traditions. Every religion has numerous festivals (rituals), but what is the point of having such ceremonies? I believe festivals play an important role in religious life because they are the gateways to unity and peace, as well as love and friendship. Rituals bring forward the feelings of unity and devotion at the same time, therefore, emphasizing the need for religious ceremonies. It is during festivals that people come together as a community and light the flames of devotion in their hearts. I feel that it is during their participation in religious festivals when people really ‘walk the talk,’ in other words, following the teachings of the religious founders, in that they see God in everyone hence creating a true loving relationship with everyone. It is in the participation of festivals when people truly let go of the evils in their hearts towards others, like jealousy and malice, and truly lose themselves in the service of others. People emphasize that Sikh and Hindu traditions are tremendously different, but are they really? Festivals play such a vital role in peoples’ lives that I’ve devoted this visitation report to compare and contrast the festivals and rituals of Hinduism and Sikhism.
Being a Hindu, and having lived in New Delhi till I was seven, I can confidently say that Hinduism has the most festivals out of all other religions in the world. In fact, during my childhood in India, I remember celebrating a different festival pretty much every week. It was so much fun to have the entire family and friends come together during a festival to celebrate and forget our differences. However, what I loved the most about Indian festivals is the food. I can proudly say that Indians live on sweets! During festival times, people visit all their friends and family, and always take a box of sweets with them as a gift. In fact, if someone was...