Sunday Reading task : Bonfire

Hello readers, welcome to my blog....

 I'm living in India. In India there are so many festivals like, Uttrayan, Diwali,  Holi and so on. Here I want to  talk  about festival of colours and new positives vibes. So let's  see  some  story or ritual behind it. Through this  we can discuss our  own culture and try to  know  them  in more  curious way. So here we go.... 

In India  bonfire is known as Holi and Holika Dahan. Now you  got the  idea  that  what is Holi or bonfire. So here in this blog I have to  give answer of some  questions and through them  we can  do  out  further discussion too. 

 1) How many countries celebrate Bonfire? Why? (If you can find reasons . . . are there common reasons?)

Guy Fawkes Night (Bonfire Night) - Englan

On the very night the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, bonfires were lit to celebrate the king’s survival,Every year since, 5 November has been celebrated as Guy Fawkes Night, or Bonfire Night.Fireworks are set off to represent the explosives that were never set off, and it’s traditional to burn stuffed effigies of Guy Fawkes on the bonfire.

Daizenji Tamataregu Shrine’s “Oniyo” - Fukuoka, Japan

Considered one of the three major fire festivals in Japan, the Oniyo Fire Festival at the Daizenji Tamataregu Shrine is an important shrine tradition reaching back 1,600 years.

The fire ceremony marks the culmination of the "Oni-kai" festival, which starts on New Year’s Eve. At 9 p.m. on the night of January 7, the "devil fire" which has been guarded at the temple is transferred to six enormous torches measuring up to one meter in diameter and 13 meters in length. These torches are carried around the shrine grounds by groups of men in loincloths from the six neighboring towns. The fire festival is held to exorcise evil spirits from the town, and spectators are said to be blessed with good luck if some of the embers or ash fall on them.

Jeongwol Daeboreum Deulbul Festival - Jeju, S. Korea

Year of 2021, the festival falls on Tuesday, February 19th, and a variety of events, such as ritual ceremonies, Daljip burning  and the performing of folk plays are being planned at a number of locations around Busan.

They are public events with free admission. The main event of the festival, the Daljip burning will take place around moonrise after the opening ritual ceremony. There will be various participation programs for visitors, including New Year’s wish writing, traditional Korean folk games and more.

Quema del Diablo (Burning of the Devil) - Guatemala

Every year of  December 7 at sharp 6 o'clock , Guatemalans burn the devil, building bonfires outside their homes to mark the occasion. 

The tradition has special significance in Guatemala City because of its association with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception which honors the city’s patron saint.

Up Helly Aa, Lerwick - Shetland Islands, Scotlan

Lerwick’s Up Helly Aa festival is technically a Victorian-era event. It is start to  celebrate  from the Victorian time.

 It was first established by the Total Abstinence Society in the 1870s to give young men something fun to do to mark the end of the yule season. However, the festival has a decidedly Viking flair to it and is equally a tribute to the islands’ Viking roots.

The festival in its current form grew from an even older tradition known as tar barreling, which also took place around New York.

 Groups of young men would drag barrels of burning tar through the town, causing mischief along the way. Thankfully, the fire used at the Up Helly Aa festival today is far less destructive!

Sadeh - Iran

Sadeh Festival is an Iranian festival celebrating the discovery of fire by Hushang, the second Shah of the mythological Pishdadian dynasty of Persian Empire. It is celebrated fifty days before the arrival of Nowruz in Iran and parts of Afghanistan and Tajikistan since the Achaemenid Era.

Sadeh means centenary in Persian language. Sadeh is a mid winter festival that was celebrated with grandeur and magnificence in ancient Iran.

Holi and Diwali  - India

       Here  are some  names of Bonfire festival  which are celebrate in different ways. 

2) What are the rituals around such celebrations?

     There  are different  rituals.like on India  we have some  myth  behind Holika  Dahan.  

  

3) Is there any story or myth around those celebrations? Write about various myths around bonfire. watch video linked here under to know about the myths believed in by Vaishnavites and Shaivites in India. In which myth do you believe more than the other one.

One  story  behind it, it is related  with  Prahald and Hiranyakadhipu. He is the father of  Prahalad.  He  was belongs to the detya (evil) and  he didn't like  that anyone of his kingdom  worship  any god or lord  Krishna. But pralad did and that's why  he tried  to kill him so many times, but each and every time  Prahalad  survived. Then sister of Hiranyakashipu, she has  one  Stole,if she  wear it  fire can  OT  harm her. That's why she  sit in fire and also took  Prahalad in her lap. But  suddenly wind comes and the stole come over to  Prahalad and her aunt  got  dead.

Legends have it that Hushang, the 2nd Shah of the mythological Pishdadian dynasty, established the Sadeh tradition. It is said that once Hushang was climbing a mountain when all of a sudden he saw a snake and wanted to hit it with a stone. When he threw the stone, it fell on another stone and since they were both flint stones, fire broke out and the snake escaped. This way he discovered how to light a fire. Hushang cheered up and praised God who revealed to him the secret of lighting a fire. Then he announced;

 “This is a light from God. So we must admire it.”

Conclusion 

All over the  world  there  so many different cultures rituals, and traditions. People  celebrate  same  festival  but with  different reason and tradition. Here above  one of the  example of it. Festival  gives us  new  energy and positive views. We  celebrate all festival  with  family and friends, to be with them it is also  a learning  event too.so festivals are important for enjoyment and l to learning something.