Alternative Title: festival


The terms feast and festival usually—though not always in modern times—involve eating or drinking or both in connection with a specific kind of rite: passage rites, death rites, sacrificial rites, seasonal observances, commemorative observances, and rites celebrating the ending of fasts or fast periods. Fasting, the opposite of feasting, has often been associated with purification rites or as a preparatory discipline for the celebration of feasts and associated rites. Festivals often include not only feasting but also dramatic dancing and athletic events, as well as revelries and carnivals that at times border on the licentious. Depending upon the central purpose of a feast or festival, the celebration may be solemn or joyful, merry, festive, and ferial.

Another term associated with the events and activities of days of sacred significance is “holy day,” from which is derived the word holiday. This term has come to mean a day or period of special significance not only in religious calendars (e.g., the Christian Christmas and the Jewish Hanukkah) but also in the secular (e.g., May Day in Russia and Labor Day in the United States and Canada, both of which holidays celebrate especially the accomplishments of the working class).

This section, though it will concentrate on feasts and festivals in the history of religions, will also give attention to the holidays of what has been termed the secular (or profane) sphere. Most secular holidays, however, have some relationship—in terms of origin—with religious feasts and festivals. The modern practice of vacations—i.e., periods in which persons are “renewed” or participate in activities of “recreation”—is derived from the ancient Roman religious calendar in a reverse fashion. More than 100 days of the year were feast days dedicated to various Roman gods and goddesses. On the days that were sacred festivals, and thus holy days, persons rested from their routine daily activities. Days that were not considered sacred were called dies vacantes, vacant days, during which people worked. In modern times, however, vacations (derived from the term dies vacantes) are periods of rest, renewal, or recreation that may be sacred or secular holidays—or simply periods of time away from everyday work allowed by modern business or labour practices.

Feasts and festivals, originating in the dim past of man’s social, religious, and psychic history, are rich in symbols that have only begun to be investigated in the 19th and 20th centuries by anthropologists, comparative folklorists, psychoanalysts, sociologists, historians of religion, and theologians. Such investigations will not only elucidate mythological, ritualistic, doctrinal, aesthetic, and psychic motifs and themes but will also provide educative insights to modern people, who have been caught up in social and religious forces that they have found difficult to understand. Feasts and festivals in the past have been significant informational and cohesive devices for the continuity of societies and religious institutions. Even when the feasts or festivals have lost their original meanings in doctrinal or mythological explanations, the symbols preserved in the rites, ceremonies, and arts (e.g., pictorial, dramatic, or choreographic) have enabled persons in periods of crisis or transition to preserve an equanimity despite apparent evidences of disintegration within their cultures or societies. Thus, the scholarly investigations of the many and various facets of feasts and festivals will provide different forms of information that will be of help to modern people in achieving an understanding of their origins, identities, and destinies.

Nature and significance

Concepts of sacred times

By their very nature, feasts and festivals are special times, not just in the sense that they are extraordinary occasions but more so in the sense that they are separate from ordinary times. According to Mircea Eliade, a Romanian-American historian of religion, festival time is sacred; i.e., it participates in the transcendent (or supernatural) realm in which the patterns of man’s religious, social, or cultural institutions and activities were or are established. Through ritualistic re-enactment of the events that inform man about his origin, identity, and destiny, a participant in a festival identifies himself with the sacred time:

Religious man feels the need to plunge periodically into this sacred and indestructible time. For him it is sacred time that makes possible the other time, ordinary time, the profane duration in which every human life takes its course. It is the eternal present of the mythical event that makes possible the profane duration of historical events.

In religions and cultures that view time as cyclical—and this applies to most non-monotheistic religions and the cultures influenced by them—man understands his status in the cosmos, in part, through special times (e.g., New Year’s festivals) celebrating the victory of order in nature over chaos. New Year’s festivals have been celebrated in recorded history for more than five millennia. In ancient Mesopotamia, for example, Sumerians and Babylonians celebrated the renewal of the life-sustaining spring rains in the month of Nisan—although some cities of Mesopotamia retained an ancient custom of celebrating a second similar festival when the rains returned in the month of Tishri (autumn). Sacrifices of grain and other foods were dedicated to the gods Dumuzi (or Tammuz) or Marduk, major fertility deities, at a ziggurat (tower temple), after which the people participated in feasting, dancing, and other appropriate ritualistic activities.

In the 20th century, the view that New Year’s Day is a time significant in the victory of order over disorder has been celebrated, for example, in areas influenced by Chinese religions. In order to frighten the kuei (evil or unpredictable spirits), which are believed to be dispersed by light and noise, participants in the New Year’s festival light torches, lanterns, bonfires, and candles and explode firecrackers. In 1953, when the first day of the lunar New Year coincided with a solar eclipse, the government of the People’s Republic of China (which has been anti-religious in its propaganda and official activities) expressed an anxiety that the repressed “religious popular superstitions” might encourage some form of anti-government activity. According to the views of Confucius (6th–5th centuries bc) and Mencius (4th–3rd centuries bc), two of China’s great religious teachers, whose social and ethical influences have extended into the 20th century, a solar eclipse during the New Year’s festival is a sign of a coming disaster and of a lack of favour by Shang Ti, the Heavenly Lord, who sends omens to indicate his disapproval of man’s evil activities.

In religions and cultures that conceive of time as linear, progressing from a beginning toward an end time, when the whole cosmos will be renewed or changed, people understand their status (i.e., origin, identity, and destiny) in relationship to particular events in history that have a significance similar to those expressed in the myths of people who view time as cyclical. Jews understand their status as members of the “people of God,” who were “chosen” during the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt in the 13th century bc to be witnesses to the liberating love of Yahweh (their God). Being the chosen “people of God” is celebrated especially during the Passover festival—in which the Exodus is ritually re-enacted and commemorated—in the month of Nisan (spring). Similarly, the Christian understands his status as a member of the “new people of God.” He believes that he has been chosen by Christ, who was crucified and resurrected by God in the 1st century ad, to work for the Kingdom of God that was inaugurated in the first advent of Christ and will be consummated at the Parousia, the Second Coming of Christ as king and judge. The festival of the Resurrection, or Easter, is ritually re-enacted every year in order that the believer may participate in the present and future kingdom of peace. The eucharistic feast (the Holy Communion), though celebrated at many and various times during the year, originated in the event (namely, the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday preceding Christ’s Passion) that has been interpreted as a commemoration of the crucifixion and Resurrection. Just as the New Year’s festivals of the religions that interpreted sacred time as cyclical incorporated both remorse and joy in their celebrations, so also the feasts of the Passover and the Resurrection include sorrow for the sins of the individual and of mankind and joy and hope for the salvation of man and the world (see also calendar: Ancient and religious calendar systems; Jewish religious year; church year).

Times of seasonal changes

The significance of seasonal renewal in prehistoric times

Before the development of agriculture, with its associations with solar and lunar calendars, ritual feasts were probably celebrated by hunters and gatherers of tubers and fruits. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) peoples from about 30,000–10,000 bc as well as contemporary peoples such as the Aboriginals in Australia and New Guinea, have celebrated various rites in which feasts have assumed positions of significance. Seasonal variations—important in the maintenance of the food supply—were associated with the migrations and fertility of animals and the growth and decay of tubers and fruits upon which the clan or tribe depended for its very existence. Thus, out of an acknowledgment of seasonal change, rituals—often including ceremonial feasts—most likely developed in relationship to beliefs that the continuance of the food supply depended on the sacred or holy powers that controlled various aspects and facets of nature: e.g., animals, vegetation, the change in climatic conditions, weather phenomena, mountains, and rivers.

Access to the sacred or holy powers was obtained and maintained by certain religious personages (e.g., shamans, or persons having healing and psychic transformation powers, priests, clan or tribal leaders, and other persons having special learned or inherited powers). Though interpretations by scholars vary and the evidence is still subject to much speculating, Paleolithic cave paintings—such as that of the “sorcerer” (a bearded figure wearing a mask on the top of which were antlers of a deer) at Les Trois Frères in France—and rock paintings of the Aruntas of central Australia—such as totemic animals (symbolizing clan and animal relationships) or mythological nature heroes (e.g., Katuru, the “lightning man”)—may indicate that fertility of animals and vegetation has been a primary concern (though not the only concern) in the ritual control of the food supply. Rituals connected with controlling the food supply generally centre on a feast in which eating, drinking, dancing, and the chanting of efficacious formulas play important symbolic roles.

At some point in human history (about 8,000–6,000 bc in the ancient Near East), when calendrical seasons were associated with planting and harvesting, special days or periods most likely were set aside for fasting (because of a paucity in the food supply) or for feasting (because of an increase in the food supply). Thus some calendrical periods inspired feelings of discouragement and remorse (when the food supply was low) or feelings of encouragement or joy (when the food supply was sufficient to meet immediate and future needs). Certain days were set aside during these periods for special rituals (often including feasts) that celebrated seasonal renewal, later interpreted in terms of individual spiritual or social renewal. In Zoroastrianism and Parsiism, for example, the annual seasonal renewal festival of Nōrūz (New Year) in the spring, dedicated to Rapithwin (the time of the midday meal), is at the same time a solemn and joyful celebration of new life in nature and the anticipated resurrection of the body when the world will be restored to its original and intended goodness—after the defeat of Ahriman (the spirit of evil and chaos) and his demons.

The significance of seasonal renewal in ancient Egypt

Seasonal-renewal motifs in ancient Egypt were often incorporated into other aspects of sacred times—such as times of passage rites (e.g., ascension of the pharaoh to the throne), of death rites (e.g., the transformation of the dead person into a glorified person), and of commemorating certain historical events (e.g., military victories in which the pharaoh preserved maʿat—i.e., order, truth, and justice—which was active in the realms of nature and society).

In Egypt during the 5th millennium bc, astronomers in the Nile Delta region associated the annual inundation of the river—which covered wide areas with fertile soil—with celestial movements, especially that of the star Sirius (i.e., Sothis) and the sun. From such observations the Egyptians developed a solar calendar of 365 days, with 12 months of 30 days each and five festival days at the end of the year. Though priests assumed important functions at the festivals centred about the fertility of the soil irrigated by the Nile and the life-giving warmth of the sun, the pharaoh, the sacred king, embodied the continuity between the realm of the sacred (i.e., the transcendent sphere) and the realm of the profane (i.e., the sphere of time, space, and cause and effect). The pharaoh was believed to be the son of the sun god Horus of the Horizon (Harakhte), symbolized by the falcon; the sun god was also known as Re, among other names. The eastern horizon was viewed as the meeting point of the underworld of the dead and the world of the living. The sun god also was known as Atum, which means “to be at the end,” or the west. Osiris, the god of the afterlife (the world of the dead) was believed to be embodied in the recently deceased pharaoh, who passed on his sacred powers and position to the new pharaoh, his son. At the śd festival, the new pharaoh, as the son of Horus and of Re, as well as of Osiris, was invested with both kingly and priestly powers. At his coronation festival the pharaoh was believed to gain the power to restore maʿat after the death of the previous pharaoh, and also to restore economic prosperity.

During the royal festivals—i.e., ascension to the throne, the coronation, and the śd festival—feasting presumably occurred. Festivals associated with seasonal renewal, however, involved sacrifices, eating, drinking, and sometimes dramatic or carnival-like events. Some scholars hold that the Egyptian terms for festival, however, contain concepts that became extremely significant in later Hellenistic (Greco-Roman) religions—e.g., the mystery, or salvatory, religions, such as those of Mithra, Isis, and the Eleusinian mysteries—and Semitic-based religions—e.g., Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. According to this view Egyptian terms for festival, such as ḥb, ḫʿ, and pr.t, all contain concepts of resurrection and epiphany (i.e., the manifestation of a god). In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, for example, the festival of the Epiphany (January 6) celebrates Christ’s manifestation to the Magi of the East (presumably followers of Zoroaster, a 6th-century bc Iranian prophet) and his Baptism in the Jordan River. The usual Greek designation for Epiphany is “the day of the light” (hē hēmera tou phōtou), in reference to the words in the Bible, in John 1:4, that Jesus is the “light of men.” Under the influence of the Christian Catechetical school at Alexandria (led by Clement and Origen in the 2nd and 3rd centuries ad), the earlier religious speculations of the Egyptians concerning their festivals were enhanced by further mystical and spiritual interpretations that affected Christian worship, piety, doctrine, and iconography, especially in Eastern Christianity.

The Egyptians celebrated many festivals that were connected with seasonal renewal, some of which became elaborated into sacred times of cosmic significance. Among their more popular festivals were those dedicated to Osiris, Amon-Re (the sun god), Horus, and Hathor (the sky goddess, represented by a cow).

Of special interest is the festival dedicated to Min, celebrated during the harvest month of Shemou (April). A statue of Min, represented as an ithyphallic god of fertility in iconography, was placed on an inclined pedestal, which was the symbol of maʿat. This pedestal represented the primordial mountain, a symbol of resurrection, renewal, and rebirth. During the processional honoring Min, hymns were sung and ritual dances and perhaps other types of dances were performed. The pharaoh and his queen entered the shrine and presumably enacted a sacred marriage rite. After the pharaoh’s enthronement at the harvest Festival of Min, four arrows were shot toward the north, east, south, and west; and birds also were released in the directions of the four cardinal points of the compass. The releasing of the birds and arrows announced the harmonious union of man—both as an individual and as a corporate being—with the divine powers of nature inherent in the pharaoh as “Horus son of Min and Osiris.” Though the pharaoh was symbolically significant in the feasts and festivals of ancient Egypt, the priests of the various cults officiated in the rituals and sacrifices to the many gods and announced the proper times for the differing forms of celebrations.

The significance of seasonal renewal in ancient Mesopotamia

In ancient Mesopotamia, in Babylon, where the king was viewed not as the son of a god but as a god’s agent, or representative, on earth, the New Year’s festival (Akitu), in the spring month of Nisan, contained not only seasonal renewal motifs but also themes centring on the renewal of man and his community. The Enuma elish, the epic of creation, was read at the festival in order to remind the participants that cosmos (order) arose out of chaos by means of a struggle between Marduk, the god of heaven, and Tiamat, the goddess of the deep and the powers of chaos. The New Year’s festival was sometimes celebrated over a period of 10 to 12 days in Babylon. On the fifth day, a sheep was beheaded; the body of the sheep was thrown into the river, and the head was taken into the wilderness. This ritual act, in which an exorcist (mashmashu)—one who casts out demonic powers—participated, symbolized the ridding of the community of the powers of chaos. (It was similar to the scapegoat ritual of the ancient Hebrews, in which the sins of the community were ceremonially transferred to a goat, which was later led to a wilderness area to wander about far from the community.)

Before sunrise of the third day following the scapegoat ceremony, the Babylonian king, as the representative of a sinful people as well as the agent of the god, had to submit to ritual acts of humiliation: his symbols of power were removed, and the priest (urigallu) hit him in the face and enjoined him to pray for the forgiveness of his sins and the sins of his people. After a profession of innocence, the priest absolved the king, restored his regal insignia, and performed ceremonies with the king to ensure the continuous support of the powers of order in nature. During the three days between the sacrifice of the sheep and the reinvestiture of the king, the populace of the city engaged in chaotic activities, perhaps of a carnival-like nature, to symbolize the presence of chaos in nature and society during this period of the apparent absence of the king and the god. When the king reappeared to his people, with his royal symbols of office and in the presence of the statue of Marduk, a procession of statues of the various gods together with their adoring devotees then took place, leading to a sanctuary (bītakītu) outside the city. On the 10th day, a banquet involving the king, priests, temple functionaries, and the gods was held to celebrate the renewal of nature, man, and society.

The significance of seasonal renewal in areas of other religions

Among the pre-Columbian Maya, the first month (uinal), Pop, of the New Year—which would be July in the presently used calendar—became a time for several renewal ceremonies. Old pottery and fibre mats were destroyed, and new clothes were put on. The temple was renovated to meet the needs of the god that was especially venerated during a particular year (the annual god changed from year to year). New wooden and clay idols were made, and the portals and implements of the temple were reconsecrated with blue paint, the sacred colour. The god of the year entered the sacred precincts according to the cardinal point of the compass that he represented (and thus there were only four New Year’s gods). The purpose of the processional rite was to ward off the forces of evil that might prevail against the people of the area. Dances by old women and sacrifices of live dogs (by throwing them down from the temple pyramid) were some of the activities that occurred during the Maya New Year’s festival.

In Japan, among those engaged in agriculture, the ta-asobi (“rice-field ritual”) festival is celebrated at the beginning of the year to ensure a plentiful harvest. Dances, songs sung with a sasara (musical instrument), sowing of seeds, and feasting play important roles in securing the aid of the kami (gods or spirits). Divination by means of archery, in which the angle of the arrow on the target is significant, has been used in shrines to help determine the methods that should be used in securing a good crop. In Hinduism, the Makara-Saṃkrānti, a New Year’s festival in the month of Māgha (January–February), is celebrated with a fair that continues for a month’s duration, with much rejoicing. The Śrī Pañcamī, a festival (utsava) of seasonal renewal on the fifth day of Māgha, symbolizes the ripening of crops. Feasts and festivals centring on seasonal renewal can be found among all peoples of the world, both past and present. Rogation festivities (Days of Asking), originally held by the ancient Romans to counteract the effectiveness of the deity (Robigus) of red mildew on wheat, were reinterpreted by early medieval Christians of the West from the 5th century on as litanies for the blessing of the seed. Rogation Day, the fifth Sunday after Easter, is still practiced in the 20th century in rural Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches.

Other sacred times

Crucial stages of life

Birth, puberty, marriage, and death have been times of sacred significance for peoples of all cultures from time immemorial. They signify changes in the status of a person’s being in terms of a person’s relationship with fellow members of his or her society and the realm of the sacred or holy that informs the person of the practical and symbolic ramifications of the new status. These times of change, therefore, have become occasions for feasts and festivals. Some are very elaborate and of long duration; others, especially under the influence of modern secularization, have been abruptly shortened or eliminated.

Birth, a most sacred time in the religions of the world, is celebrated by rites and festivities that appear to be incongruous or inconsistent in many religions. Mothers of newborn children are considered both as participants of the sacred by having brought forth a new being into the world and as persons who are ritually unclean (e.g., among the Israelites and Zoroastrians), probably because of the presence of blood at birth, the loss of which may symbolize the loss of some of the life-sustaining force. Among Brazilian Indians, however, both the father and the mother participate in a ceremony of seclusion for five days (eating only certain foods) in order to protect the sacredness and health of the new mother and child. Seclusion, thus, need not be interpreted negatively. Among the Kikuyu of eastern Africa, seclusion is a symbol of death and resurrection. The mother and child symbolically die and rise again during and after a ceremony of seclusion, after which a feast is held in which a goat is sacrificed and prayers are said. The whole community rejoices that a new child has become a part of human society.

The Christian celebration of birth culminates in the sacrament of Baptism, a symbol of the death of the old person and the rebirth of the new person in Christ. As such, it is a rite of purification, using water and the words of institution by Christ. After the sacrament has been solemnized, Christians in many areas have engaged in much feasting to emphasize the joy inherent in the “new birth.”

Among the ancient pre-Christian Norsemen, baptism by means of water was believed to impart divine and eternal life to men and even to preserve men from death—so that they “will not perish in war” nor “fall before any sword.” Thus, when St. Boniface baptized members of Germanic tribes in the 8th century, he was ordered by Pope Gregory III to do so only according to the formula “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Because whole tribes became Christian en masse during this period, the feasts celebrating the incorporation of the tribe into the church often lasted for several days and included folk customs of which the church did not especially approve, such as those connected with merrymaking (e.g., the drinking of mead).

Puberty, the transition into adulthood, has been celebrated since ancient times by various rituals and festivals. In the secular sphere, it is celebrated in democratic countries by the granting of the right to vote to persons upon the attainment of a certain age. In ancient Greece, young men of the ages of 16 or 17 were admitted as full members of the city-state; but before they were granted voting privileges, they had to swear allegiance to the religion of the city; this made them religious citizens and subsequently adults. After he had attained adulthood, a young Greek could participate in military service and could marry. In the United States in the early 1970s, citizens having attained the age of 18 were granted the right to vote; but the ceremony commemorating this right has been a secularized de-emphasis of this important rite of passage: the mere signing of one’s name on a registration certificate.

Puberty rites are celebrated in various ways according to the prevailing religious and social customs. Among the Masai of eastern Africa, youths pass from childhood to adulthood by the rite of circumcision. After various preliminary activities, the boys (12 to 16 years of age) are circumcised and the blood released from the operation is later placed on their heads. After four days of seclusion and a period during which they are dressed in female attire, their heads are shaved and they attain the status of adults and thus can become warriors. Girls attain adulthood by means of similar practices: the cutting or piercing of sexual organs. Among the Kamba of eastern Africa, who perform similar puberty rites of passage, those initiated into adulthood are given presents, and offerings are made to the ancestors. A significant aspect of the festival celebrating the rite of passing from childhood to adulthood is the return from seclusion; this return to their communities symbolizes a type of resurrection and renewal as new persons—adults.

Among the churches of the 16th-century Reformation, the rite of confirmation in the Anglican and Lutheran churches has been a type of puberty rite. The child, who had been a baptized member of the church, became, in effect, an adult, assuming personal responsibility and the privilege of participating in the Eucharist. In the early 1970s, however, the instructional aspect of confirmation—important in almost all pre-puberty practices—has been diminished, especially in some Lutheran churches in the United States, thus de-emphasizing the importance of confirmation as a rite of passage. As the church has become increasingly influenced by secularization processes in the 20th century, the customary feasting to celebrate the rite of confirmation has decreased in practice.

Marriage, the rite of passage from the single to the united state, has been celebrated with many forms of feasts and festivals. Connected with the hieros gamos (“sacred marriage”) of the Mesopotamian Akitu (New Year’s festival), and of the Israelite Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacles)—during the month of Tishri (the first month of the year)—which had both sexual and covenantal overtones, the rite of marriage developed into a legal and religious act in Judaism and into a sacrament in Roman Catholic and Eastern Christianity. In most religions the married state is considered superior to the single, though tensions between these two states of existence exist in most religions. Monks and nuns who vow to live in a celibate state often celebrate a symbolic marriage to the founder of their religion (e.g., to Christ) or to a religious institution (e.g., the church). In the Talmud, a compendium of Jewish law, lore, and commentary, the statement is made that “He who does not marry is like a murderer and he mutilates (violates) the image of God.” In the Avesta, the sacred book of Zoroastrianism, a similar statement is made: “The man who is married stands above him who is not married.” Thus, the wedding has become the most significant domestic festival in both the secular and religious realms, in spite of the ascetic tendencies that exist in certain sectors of Christianity, Buddhism, and other religions. The wedding ceremony has often been accompanied by feasting and gift-giving to express the concern of the community for a successful participation within the community and an extension of the community through the procreation of children. Among African religions, marriage as a rite of passage is incomplete if procreation is avoided or not accomplished. After a wedding among the Batoro of Uganda in Africa, dancing and feasting last until the following morning. Later on, gifts are given to the bride’s family in order to show gratitude, to compensate for her absence, and to legalize the marriage agreement.

The final rite of passage, death, has brought about numerous festival customs, all the way from the ritual sacrifice of the widow in Hinduism (until the 19th century) to the commercialization of death rites in Western societies. Just as the early Hebrews believed that life passes on to death when the breath (ruaḥ) leaves the body, so also do Eskimos in the 20th century believe that death occurs when breath (soul) leaves the body and that death may be a moment when one is translated into another form of life. Among the ancient Greeks, Thanatos (death) is the twin brother of Hypnos (sleep), and from this conceptional relationship may come the view that death is merely a sleeping state in the passage from this life to an afterlife. Festivities surrounding rites include the customs of playing mournful (and, sometimes, joyful) music, speaking eulogies, performing sacramental acts (e.g., extreme unction in the Roman Catholic Church), performing elaborate or simple embalming practices (e.g., the lengthy procedural techniques of the ancient Egyptians and the rapid techniques of modern morticians), utilizing appropriate and expected bodily gestures and vocal expressions, and feasts of varied elaborateness, depending on the economic or social circumstances of the deceased or his next of kin. Flowers often play important roles in the festivities connected with death rites. In the 20th century, a change from mourning to joyful expectation has occurred in the funeral rites of some Christian churches. Among some African tribes, such as the Ndebele of Zimbabwe, funeral processions, sacrifices, ceremonial washings, and protective medicine are included in the festivities that symbolically celebrate man’s conquest over death (see also rite of passage ).

Times of commemoration and remembrance

Festivals of commemoration are among the most important of the sacred times. Some festivals commemorate important events in mythology or the birth, inauguration, or victory of a founder of a religion, a god, or a hero. In Hinduism, for example, the Vaikuṇṭha-ekādaśī festival in December–January commemorates the victory of the goddess Ekādaśī Devī in her killing of a demon; and the Gaṇeśacturthī commemorates the birthday of Gaṇeśa, the elephant-headed god of fortune. Another major Hindu festival, Navarātri, commemorates the victory of the goddess Durgā over the buffalo-headed demon Mahiṣa; and Rāma-navamī commemorates the birth of Rāma, the hero of the Rāmāyana, one of India’s great epics. In Chinese Buddhism, the birthdays of Kuan-yin (or Avalokiteśvara), Amitābha, and Śākyamuni (the first two being bodhisattvas, or buddhas-to-be, and the last being the Buddha himself) were celebrated before the 1950s with much ceremony. The nativity of Christ (or Christmas) is the most widely celebrated “birthday” of a divine being, though in the 20th century Christmas has been subjected to a wide variety of secular influences.

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