Thanksgiving Day is a day meant to express the heartfelt gratitude to the harvest. The day is traditionally observed in different ways around the world. Thanksgiving Day is considered a secular holiday and is celebrated with harmony, peace and fun across the globe. It is a great day filled with lots of fun and boisterous festivity for all the people around the world. The day is observed for its bountiful harvest and thriving wealth.

Origin of Thanksgiving Day

Origin of the earliest Thanksgiving Day celebrations date back to 1621. History indicates that a group of pilgrims and Native Americans celebrated a long feast together at Plymouth Plantation. This led to the commemoration of thanking nature for a good harvest. Even the ancient Greeks and Romans carried out harvest celebrations which included feasts, music and parades. Ancient China celebrated their harvest festival with family members sharing the ‘moon cake’. It is also known as the famous Moon Festival. The ancient Jews also observed the harvest festival that lasted for 8 days.

Valentine’s Day is a joyful occasion to celebrate love and romance. It is a festival where people exchange tokens of affection between loved ones. This festivity is observed in countries like the United States, Rome, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, France, India, Mexico, Australia, India, Japan etc. It is a special day chosen for betrothals and wedding ceremonies. On this special occasion, people gift roses, hearts and cupids to their loved ones.

Origin of Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is said to have originated in Rome, where people celebrate the annual fertility festival called ‘Feast of Lupercalia’. However, Valentine’s Day is actually related to Saint Valentine who lived in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II. It is said that the emperor always waged wars and bloody crusades. Hence he wanted more soldiers to participate in the battle. But most of them refused to join as they were attached to their wives and families. To tackle this problem, he banned marriages throughout the nation. But, Saint Valentine (a romantic priest) arranged secret marriages in the kingdom. This unlawful act of the saint was soon discovered. Hence, on 14th February, 270 A.D, the saint was imprisoned and sentenced to death. Since then February 14th is celebrated in the memory of this great patron saint all over the world as St. Valentine’s Day.

Halloween is the day to honor all the departed souls. It concentrates more on the capers played by young people where they usually dress themselves as harmful spirits or other scary apparitions. People wear the costumes of harmful spirits to guard themselves and to avoid damage.

Origin of Halloween

Halloween has its roots in Celtic, Samhain and Christian background. The festival got its name in the 16th Century and represents a Scottish version of the All Hallows Eve. It initially originated in Ireland. Gradually Roman Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherians used to started to observe Halloween.

Christmas, the festival of joy and sharing is celebrated around the world on 25th December every year. The actual preparation for Christmas starts many days in advance. The festival of carols, gifts and feasts is celebrated with great enthusiasm throughout the world.

Origin of Christmas

Christmas is a festival of joy, sharing and re-union. It is the festival of glittering decoration and food. Most importantly it is the festival of love. Every Year this festival is celebrated on 25th December to mark the birth of Jesus Christ. The word Christmas is derived from the Middle English ‘Christemasse’ and old English ‘Cristes maesse’. The world ‘Cristes’ is from Greek ‘Christos’ and ‘maesse’ is from Latin. According to history, Christmas was celebrated some 4000 years ago. Many of the festive traditions were celebrated much before the birth of Jesus Christ. It began with the twelve day New Year celebration of Mesopotamians. This festival was called ‘Zagmuth’. It was celebrated to defend their god ‘Marduk’ in a battle with the devils. Christmas is believed to have originated from this festival. The Persians and Babylonians also celebrated a similar festival called the Sacaea. During this feast slaves became the masters and masters had to obey their slaves. The Romans also celebrated a festival called `Saturnalia` in the middle of December until the first of January to honor their God Saturn. As a tradition, the Romans used to exchange gifts, hold feasts and decorate their homes to bring good luck in their life and thus worshiped nature’s forces like the Sun.