EmbRACE Update - Worldwide Festivals 🌍

Each month we will be sharing information on the many celebrated Worldwide Festivals. Developed by our very own EmbRACE Working Group Colleague, Mandy Kaur, have a read of the latest update below which includes June's dates. 😊 

Welcome to June’s edition, June is the month of the longest daylight hours, so I hope you enjoy your beer garden trips this month everyone! 😊

 

3rd June 2022 - Duanwujie - Chinese Dragon Boat Festival   

 

Great dragon boat races take place between slim rowing boats (sometimes 100 feet long) shaped like dragons. People also go down to the rivers to picnic and celebrate on boats. The origin of Dragon Boat Festival is said to be from the Warring States Period when the patriotic poet, Qu Yuan, drowned himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.It is said that the local people, who admired him, raced out in their boats to save him which is where the origin of the dragon boat race comes from. Although the date changes each year, this festival is a national holiday and a day off from work!

 

4^th June – Chokor Duchen – First turning of the Wheel Dharma

 

The Chokor Duchen Festival is one of four seasonal festivals that is celebrated by Tibetan Buddhists. During those times, it is believed that the effects of positive or negative actions are multiplied ten million times. Chokhor means “Prayer Wheel” or “Dharma Wheel”, the common religious objects in Tibet, and Duchen means “great occasion” in Tibetan. Hand held wheels are hollow wooden or metal cylinders attached to a handle which when turned are believed to spread spiritual blessing. This festival commemorates the first teaching (the turning of the wheel of law) given by the historical Buddha. During the festival, most Tibetan people would have kora(a ritual walk) around the mountains. It is said that fairies will go to the mountains to watch the world on this day. If people can go around the mountains and burn incense, present offerings, and hang sutras (a Buddhist scripture), their families will be prosperous as the elderly will live longer and the children will become smart and capable. People walking around the mountains need to achieve two must do and three cannot do: do believe in Dolma (a goddess worshipped by Tibetans) with one-hearted faith and be kind and helpful but do not sigh, curse or pick flowers, otherwise what people pray for cannot be achieved.

 

9^th June 2021 – GANGA DUSSEHRA 

A dip in the Ganges is a symbol of a new beginning, leaving behind the mess and muddle of life and that is why Ganga Dussehra is celebrated, a festival wherein devotees from all around the country take part in many holy rituals that are specially performed during Ganga Dussehra. This day also marks the event when Goddess Ganges descended to earth to flourish it. Taking bath in River Ganges is considered very sacred during this festival. It is said that a holy dip on this day will purify your soul.

 

16 June - MARTYRDOM OF GURU ARJAN DEV JI

 

Guru Arjan Dev Ji is the fifth Guru in Sikhism and is known as the Guru who sacrificed his life for the Sikh people. The greatest contribution he made to the Sikh faith was to compile all of the past Gurus' writings into one book, now the holy scripture: the Guru Granth Sahib. It was this holy book that made him a martyr. In 1606, the Muslim Emperor Jahangir ordered that he be tortured and sentenced to death after he refused to remove all Islamic and Hindu references from the Holy book. He was made to sit on a burning hot sheet while boiling hot sand was poured over his burnt body. After enduring five days of unrelenting torture Guru Arjan Dev was taken for a bath in the river. As thousands watched he entered the river never to be seen again. The way in which he died changed the course of Sikhism forever, which is why his martyrdom is celebrated each year.

The Guru also laid the foundation of the Golden Temple in Amritsar and designed four doors leading into the Gurdwara, proclaiming that the Sikh faith is for the people of all castes and all creeds from whichever direction they come and to whichever direction they bow. The Guru also declared that all Sikhs should donate a tenth of their earnings to charity which is common practice even today.

 

23^rd – 26^th  June – Sindhu Darshan Festival 

Sindhu Darshan is a celebration of unity as well as communal harmony along with national integration. This is one of the largest festivals held in India in the month of June. This festival is celebrated in the mountains of Ladakh, on the banks of Indus River (Aka Sindhu River). People bring water from the rivers of their states to further immerse in the Indus River and as a part of the ritual, fifty senior Lamas conduct a prayer on the banks of the river. A series of cultural programs is also presented by the artists from various states of the country and a huge bonfire is lit!

 

21^ST  June 2021 – NATIONAL HUMANIST DAY

Throughout recorded history there have been non-religious people who have believed that this life is the only life we have, that the universe is a natural phenomenon with no supernatural side, and that we can live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. They have trusted to the scientific method, evidence, and reason to discover truths about the universe and have placed human welfare and happiness at the centre of their ethical decision making.

 

Fun Facts about June:

• June was most likely named for the Roman goddess Juno, patroness of marriage and the well-being of women

• In June 1953 - The coronation of the United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth II.

• On June 25^th 1947 - The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) was published.

• In June 1967 - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles was released

• On June 28^th 1997 - Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear in the third round of their heavyweight rematch, earning a disqualification. (Ouch!)

 

And just to end….. Roses are red, violets are blue; but they don't get around, like the dandelions do (dedicated to the summer snow and all our hay fever sufferers!)

 

See you next month! 😊

If you’re celebrating a wonderful festivity this month, why not send in a picture to be featured in next month's story! Please send to Embraceworkinggroup@midcounties.coop