Bonfire(Holika Dahan)
This is my blog on Sunday Reading given by our prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir.In this blog I am going to dicuss about the Bonfire Festival ,how many country celebrates this Bonfire,What are the rituals and myths behind this kind of celebrations.
Bonfire:
A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used either for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration.
A brief “history” of bonfires
The bonfire takes its name from the medieval bon-fire of animal bones. While modern day bonfire ingredients are generally less gruesome, burning waste materials can cause pollution and local nuisance. Fires have been of great use throughout the centuries – to mark occasions, as signals and to dispose of waste. However, we now have alternatives for signalling, for disposing of most materials and burning some things is illegal.
In many regions of continental Europe, bonfires are made traditionally on 16 January,the solemnity of John the Baptist as well as on Saturday night before Easter Bonfires are also a feature of Walpurgis Night in central and northern Europe, and the celebration of the eve of St. John’s Day in Spain.In Finland and Norway bonfires are tradition on Midsummer Eve and to a lesser degree in Easter. In Sweden bonfires are lit on Walpurgis night celebrations on the last day of April.
Following Countries are celebrate this Bonfire Festival at different time and different place.
India
In India particularly in Punjab, people gather around a bonfire and eat peanuts and sweets during the festival of Lohri to celebrate the winter solstice which occurred during the Indian month of Magh. People have bonfires on communal land. If there has been a recent wedding or a new born in the family, people will have a bonfire outside their house to celebrate this event. The festival falls in the second week of January every year. In Assam in the northeastern part of India, a harvest festival called Bhogali BIhu is celebrated to mark the end of the harvest season in mid-January. In southern parts of India, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Mumbai, the Bhogi festival is celebrated on the last day of 'Margali', which is also the first day of the farmer festival Pongal. People collect unwanted items from their houses and set them on fire in a bonfire to celebrate. During the ten days of Vijayadashami, effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhakarna and son Meghanad are erected and burnt by enthusiastic youths at sunset. Traditionally a bonfire on the day of Holi marks the symbolic annihilation of Holika the demoness as described above.
Alpine and Central Europe
The night between 30 April and 1 May was considered magical. The festival was probably originally celebrated when the moon was full closest to the day exactly between the spring equinox and summer solstice. People believed that on this night witches fly on the Sabbath, and indeed this is one of the biggest pagan holidays.
To protect themselves against witches, people lit bonfires in high places, calling these fires "Burning the Witches". Some people took to jumping over the fire in order to ensure youth and fertility. The ash from these fires supposedly had a special power to raise crops, and people also walked the cattle through the ashes to ensure fertility.
Australia
In Australia , bonfires are rarely allowed in the warmer months due to fire danger. Legislation about bonfires varies between states, metropolitan and rural regions, local government areas, and property types.For example, in urban areas of Canberra bonfires may be lit around the Queen’s Birthday if local fire authorities are notified; however, they are banned the rest of the year.
Canada
Due to their historic connection to Britain, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador have many communities that celebrate Bonfire night; this is one of the times when small rural communities come together. In the province of Quebec, many communities light up bonfires on June 24 to celebrate Saint Jean’s Baptiste Day.
France
Like the other countries, it was a pagan celebration of the solstice or midsummer, but Christianisation transformed it into a Catholic celebration.
Japan
Every 16 August, the ancient city of Kyoto holds the Gozan on Okruiba, a Buddhist bonfire based spectacle, which marks the end of the season.
Nepal
Bonfire in Nepal is taken almost synonymous with camp-fire. During winter months its quite common to have a bonfire in hotels, resorts, residential area as well as private properties.
Bonfire is also done during Siva ratri in the evening. It is based on lunar calendar falls during month of February
United State
Scotland
In Biggar, Lanarkshire, a bonfire is lit on Hogmanay (New Year's Eve) to celebrate the end of the old year and the beginning of the New Year. The bonfire takes almost a month to build using whatever combustible materials can be found. It is lit by a senior citizen of the town who is accompanied to the bonfire site (which is by the Corn Exchange in the centre of the town) by the local pipe band and several torchbearers. The celebrations are attended by hundreds of drinking and dancing revellers. During the war years, when a bonfire wasn't allowed, a candle was lit in a biscuit tin to keep the tradition of "burnin' oot the auld year" alive.
Iran
The people of the Iran celebrate Chaharshanbe Suri ,it is a fire jumping festival celebrated by Persian people, Kurdish people and some other people in the world.
Iraq
In Iraq bonfires lit to celebrate the Feast of the Cross by the Assyrian Christians. Beside the bonfire every household hang traditionally a lighted fire in the roof of their house.
Israel
In Israel, on the eve of Lag BaOmer, bonfires are lit on to commemorate the Mishnaic sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai who according to tradition died on Lag BaOmer.On the night itself, families and friends gather round the fires and youths will burn their bonfires till daybreak.
Poland
In Poland, bonfires are traditionally and still enthusiastic burned during Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Pentecost day and Saint John Night.
United Kingdom
Now let's discuss the rituals and myth around such celebrations.Every country has it's own story or myth behind this celebration.
Story of Holika Dahan,India
According to folk tales Hinduism Today, a king named Hiranyakashipu who, like many demons and Asuras, had the intense desire to be immortal. To fulfill this desire, he performed the required Tapas or penances until he was granted a boon by Brahma. Since the gods rarely granted immortality, he used his guile and cunning to get a boon that he thought made him immortal. The boon gave Hiranyakashipu(also referred to as Hiranyakashyap)five special powers: he could be killed by neither a human being nor an animal, neither indoors nor outdoors, neither at day nor at night, neither by astra (projectile weapons) nor by any shastra (handheld weapons), and neither on land nor in water or air. As this wish was granted, Hiranyakashyap felt invincible, which made him arrogant. Hiranyakashyap decreed that only he be worshiped as a god, punished and killed anyone who did not accept his orders. His son Prahlad disagreed with his father, and refused to worship his father as a god. He continued believing and worshipping Lord Vishnu.
This made Hiranyakashyap very angry and he made various attempts to kill Prahlad. During a particular attempt on Prahlad's life, King Hiranyakashyap called upon his sister Holika for help. Holika had a special cloak garment that prevented her from being harmed by fire. Hiranyakashyap asked her to sit on a bonfire with Prahlad, by tricking the boy to sit on her lap. However, as the fire roared, the garment flew from Holika and covered Prahlad. Holika burnt to death, Prahlad came out unharmed.
Vishnu appeared in the form of Narasimha - half human and half lion, at dusk (when it was neither day nor night), took Hiranyakashyap at a doorstep (which was neither indoors nor outdoors), placed him on his lap (which was neither land, water nor air), and then eviscerated and killed the king with his lion claws (which were neither a handheld weapon nor a launched weapon). In this form, the boon of five special powers granted to Hiranyakashyap were no longer useful. Prahlad and the kingdom of human beings were thus free from the compulsion and fear of Hiranyakashyap, showing the victory of good over evil.
Guy Fawkes Night (Bonfire Night) - England
The Gunpowder Plot conspirators, led by Robert Catesby, were zealous Roman Catholics enraged at King James I for refusing to grant greater religious tolerance to Catholics. They planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster) during the state opening of Parliament, intending to kill the king and members of Parliament in order to clear the way to reestablishing Catholic rule in England. The plan failed when the conspirators were betrayed. One of them, Guy Fawkes, was taken into custody the evening before the attack, in the cellar where the explosives to be used were stashed. The other conspirators were all either killed resisting capture or—like Fawkes—tried, convicted, and executed. In the aftermath, Parliament declared November 5 a national day of thanksgiving, and the first celebration of it took place in 1606.
Fireworks, a major component of most Guy Fawkes Day celebrations, represent the explosives that were never used by the plotters. Guards perform an annual search of the Parliament building to check for potential arsonists, although it is more ceremonial than serious. Lewes, in southeastern England, is the site of a celebration of Guy Fawkes Day that has a distinctly local flavour, involving six bonfire societies whose memberships are grounded in family history stretching back for generations.
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