Holiday Convergence
Today is Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday in India that commemorates the life and work of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi on the anniversary of his birth in 1869. The day is marked with prayer meetings, and people pay tribute at Raj Ghat in New Delhi, where Gandhi was cremated. Today is also Dussehra, which celebrates the victory of good over evil—the triumph of the Hindu deity Rama over the demon king Ravana, who abducted Rama’s wife, Sita, as recounted in the Sanskrit epic Ramayana. Dussehra coincides with Vijayadashami, the 10th day of the Durga Puja festival, observed primarily in eastern India. Durga Puja celebrates the descent of the goddess Durga to Earth, her victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura, and her subsequent departure to Mount Kailash.
Mahatma Gandhi, “Father of the Nation”
© Dinodia Photos/Alamy
Dussehra: Rama’s Victory over Ravana
© Prakash Singh—AFP/Getty Images
Vijayadashami, the Final Day of Durga Puja
© Diptendu Dutta—AFP/Getty Images
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Sabbath of Sabbaths
Yom Kippur (Hebrew for “Day of Atonement”) is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, the last of the Ten Days of Repentance that begin with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
Yom Kippur is a time to confess sins, pray for forgiveness, and right any wrongs committed against others. The observance includes a 25-hour fast beginning on Yom Kippur eve. Jewish congregations spend the evening of Yom Kippur in prayer and meditation, and the services begin with the melodious Kol Nidre (Aramaic: “All Vows”) prayer.
ShofarThe services continue the entire day and include readings from the Torah and recitation of penitential prayers. The holiday ends the same way Rosh Hashanah begins—with the sound of the shofar (pictured below).
Next up: SukkotFive days after Yom Kippur, the Jewish autumn festival Sukkot begins. It is one of the three Pilgrim Festivals of the Hebrew Bible. During Sukkot, Jews observing the festival construct small makeshift huts (sukkot) topped with thatched roofs in which they dwell, either partially or fully, during this seven-day Jewish holiday.
© Arkady Mazor/Shutterstock.com, © alefbet26/stock.adobe.com
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