August 4th 2015
I am Arnav Jhangiani. I am 12 years old. For the past 9 years I have spent my summers at the at Hindu Youth summer camp. I was a "camper in training" for 5 years and HYSC 2015 was my 4th year as a camper!
At camp I've learned a lot about my culture. I've learned prayers and what they mean and why we chant them. Since this year's theme was festivals and traditions, we mainly focused on them in philosophy class. In philosophy we learned the festival/tradition, the day it started and the story behind it (why we celebrate).
The camp has cabins/teams, which compete in events to earn points.The team with the most points gets a prize at the end of camp.
Camp theme-HYSC2015
Hindu Festivals and Traditions
It is often said that there is a festival for each day of the year in the Hindu calendar. The word for festival, "Utsav," is derived from a Sanskrit word "Ut" meaning removal and "sav" meaning sorrow or grief. So, Festivals are a means of removing sorrow or grief. Festivals of India are celebrated with great spirit and devotion. Scores of festivals are celebrated in various regions all over India. Some festivals are observed throughout the country, while others have specific regional associations. Festivals are a symbol of national integrity and pride for the people. Each festival in each region has its own foods and sweets appropriate to the season and crops.
As in any old civilization, most of the festivals have religious associations. In an agrarian society, festivals were associated with harvesting of crops or otherwise commemorative of sacred ties to the land. Hindu festivals include a wide array of rituals, which over time have become "Traditions". They range from prayer and worship, charity, singing and dancing, taking out processions, to rituals for bathing, fasting and feasting. Some festivals such as Karwa Chauth are restricted to married women and are not "festivals" but rather rituals that have a festive air attached to them and thereby have become "Traditions".
Some traditional festivals are dedicated to individual deities, while others are practices to unite and bring a community closer. Hindu Festivals are intended to purify us, help us to celebrate life and to honor our deities. Festivals are a means of bringing spirituality to the common man in a lively way. These celebrations linked with rituals and worship not only purify the mind and uplift the heart, but they are also the time for caring and sharing with family, friends and loved ones.
Written by Mahika Jhangiani
Assistant Director HYSC 2015
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