With Covid cases going down and Dengue cases following an upward trend, this Halloween will be a trick or treat? Taking things positively, we predict the spooky festival to be a treat.
With millions of Indians getting vaccinated daily, people are finally feeling safe to step out and partake in festivities as they once did. Not only in India, but health experts in the United
States are also relieved with number of vaccinated people growing rapidly.
When is Halloween?
Every year on October 31, people celebrate Halloween.
"Halloween is a fantastic day to celebrate since it has a theme with a lot of fun and frolic, a chance to showcase your creativity and dress up as your favourite avatars," states
Chandigarh city head of Social, Ravinder Kothari.
A Foreign concept?
Halloween is mainly observed in Western countries. The festival falls on the eve of All Hallows' Day (Feast of All Saints), a Christian feast honouring all the church's saints.
Halloween has gained popularity in India over recent years. Dressed as witches and warlocks, ghosts and ghouls children and adults, enjoy the festival.
Halloween, Diwali give boost to market
According to research, Halloween enthusiasm is recovering the markets which fell in deep crisis after Covid lockdowns. Even though the sales are 25 per cent less this year, the festival
still manages to maintain the sale of Candy, costumes, and décorations.
Four days after the spooky festival, comes Diwali. With the festival of lights being around the corner, sales of clothes, furniture, electronic devices and gadgets are likely to boom in
India.
Also Read: Happy Diwali 2021: Bring magic into your house this festive season with these Rangoli Designs
Meanwhile, the government repeatedly urges Indians to follow covid19 protocols like wearing masks and social distancing while shopping for the festival. Little negligence and the consequences
could be dire, as the third stands on the doors of India.
Significance of Halloween
According to historians, Halloween evolved from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which commemorated the completion of a bountiful summer harvest and the start of the "dark, frigid
winter," which was connected with death and decay at the time.
Thus, the Celts celebrated Samhain on the night between summer and winter, when they set large bonfires dedicated to their deities and prayed to protect themselves from evil spirits during
the impending winter.
It is also believed that the Samhain festival, which has pagan roots, was Christianised as All Hallow's Day. However, a significant number of scholars claim that the practice began as
a Christian holiday.
In many western countries where the tradition expanded, it evolved into a secular holiday in which people join in joyful celebrations to commemorate the age-old tradition against evil.
Why October 13?
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago predominantly in what is now northern France, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, believed that on the boundary night between summer and winter, the line between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead gets blurred. They thought that on October 31, the ghosts of the dead returned to the world, which became a perfect date for the festival because the Celts celebrated their new year on November 1.