So, first holiday of the year. This is a Hindu festival recognizing the transition of the sun from one celestial sign (Sagittarius) to another (Capricorn). According to the article I read, most Hindu holidays are based on the lunar calendar, but since this is a sun festival it is based on the position of the sun and therefore remains on January 14 all the time.
There are a handful of beliefs tied in with this holiday. One is that this is the day Surya (the Sun) visits the house of his son Shani(Saturn). The father and son do not get along, but take this one time every year to see each other. As such, it is a representation of the father/son bond. It is also said that this was the day that Vishnu ended the terror caused by the Asuras (Hindu deities commonly portrayed as demons). He buried their heads after finishing them off. This makes the day one of ending negativity as well.
Traditional celebration of this day seems to entail cleaning out the old the day before, followed by focusing on the positive and new. The handing out of sweets also looks to be important. Brothers traditionally give gifts to their married sisters as a sign of filial love. The most common form of celebration is prayer to Surya and flying colorful paper kites.
My form of celebration was pretty poor. I did not have access to a kite, nor the time to fly one. I also do not have a married sister. I pretty much stayed up later than normal so I could watch the sun rise. Not the best start for the year, but this was a celebration that not only snuck up on me, but also tends to not work with my work schedule of swing/graveyard shifts.
Hope the rest of the year goes a little better.
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