Religious Events

It's early November in Oaxaca, Mexico, and the city and surrounding countryside are dripping flowers in preparation for the Day of the Dead. It sounds mournful, even somewhat ominous, but the atmosphere here is more jovial than funereal.

El Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) is Mexico's popular two-day holiday honouring the dead. Oaxaca, 550 kilometres southeast of Mexico City, is one region where this strong holiday tradition survives.

The monk is up a ladder hanging bunting. "What's the bunting for?" I ask. He explains that August 20th is Boun Khao Padabdin, the day when Laotians honour their ancestors and bring offerings to the temple. "Come along," he says.

Despite being demonized by many people, Vodou (Voodoo) is not the savage quasi-religion the horror movies would have you believe. It is still widely practiced in the Caribbean nation of Haiti (often alongside Christianity) and is a religion, culture and philosophy encompassing music, dance, language, justice, storytelling, art and ritual.

Deafening fireworks, raucous drums, colorful flags, floats and flowers, the pungent smell of Chinese herbs, and a procession of trance-induced young men and women, bodies and faces punctured by objects as diverse and bizarre as swords, mechanical tools or plant life...welcome to Phuket's Vegetarian Festival!

During Songkran everyone is armed. Old and young, all have buckets, bottles, hoses, urns, water guns and even the fire tender is on hand to add to the total sum of water.

The Equator lies to the south, about a half day's bumpy ride by bus, but the island's elevation negates the tropical latitude. We were dozing, tucked in sleeping bags, when a rousing chorus of Gloria Hallelujah and O Come All Ye Faithful woke us.

Pope Benedict XVI may not have the same instant charisma of his rock-star-meeting, sunglass-wearing predecessor, but he can still pull a crowd and knows how to work the adoring masses into a frenzy

Gawai is an annual festival held every June in the longhouses of lowland tribes in Sarawak. It is a national event, promoted by local brews and municipalities, but in reality everyone leaves the cities empty to return home or visit friends. Gawai is a harvest festival, a New Year celebration, religious ritual and family reunion all at the same time.

The storeowner told me they were the "brides of St. Anthony," and it was part of the saint's feast day traditions. He said the city hall traditionally hosts the bridal couples for free if they are poor.

The Lord Buddha's birthday falls in early May on the Chinese calendar, and since 1999 Hong Kong has celebrated it as a public holiday.

The month of December brings a flurry of parties and celebrations, leading up to the culmination of Christmas chaos or cheer, depending on your own personal viewpoint. In Spain, Christmas is celebrated not only on the 25th of December but also includes all the surrounding days from the 24th of December (Noche Vieja) until the 6th of January (Reyes).

"You should be here in July when we hold our annual Guelaguetza. It's the most beautiful festival in the world." My Zapotec Indian taxi driver in Oaxaca, capital of Mexico's most colourful state, exuded pride as he talked about his state's national dance extravaganza.

As an avid attendee of matsuri (traditional festivals) across my adopted home country of Japan, I had thought there was little to touch them in terms of color, vivacity and raw animism. Until I went to Malaysia's Thaipusam festival, that is.

We had flown over eight of the ten highest peaks in the world. The plane banked steeply and dropped through the clouds, skimming the rice paddies and landed at Paro, the only airport in Bhutan. We soon found that the magnificent Terminal Building with over-hanging eaves, elaborately painted walls and carved windows is normal architecture in the country. Another striking feature - everyone wears national dress, so immigration and customs formalities had added interest.

What better way to get into the Christmas spirit than to sing carols by candlelight in the brisk air in a quaint New England seacoast town as the lights of the town tree blink on for the first time. So begins the annual Marblehead Christmas Walk in Marblehead, Massachusetts, part party, part historical tour, and part shopping festival.

When I was a little girl, the day after Christmas was almost as much fun as the day itself. It was, and still is, a national holiday in Great Britain and Ireland, which makes a great deal of sense to me; adults get a day off to relax (or recuperate!), kids can look forward to going to the pantomime, and best of all, there's still that magical feeling of good cheer in the air.

Twenty-six years ago I traveled to the North Pole in search of Santa Claus. I didn't get any further than Barrow, Alaska - the Arctic Ocean was completely frozen in huge mounds of ice - but the people there said I needn't go any further since no one lives at the North Pole. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. But my quest for Santa Claus continued until this year.

Semana Santa represents a pulsating celebration of Easter and is as much of a sacred tradition to the proud Andalucians, as the rather more barbaric pastime of Bullfighting.

On the afternoon of the Sunday preceding Michaelmas, women and girls in the Hebrides gather St. Michael's wild carrots. But they don't just dig them up haphazardly - a very special ritual must be observed.

Throughout the British Isles and in many European countries, the day before Ash Wednesday - Shrove Tuesday - is commonly known as Pancake Day. As children, we loved watching the Pancake Races. Usually, the contestants were housewives. Each of them carried a skillet which contained a large, very thin pancake. The idea was for the women to race to the finish line, tossing their pancakes as they ran. It was hilarious - especially when a stray pancake landed where it wasn't supposed to!

Whatever the sights, there's no doubt that the highlight of a trip to Tana Toraja, the area of central Sulawesi whose capital is Rantepao, is to visit a funeral. This is easier than it sounds: because the funeral celebrations take a lot of preparation, not to mention expense, the Torajans have two funerals for each death, much like the Balinese; the first one is a private affair straight away after the death, and the body is preserved in the house where it died until the necessary cash has been saved up for the second one, a much bigger, more public affair. Because the second funeral is effectively a huge party and can be held at any time, it tends to be organised for between July and October when the relatives can come to visit more easily, during the school holidays. This leads to the strange concept of the Funeral Season, which Rose and I were lucky enough to catch the end of.

It was more the intricacy than the size of Borobudur that first caught my attention. Although undoubtedly immense, the grand scale of Borobudur cannot truly be appreciated from a distance. Not unlike a pyramid or mountain in its overall appearance it challenges the traditional model of a temple in that it lacks an enclosed structure that is home to a depiction of a deity.

No night in all the year is so charged with the supernatural as Christmas Eve - or so the legends say.

Araquio festival - one of its kind in the Philippines, and maybe in the world as well. It is Nueva Ecija's very own theatrical-cum-religious presentation likened to that of the zarzuelas during the Spaniards regime in the country.

IT ISN'T MUSIC AND IT HAS NO RHYTHM. Amplified by the clear mountain air, the cacophony of sound is deafening. Conversation becomes impossible and all attention turns to the temple entrance, whence a procession of solemn faced monks is emerging.

Encyclopaedia Britannica states that Hallowe'en is 'All Hallows' Eve or All Hallows' Evening, a holy or hallowed evening observed on October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day'. This Christian festival was first introduced in the 7th century CE, initially on May 13th.

Think Juggernaut. Your mind evokes images of a huge, crushing rolling force that spares nothing in its way. This word springs from Lord Jagannatha, the presiding deity of the state of Orissa, India.

Lent begins at midnight on Shrove Tuesday. The first day of Lent is known as 'Ash Wednesday'. On this day the Bishop would bless the hair shirts which penitents were to wear during Lent.

Irish Easter begins, as do most Irish seasonal celebrations, with cleansing. Houses are to be cleaned inside and out, and whitewashed if necessary. As is the custom in the United States and many other places around the world, it is a time to purchase new clothing.

'The sun's dancing day and the earths' holy day' - this is Jacobean poet Nicolas Breton's description of Easter Day. The British believed in ancient times that the sun danced for joy as it rose at Easter to commemorate Christ's resurrection. In many parts of Wales crowds still climb just before the dawn to the highest point in the area to watch the sun 'dance' as it rises on Easter Day. In the Vale of Clwyd villagers used to dance three somersaults on the top of Dinas Bran, thereby greeting the sun rise.

Let those who have no light in themselves light candles!' thundered the great Roman Tertullian. 'Let those over whom Hell fire is hanging, fix to their doors laurels doomed presently to burn. You are the light of the world, you are the tree ever green...make not your own house a temple.' Like the Puritans in later centuries, Tertullian urged the people to stop their so-called 'pagan' festivities at Christmas time.

Stop and smell the roses. During the month of May, in the tropical islands of the Philippines (where my roots are), we don't have to stop -- the fragrance of flowers floats in the air.

As the 25th approaches, the men start trickling back into the village from the myriad creeks they've been panning. The general store becomes a hub of activity. The ancient scales come out of their box and preside over the once-blue table outside.

Down by the sea, the drums call. The villages of Barlovento spring from their sleepy states for the Fiesta de San Juan Bautista (St John the Baptist) in late June.

All over the world, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated with elaborate parades; families tuck into the traditional dinner of corned beef and cabbage; and, in the pubs, the green beer flows swifter than the River Shannon. It's odd to think that just a short time ago, none of the most popular customs we often take for granted even existed.