Celebrate! Trivia Quiz

Answer:

The festivals listed in this quiz are celebrated not only in the countries where the religions in question had their origins, but also in many countries with large immigrant populations.

Pascha (from the Greek and Latin world for "Passover") is the name given to Easter in the Eastern Orthodox Church. As the most important religious festival in Eastern Christianity, many distinctive traditions are associated with it - such as the blessing of painted or decorated eggs (a symbol of the Resurrection) and the exchange of the Paschal greeting ("Christ is risen!" - "Indeed He is risen!"). Better known as All Saints' Day, Hallowmas is celebrated by Western Christianity on 1 November. With All Hallows' Eve (Halloween) and All Souls' Day, it forms the liturgical season known as Allhallowtide, meant to remember and honour the dead (including saints and martyrs). In Eastern Christianity, Hallowmas is celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost. In many European countries, All Saints' Day is a public holiday, and is mostly dedicated to visiting cemeteries.

The Jewish holiday of Purim ("Feast of Lots") commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from destruction at the hands of Haman - as narrated in the Book of Esther of the Hebrew Bible. Among the many traditional ways to celebrate this important holiday, there are the exchange of gift baskets of food and drink (mishloach manot), public readings of the Book of Esther, and donations to the poor. One of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals, Sukkot ("Feast of Booths") commemorates the years spent by the Jews in the desert, sheltering in the wooden huts (sukkah) that give the festival its name. The holiday lasts seven days, culminating in a special synagogue service, followed by seven processions around the temple - during which the faithful wave citron fruits and the branches of three ritual plants.

Eid al-Fitr ("Feast of Breaking the Fast") is celebrated at the end of Ramadan, on the first day of the month of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. As its name implied, it is a joyous celebration that involves the consumption of a lot of food (especially pastries and sweets) along with prayer (salat) and alms-giving (zakat). Mawlid, celebrated on the 12th day of Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar, commemorates the birth of the prophet Muhammad. A national holiday in most Muslim-majority countries, it is celebrated with large street processions, distribution of food and monetary gifts, and the recitation of poems about the life of the Prophet.

The most famous of Hindu festivals, Diwali ("row of lights") symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness and good over evil. Celebrated in the months of Ashvin and Kartika (mid-September to mid-November), it lasts five or six days, during which people illuminate their homes, temples and workspaces with oil lamps. This celebration of light reaches its culmination on the festival's third day. Also celebrated during the month of Ashvin, Durga Puja ("worship of Durga") honours the goddess Durga, one of the aspects of the Great Goddess (Mahadevi), and her victory over the demon Mahishasura. Also a harvest festival, it lasts ten days, during which a wide range of events take place. A major component of Durga Puja is the construction of temporary structures (pandals) and the creation of elaborate sculptures and other decorations in the months preceding the festival.

Also known as Buddha Day, Vesak is a commemoration of the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha, particularly important in Theravada Buddhism. It is named after the lunar month of Vaisakha (mid-April - mid-May), generally regarded as the month of Buddha's birth. Vesak is celebrated with the singing of hymns, the hoisting of the Buddhist flag, and the bringing of offerings to temples and shrines. In addition, devotees make a special effort to refrain from killing any living creature: captive animals are released, and only vegetarian food is eaten.

The Chinese festival of Qingming Jie is known in English as Tomb-Sweeping Day. Rooted in the ancient practice of ancestor worship and the Confucian tenet of filial piety, the festival is also a celebration of spring, usually taking place in early April. During Qingming, Chinese families in mainland China (where it has been a public holiday since 2008) and other parts of Asia honour their ancestors' graves by cleaning them, bringing offerings of food, and burning joss sticks.

Matsuri is the Japanese word for a festival. Held in Kyoto every year in the month of July, Gion Matsuri is named after the city's famous neighbourhood that is home to the Yasaka Shrine, dedicated to Susanoo, the Shinto kami (god) of sea and storms. Originally a ritual of purification from spirits that cause epidemics, nowadays Gion Matsuri is centred around two large processions of wooden floats (Yamaboko Junkō), richly decorated with tapestries and images of deities and other significant figures of Japanese history and culture.

The ancient Celtic festival of Beltane - one of the four main seasonal festivals - marks the beginning of summer. Usually celebrated on or around May Day, it was characterized by the lighting of a large bonfire in the evening - a symbol of protection from harmful influences. Other rituals involved gathering wildflowers to be placed at windows and doorways, and decorating a small tree (the May Bush) with flowers, ribbons and eggshells. Followers of various contemporary pagan movements, as well as Wiccans, have revived these traditions; Wiccans in particular emphasize the fertility aspect of the holiday.

The six wrong answers are sacred texts of Judaism (Talmud), Islam (Hadith), Zoroastrianism (Avesta), Hinduism (Rigveda), Theravada Buddhism (Tipitaka), and Taoism (Tao Te Ching).