Showing posts with label special events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label special events. Show all posts

Friday, August 16, 2013

Gawai Antu



Gawai Antu is the greatest of all the Sea Dayak feasts for the dead, celebrated in honour of
those that have died since the last Gawai Antu feast was held.
Sarapoh, who was taught by the spirit Puntang Raga, originated this feast.
As the feast is expensive there is no fixed date for the celebration. It would take at least one or
two years to prepare for the ceremony financially.
The Gawai Antu ceremony has strong significance to every Sea Dayak heart. Those who fail to
celebrate it from negligence are considered disloyal to the religious duty of marking the graveyard

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Lantern Festival








The Lantern Festival in China is a festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the lunar calendar marking the last day of the lunar New Year celebration. It is also known as the Yuanxiao Festival or Shangyuan Festival; Chap Goh Meh Festival in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore; Yuen Siu Festival in Hong Kong, Tết Thượng Nguyên or Tết Nguyên Tiêu in Vietnam; and, Koshōgatsu in Japan. During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night to temples carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns (simplified Chinese: 猜灯谜; traditional Chinese: 猜燈謎; pinyin: cāidēngmí).
It officially ends the Chinese New Year celebrations.
It is not to be confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival; which is sometimes also known as the "Lantern Festival" in locations such as Singapore and Malaysia.
In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple, and only the emperor and noblemen had large ornate ones]. In modern times, lanterns have been embellished with many complex designs. For example, lanterns are now often made in the shape of animals. The lanterns can symbolize the people letting go of their past selves and getting new ones, which they will let go of the next year.