Festivals of Singapore

Thaipusam
Thaipusam is an auspicious festival of the Hindus, which is all about survival, resilience, persistence, determination, sacrifice and affliction. It is celebrated in Singapore in the month of October according to the Hindu calendar, which fall either in the month of January or February. Thaipusam is the day of when the Goddess Parvati asked his son Murugan to annihilate the demons. In Singapore, the devotees begin their ceremonial journey by observing dietary retractions, meditation and prayers. Men pierce their bodies with barbs and metal clips to hold kavadis adorned with peacock feathers and filled with offerings. They cover the distance of 4 km from Sri Srinivasa Temple in Serangoon Road to Sri Thandayuthapani Temple in Tank Road carrying kavadis. Women and children carry pots of symbolic milk.

Vesak Day
Vesak or Buddha Day is an important Buddhist Festival of the Theravada Buddhists, which celebrates the birth, enlightenment and salvation of Buddha. The festival is celebrated in Singapore on the full moon day of the Lunar month of Vesakh, which falls on 30th April in Singapore. Vesak Day is observed in different manners all over the world. In Singapore, the celebration begins with the chanting of the Sutras by the monks and devotees in Buddhist Temples followed by ritual of releasing of small animals or confined birds. Buddhist youths also organize blood donation camps and giving away of gifts to the poor on this day. The festival is concluded by a candle-lit procession being carried throughout the street.

Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is falls during the spring season of the Chinese and is therefore also called as the 'Spring Festival'. Chinese calls it 'Xin Nian' where 'Xin' means 'New' and 'Nian' means 'Year'.

Chinese makes preparation for this festival by decorating their houses, preparing delicious food, stitching new clothes and buying presents for each other. They paint their door ad windows with red color and adorn them with paper-cuttings and couplets. On the eve of the festival, supper feast is organized followed by playing of cards and board games or watching television together. Firecrackers are lit at he mid-night. Next morning, children greet their parents and receive money wrapped in red paper in return. Then everybody step out of their houses to greet each other.

Lantern Festival
Lantern Festival is celebrated in Singapore during late September or early October to honor Lord Buddha. It comes right after the Chinese New Year. The celebration of the festival includes lighting of the fireworks, folk dances, preparations of delicacies and making of lanterns. The people head to the gardens during the night to enjoy picnic and relish on Chinese pastries and moon cakes. The lion dancers wander around the street with cymbals and drums followed by celestial prince and princess. People float lanterns on the lake, which makes an absolute heavenly sight.

Deepavali
Deepavali is the festival of light and color celebrated in Singapore in the month of October or November. According to local mythology, a demon named Narakasura was the king of Pradvoshapuram. He was a cruel king who tortured the people and kidnapped the women and imprisoned them in his palace. Lord Krishna killed the demon and the day since then is celebrated as Deepavali. Deepavali is the festival of the Hindus who begin preparations for the festival two-week in advance. On the day of the festival, they get up early in the morning to take a ritual oil bath and wear new clothes. The people decorate their houses with oil lamps and burst firecrackers.

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