9. Festivals and Education in India

Festivals 141 In the ancient society the celebration of festivals and religious functions had great importance. The community as a whole assembled together during these functions, exchanged things, communicated ideas and entertained themselves. The festivals celebrated in India are of various types, for example temple festivals, religious festival, seasonal festivals, harvest festivals, new year festivals, birth festivals and public festivals etc. All of these festivals give the feeling of unity and collectiveness. Local stories and legends are related to these festivals. Relatives and friends, old and new come together in family, temple or village on these occasions. New generations learn the old customs and traditions from the old generation. During the festivals intelligent persons used to talk about various subjects and share their ideas and experience with others. In ancient times unlike in the modern times there were no many chances or facilities for the people for conveyance and communication. So one of the main objectives of these festivals was the strengthening of social coherence and togetherness. People enhanced their knowledge about the life, customs and traditions during these festivals. New possibilities and changes in religion and community, old and new subjects of study, problems and issues in the community and family, cultural and

142 political matters, comparison between the old and new, all these types of topics were discussed by the people on these occasions. New friends. were made and the old ones were renewed. The accumulated cultural experience and values of the old members of the community were passed to the new ones during these celebrations. Plays, music, dance and rituals performed during the festivals attracted the youth and to a certain extent, educated the masses informally. Huge numbers of people are still attending the traditional festivals and people with different customs, traditions, belief and languages mingle together. People from different vocational fields meet and exchange their experience and problems informally. The Transfer of folk knowledge is the educational significance of these occasions. .Festivals also gave opportunities for the villagers for selling and buying the necessary commodities. Villagers sold their products to masses who came to the festivals. They were also able to know the qualities of products, their sources and method of production etc. People knew about different languages and dialects during these occasions. The most popular festival in the early times was the festival of spring in honour of Kamadeva the god of love. At this festival people from different castes or social distinctions joined together and play all kinds of

143 jokes. This ancient festival still survives under the name Holi in the north though the love god had been replaced by Krsna. 38 We have seen that from the ancient period itself people were aware of the importance of education or vidya. Many festivals were conducted to highlight this and it continuous even now. Navaratri and Vinayaka Chathurthi etc were celebrated for this purpose. Through the celebration of Dasara and Dipavali the society uphold the failure of the bad and success of the good and the supreme importance of knowledge symbolized as light. Not only Hindus, people of different other faiths do enjoy and share the festivals like Durga puja, Dipavali, Sarasvati puja. In the modern period, may of the ideas and views of the traditional society have been changed. These changes are reflected in all the walks of life. Since caste system has been denounced in the modern society. some of the caste based festivals of the past disappeared or underwent change and became socially more inclusive and unrelated to caste. As a result of this change society received these festivals with popular programmes and began to celebrate these festivals in a modified manner. So we can see new aspects, and new dimensions in the conduct of festivals and people from outside the country also come and participate in these festival as tourists for example Trissur pooram celebrated at Vatakkumnatha temple during the summer. In Kerala on the Vijayadasami

144 day not only people from the Hindu community but people of other religions like Christians and Muslims also takes part now considering it as symbolic of initiation to the world of letters. Different methods were adopted by the people of different ages for the amusement or entertainment. The festivals were the most important source of amusement for people of all ages. All these festivals are related to religion or public entertainment. In the celebration of these festivals members of all sections of the society attended. Dance drama and other cultural and folk activities were performed in It is notable that Sanskrit dramas like that of of Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti were written to be staged during the festivals.