Our Festivals Chapter Notes | Environmental Studies Class 2 ICSE PDF Download

Introduction

Festivals are happy days for us. We celebrate them with our family, friends, and neighbors. We share gifts, play, and have fun together. In India, we have many festivals. Some are religious, some are for the country, and some are for the harvest. Let’s learn about all these special days!

Festivals

• Festivals are special days for everyone.
• We celebrate with our family, friends, neighbors, and relatives.
• We say hello to each other and give gifts.
• We have lots of fun and enjoy these days.
• In India, we celebrate many festivals.
• Some festivals are for religion, and some are for the country.
• We also celebrate festivals for the harvest.

National Festivals

Festivals that are important for the whole country are called national festivals. 

We have three national festivals in India:

Independence Day

• Independence Day is on 15 August.
• On 15 August 1947, India became free from British rule.
• We celebrate this day as Independence Day.
• Our Prime Minister hoists the flag at the Red Fort in Delhi.
• We hoist the flag in schools, colleges, government offices, and our neighborhoods.
• We sing the national anthem on this day.

Republic Day

• Republic Day is on 26 January every year.
• India became a republic on this day in 1950.
• We have a big parade in New Delhi at Rajpath to celebrate.

Fun Fact

​A republic country does not have a king or queen. People vote and choose their leaders.

Gandhi Jayanti

• Gandhi Jayanti is on 2 October.
• It is the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.
• We celebrate it as Gandhi Jayanti.
• We call Mahatma Gandhi the Father of the Nation.

Religious Festivals

People of different religions celebrate these festivals. They are called religious festivals.

Dussehra

• Dussehra is a Hindu festival.
• Lord Rama killed Ravana on this day.
• We also call it Vijayadashami.
• It means the victory of good over evil.
• We make big models of Ravana, Meghnath, and Kumbhkarna on Dussehra.

Durga Pooja

• Durga Pooja happens around the same time as Dussehra.
• We wear new clothes during Durga Pooja.
• We pray to Goddess Durga for five days.
• After five days, we put her idols in the river.

Diwali

• Diwali is the festival of lights.
• We decorate our houses with candles and diyas on Diwali.
• We wear new clothes on this day.
• We share sweets with everyone.
• On Diwali, Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after being away from home for fourteen years.
• We are going to wish our neighbors for Diwali. These are gifts for them.

Christmas

• Christmas is on 25 December every year.
• Lord Jesus Christ was born on this day.
• We offer prayers in the church on Christmas.
• We sing Christmas carols on this day.
• We decorate Christmas trees with gifts, stars, lights, and bells.
• Children wait for Santa Claus, who gives them gifts.

Gurupurab

• Gurupurab is a Sikh festival.
• On Gurupurab, Sikhs remember one of their ten gurus.
• We decorate the gurdwaras with flowers and lights.
• We recite verses from the Guru Granth Sahib.
• The Guru Granth Sahib is the holy book of the Sikhs.
• We eat langar from a common kitchen.
• Langar is a free meal served in a gurdwara.

Eid-ul-Fitr

• Eid-ul-Fitr is a Muslim festival.
• Ramzan is the holy month before Eid-ul-Fitr.
• On Eid-ul-Fitr, we hug and wish each other.
• Namaz is offered in mosques, and a sweet dish called sewain is eaten.

Holi

• Holi is the festival of colors.
• It marks the end of winter and the start of summer.
• We gather around a huge bonfire on Holika.
• The next day, we splash colored water and apply gulal on each other.
• We make sweets like gujiya at home and enjoy them all.

Ganesh Chaturthi

• In Ganesh Chaturthi, we celebrate the birth of Lord Ganesha.
• We bring idols of Lord Ganesha to our houses and worship them.
• We make and offer Lord Ganesha sweets called modak.
• At the end, we put the idols in a water body.

Harvest Festivals

Harvest festivals happen when crops are ready to be cut. We call them by different names in different parts of the country.

Baisakhi

• Baisakhi is mostly celebrated in Punjab.
• We bathe in a holy river on Baisakhi.
• We sing songs on this day.
• We do bhangra and gidda dances on Baisakhi.

Bihu

• Bihu is mostly celebrated in Assam.
• We make special dishes like pitha (sweet made of rice flour), larus (sweet made of rice and coconut), and jolpan (snacks).
• Women wear colorful saris on Bihu.
• We sing folk songs and dance on this day.

Fun Fact 

​There are three Bihu festivals. The most popular one falls in April. It marks the coming of spring.

Pongal

• Pongal is mostly celebrated in Tamil Nadu.
• We thank the Sun God, rain, and farm animals that helped in the harvest.
• We decorate our houses with kolam (rangoli made of rice powder).
• We cook rice with gur (jaggery) and milk and offer it to the Sun God.

Onam

• Onam is Kerala’s harvest festival.
• It lasts for ten days.
• We include decorated elephants, boat races, and games in the festival.
• We wear new clothes and make pookalam with flowers.