Hello Gandhi Collectors,
Today is Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to all readers.
Thanksgiving in North America originated from a mix of European and Native traditions. In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at Plymouth Rock in present-day Massachusetts.
The initial Thanksgiving observance at Virginia in 1619 was prompted by the colonists' leaders on the anniversary of the settlement. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest.
Initially, the Plymouth colony did not have enough food to feed half of the 102 colonists. The Wampanoag Native Americans helped the Pilgrims by providing seeds and teaching them to fish. The practice of holding an annual harvest festival like this did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s.
Thanksgiving in the United States was observed on various dates throughout history. It was not until December 26, 1941 that the unified date changed to the fourth Thursday in November—this time by federal legislation making Thanksgiving a national holiday. (Read more about Thanksgiving at Wikipedia)
In 1995 Guyana had issued a sheetlet of eight stamps as a philatelic tribute to some of the world's most popular holidays around the world. Following are holiday stamps depicted this sheet.
Thanksgiving Day in the United States
Christmas in Germany
Hanukkah in Israel
Easter in Spain
Carnival in Brazil
Bastille Day in France
Independence Day in India
St. Patrick's Day in Ireland .
Mahatma Gandhi's picture in Independence Day in India stamp in this miniature sheet.
This sheet is available somewhere between 7-8$ as Guyana makes lot of money by selling surplus stamps to dealers around the world.
Do you think for holiday of India they should used Diwali instead of Independence Day when comparing with Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter etc. in this miniature sheet.?
Following is brief description of other 7 holidays in miniature sheet.(Source : Wikipedia.)
Christmas is observed on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. The exact birthday of Jesus is not known, and historians place his year of birth some time between 7 BC and 2 BC. Narratives of his birth are included in two of the Canonical gospels in the New Testament of the Bible.
Hanukkah also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE.
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday. The chronology of his death and resurrection is variously interpreted to have occurred between AD 26 and 36.
Carnival of Brazil is an annual festival held forty-six days before Easter. On certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term "carnival," from carnelevare, "to remove meat." Carnival celebrations are believed to have roots in the pagan festival of Saturnalia, which, adapted to Christianity, became a farewell to bad things in a season of religious discipline to practice repentance and prepare for Christ's death and resurrection.
Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July of each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale (The National Celebration) and commonly le quatorze juillet (the fourteenth of July). It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. Festivities and official ceremonies are held all over France.
Independence Day of India is celebrated on the fifteenth of August to commemorate its independence from British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation in 1947. The day is a national holiday in India. All over the country, flag-hoisting ceremonies are conducted by the local administration in attendance. Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated within 6 months (30 January, 1948) after Independence of India, so he never enjoyed it.!!
Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official feast day in the early 17th century, and has gradually become a secular celebration of Irish culture in general.
