BONEFIRE

* SUNDAY READING BONEFIRE (HOLIKA DAHAN).   

                                 We celebrate HOLI in INDIA. Holika Dahan also Kamudu pyre is celebrated by burning Holika, an asura. For many traditions in Hinduism, Holi celebrates the killing of Holika in order to save Prahlad, a devotee of God Vishnu and thus Holi gets its name. In olden days, people used to contribute a piece of wood or two for the Holika bonfire, and this represents Holika being consumed by the fire in which she tried to kill her nephew Prahlad. A similar holiday is Holi where people get to gather and often repair broken relationships.                         

                                  Celebrations are held throughout Great Britain; in some non-Catholic communities in Northern Ireland; and in some other parts of the Commonwealth. In many areas of the UK, celebrations also feature funfairs, family entertainment, and special food and drinks.

                        Bonfire Night is a name given to various annual celebrations characterised by bonfires and fireworks.The event celebrates different traditions on different dates, depending on the country. Some of the most popular instances include Guy Fawkes Night (5 November) in Great Britain, which is also celebrated in some Commonwealth countries; Northern Ireland's Eleventh Night (11 July), and 5 November in Newfoundland and Labrador.In various parts of Ireland, Bonfire Nights are held on St John'sEve (23 June),Bealtaine eve (30 April)and Halloween (31 October). In Scandinavia it is known as Walpurgis Night (30 April) and in Denmark also sankthansaften (23 June). St John's Eve is also a very important celebration in Spain and Northern Portugal.Several other cultures also include night-time celebrations involving bonfires and/or fireworks.

                     Bonfire Night is also celebrated in Northern Ireland on 15 August in Catholic communities to mark the Feast of the Assumption.

                             Bonfire celebrations can pose a risk to public safety due to the possibility of fires, injuries, or fights. For example, in London, calls to firefighting services are nearly tripled on Bonfire Night.In Belfast, the July 2003 Eleventh Night resulted in £10,000 worth of damage to a park.The use of fireworks may lead to dangerous pyrotechnic incidents.In parts of the Caribbean,  laws banning fireworks and explosives have muted the occasion,  and safety concerns in New Zealand have resulted in restrictions on fireworks use, although public firework displays remain popular there.

                                   The tradition of Bonfire Night has been criticised for its environmental impact. A 1994 study conducted in Oxford, England, found a four-fold increase in dioxin and furan concentration in the air after a Bonfire Night celebration.In 2005 a Bonfire Night in Newfoundland prompted the provincial Minister of Environment and Conservation to remind the general public of their responsibilities for safety and the environment.

Bonfire Night Around The World

                             Remember, remember, the 5th of November…

                                     Despite taking place over 400 years ago, the Gunpowder Plot is still remembered to this day.

                                           We now know this date as Bonfire Night, when thousands of fireworks are launched into the sky all over the country.

                                   The Gunpowder Plot was an attempted assassination of King James I of England and VI of Scotland. Despite the plot being led by Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes is the conspirator that we all remember.

                             The Gunpowder Plot took place in London, but Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated all over the world.

                                                 When early settlers travelled around the world, they took their customs with them. This means that Gunpowder Treason Day (as it was originally called) went with them!

                              So where is Bonfire Night still celebrated to this day?

                    New Zealand

                                            New Zealand still celebrate Guy Fawkes Night on the same night as we do.  This is because as a commonwealth country, we took our customs to them when we settled there. Despite being independent, New Zealand still have Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state.

                                       Unlike New Zealand, Australia stopped celebrating Guy Fawkes Night in the 1970s.

                          Canada

                               Guy Fawkes Night is still celebrated in parts of Newfoundland, Canada, as a nod to the British settlers that settled there during Elizabeth I’s reign in 1583.

                                   Bonfire Night used to also be celebrated in parts of the U.S.A, but now these celebrations are very rare.

                      South Africa

                                    As a Commonwealth country, South Africa also celebrate Guy Fawkes Night. Every year on the 5th November, there are large celebrations in Cape Town.

                                 Despite the Queen being stripped of her title of Queen of South Africa when the country became a republic in 1961, South Africa continue to celebrate some British traditions.

      Saint Vincent & The Grenadines

Saint Vincent & The Grenadines gained their independence from the United Kingdom in 1979 but the Queen is still their head of state.

                                 After so many years of British occupation, the island still celebrates annual British traditions such as Guy Fawkes Night.

               Saint Kitts & Nevis

                                Saint Kitts & Nevis gained independence from the UK in 1983. As with many other Commonwealth countries, the Queen remains as head of state.

                              Just like Saint Vincent & The Grenadines, Saint Kitts & Nevis has also kept many British traditions that were brought to the islands through colonisation.

                          Fireworks, a major component of most Guy Fawkes Day celebrations, represent the explosives that were never used by the plotters. Guards perform an annual search of the Parliament building to check for potential arsonists, although it is more ceremonial than serious. Lewes, in southeastern England, is the site of a celebration of Guy Fawkes Day that has a distinctly local flavour, involving six bonfire societies whose memberships are grounded in family history stretching back for generations.

Guy Fawkes Night in London

                              As the setting for the plot, London has, of course, become a focal point for celebrations across the country. Usually falling on the weekend proceeding or before the 5th of November, you can find many celebrations across the city. These are the places where bonfire held. 

Victoria Park

Battersea Park Fireworks

Alexander Palace Fireworks

Newham Guy Fawkes Night

Blackheath

Hackney Fireworks in Clissold Park

Wimbledon Bonfire Night

Bishops Park

          MYTH  OF VAISHNAVITES  AND SHAIVETS 

                     Vaishnavism is the worship and acceptance of Vishnu (Sanskrit:“The Pervader” or “The Immanent”) or one of his various incarnations (avatars) as the supreme manifestation of the divine. During a long and complex development, many Vaishnava groups emerged with differing beliefs and aims. Some of the major Vaishnava groups include the Shrivaishnavas (also known as Vishishtadvaitins) and Madhvas (also known as Dvaitins) of South India; the followers of the teachings of Vallabha in western India; and several Vaishnava groups in Bengal in eastern India, who follow teachings derived from those of the saint Chaitanya. Most Vaishnava believers, however, draw from various traditions and blend worship of Vishnu with local practices.

                       In the Vedas and Brahmanas, Vishnu is the god of far-extending motion and pervasiveness who, for humans in distress, penetrates and traverses the entire cosmos to make their existence possible. All beings are said to dwell in his three strides or footsteps (trivikrama): his highest step, or abode,  is beyond mortal ken in the realm of heaven.

                          Vishnu is also the god of the pillar of the universe and is identified with the sacrifice.He imparts his all-pervading power to the sacrificer who imitates his strides and identifies himself with the god, thus conquering the universe and attaining “the goal, the safe foundation, the highest light” (Shatapatha Brahmana).

                            In the centuries before the Common Era, Vishnu became the Ishvara (supreme deity) of his worshipers, fusing with the Purusha-Prajapati figure; with Narayana, worship of whom discloses a prominent influence of ascetics; with Krishna, whom the Bhagavadgita identified with Vishnu in many forms; and with Vasudeva,  who was worshipped by a group known as the Pancharatras.

                            The extensive mythology attached to Vishnu is largely that of his avatars.Although this notion is found elsewhere in Hinduism, it is basic to Vaishnavism. Each of his incarnations, especially Krishna and Rama, has a particular mythology and is the object of devotion (bhakti). The classical number of these incarnations is 10—the dashavatara (“ten avatars”)—ascending from theriomorphic (animal form) to fully anthropomorphic manifestations.

                                They are Fish (Matsya), Tortoise (Kurma), Boar (Varaha), Man-Lion (Narasimha), Dwarf (Vamana), Rama-with-the-Ax (Parashuram), King Rama, Krishna, Buddha,  and the future incarnation, Kalkin.This list varies, however, according to the text within which it appears and the devotional community that maintains it. For example, some dashavatara lists include Balarama,  the brother of Krishna, instead of the Buddha. 

                              Moreover, the number of incarnations is not fixed across all texts or traditions; some texts list 24 incarnations of Vishnu. In addition, a particular dashavatara list popularized by the 13th-century poet Jayadeva in his song Gita Govinda names Krishna, not Vishnu, as the supreme deity who incarnates himself 10 times. In Jayadeva’s list the first seven incarnations are the same as those found in other Vaishnava lists. Jayadeva then lists Balarama and Buddha as the eighth and ninth incarnations. One common element in all these lists is Kalkin, who is always the final incarnation.

                              Whatever justification the different Vaishnava groups (such as the Shrivaishnavas of South India or the worshipers of Vishnu Vithoba in Maharashtra) offer for their philosophical position, all of them believe in God as a person with distinctive qualities and worship him through his manifestations and representations. 

                            Many schools teach that it is through divine grace that the votary is lifted from transmigration to release. Much of Vaishnava faith is monotheistic, whether the object of adoration be Vishnu Narayana or one of his avatars. Preference for any one of these manifestations is largely a matter of tradition. Thus, most South Indian Shrivaishnavas worship Vishnu in one of his many local manifestations; the North Indian groups prefer Krishna.