Festivals are events celebrated by local communities that reflect their traditions, beliefs, and culture. Some festivals relate to religious beliefs, where people celebrate to praise or give thanks to their God. Today, festivals are also celebrated to pass on traditions and stories to younger generations. Festivals differ from place to place due to differences in beliefs and culture. Even if two festivals seem similar, they are different in the way they are celebrated, the reason for celebration, and the time of celebration.
This paper will compare the Lantern Festival, the Festival of the Dead, and the Bon Festival in Japan with the Festival of Lights or Diwali celebrated by Hindus. It will focus on their similarities and differences, including how and when they are celebrated, as well as their underlying reasons for celebration.
The Bon Festival is a Japanese tradition that honors the spirits of ancestors. It takes place in mid-August and lasts for three days. During this time, families gather to clean graves, light lanterns, and offer food to their deceased loved ones. The festival also includes traditional dances called Bon Odori and fireworks displays. Overall, the Bon Festival is a time for reflection, remembrance, and celebration of family ties.
The Bon Festival, also known as the Feast of Lanterns or the Festival of the Dead, is a religious rite celebrated by the Japanese community to honor their departed ancestors. According to Buddhist belief, during this festival, the souls of the dead revisit Earth (Whiteley 177). The term Obon” comes from Urabonne or Urabanna, a Sanskrit word that means hanging upside down and implies great suffering (Chen 88). The festival primarily addresses the suffering souls in hells who are welcomed back to Earth at places traditionally considered gates of hell (Plutschow 69).
The Bon Festival is celebrated throughout the Japanese community, including Tokyo, Yokohama, Tohoku region, Kanto region, Chugoku, Shikoku, Kyushu and the Southwestern islands of Japan. However, the time of celebration varies depending on whether it is based on the solar or lunar calendar.
The Bon Festival is typically celebrated from July 13 to 16 and mid-August, as noted by Rowthorn (95). However, the exact date of the celebration varies depending on whether the solar or lunar calendar is followed. The Shichigatsu Bon is based on the solar calendar and is celebrated on July 15 in Japanese communities located in Tokyo, Yokohama, and the Tohoku region. Another variation of the festival timing is Hachigatsu Bon, which also follows the solar calendar but usually takes place every August 15. The traditional Kyu Bon follows the lunar calendar and therefore falls on the 15th day of its seventh month; as a result, there’s no fixed date for this celebration because it changes annually. It’s observed in areas such as northern Ch?goku, Kant? region, Ky?sh?, Shikoku, and southwestern islands of Japan.
The festival usually lasts for three days. It primarily involves people returning to the villages or towns that their families originally came from to greet the souls of their dead ancestors. At Chinko-ji, people observing the Bon Festival first ring the temple’s famous bell, believed to penetrate every corner of hell, announcing to the soul that they are now allowed to return to the world of the living.
Until some years ago at Chinko-ji, people would buy a branch of pine and lower it into a well considered as the gate of hell so that the soul could take hold of it. Nowadays, there is no well at Chinko-ji so people immerse their branches in any well near their homes and sometimes leave them there for two days to ensure that souls have found them. Then they take these branches home and display them at house altars or stands arranged especially for this season (Plutshow 69).
Greeting dead relatives’ and ancestors’ souls is a joyous occasion mixed with filial piety and ancestor worship which includes big meals, parties, dancing or Bon Odori where hundreds of people dance throughout the night while clapping hands rhythmically and beating drums (Rice 22-23). Participants usually wear yukatai or light cotton kimonos since Bon occurs most commonly in summer heat.
The Bon festival ends with Toro Nagashi or floating lanterns which is also called Lantern Festival. The lanterns are lighted then floated down rivers symbolizing ancestral spirits’ return to the world of dead. Fireworks displays usually lit up evening skies highlighting event’s end.
The festival originates from the story of a disciple of Buddha named Mokuren. According to legend, Mokuren used his supernatural powers to search for his dead mother. However, he later discovered that she had fallen into the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts. He then went to Buddha and asked how he could release his mother from this realm. Buddha instructed Mokuren to make offerings and perform dances for the priests who had just completed their summer retreat on the 15th day of the seventh month. Mokuren did as instructed and saw his mother released as promised by Buddha. Overjoyed, Mokuren danced with joy, thus creating and giving birth to Bon Dance or the famous Bon Odori.
Basically, the purpose of the festival is to honor the memory of the dead and stimulate ancestor worship and filial piety (Rice, 23).
The Diwali Festival
The Diwali Festival, commonly known as the Festival of Light or Deepawali, is a major holiday in Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism (Cohen 231-232). During this celebration, lights or lamps are lit to signify the victory of good over evil within every person.
Diwali is celebrated for varying numbers of days by different communities, much like any other festival. In the Gregorian calendar, Diwali typically falls in October or November. It is usually a five-day celebration that occurs on the fifteenth day of the Hindu month of Kartika. The Hindu New Year takes place on the fourth day of Diwali.
During Diwali, Hindu people honor their Gods and Goddesses and give thanks for whatever they have. They usually wear new clothes and prepare food (Preszler 6-8). The Festival of Lights or Diwali is celebrated to honor Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity. As the festival serves as a celebration to welcome the coming year, Hindu people praise and pray to Lakshmi to bring them good luck for the year to come.
The Diwali festival is celebrated to mark the triumph of good over evil and the uplifting of spiritual darkness. It usually commemorates the homecoming of goodwill and faith after an absence, as narrated in the story of Ramayana. Although commonly referred to as the Festival of Lights, its spiritual meaning devolves on a person’s awareness of their inner light. In Hindu philosophy, one principle states that there is something beyond our body that can be touched and seen physically and mentally; it is pure and eternal called Atman. Deepavali or Diwali celebrates this inner light or awakening to an individual’s true nature not as a physical being but as infinite reality. The festival is celebrated through festive fireworks and lights.
Similarities
The Bon Festival and the Diwali Festival are both celebrated using symbolic lanterns and lights. These symbols represent the main purpose and principle behind each festival. During the Bon Festival, lanterns guide the souls of departed loved ones as they return to the world of the dead, which is primarily what this festival is all about. In contrast, Diwali uses lanterns and lights to signify a search for inner awareness.
Another similarity between the two festivals is their ability to bring together family members and community members in their own locality to give thanks and honor the departed and their Gods.
Differences:
Bon Festival and Diwali Festival differ in many aspects. The central subject of the Bon Festival is to honor and maintain a filial connection between the participants and their departed ancestors. In contrast, the Diwali festival focuses on expressing gratitude towards their Goddess Lakshmi or goddess of wealth. The purpose of the Bon festival is to guide the spirits of their departed loved ones, while during Diwali Festival, it is to give thanks and ask for good luck for the upcoming year.
Analysis
Bon Festival and Diwali Festival may appear similar at first glance. However, a closer look will show that these two festivals are different in every single way. In the first place, the purpose of the two different festivals is very different. The Bon festival is centered on building filial connections with the dead, particularly departed parents or ancestors. On the other hand, Diwali Festival is centered on worshiping and praising their Goddess whom they believe will give them good luck for the coming year.
Secondly, the person given praise through celebration is also different. In Bon festival, it’s their departed ancestors while in Diwali Festival it’s Goddess Lakshmi.
So, what makes the two festivals different? The difference, of course, is primarily due to the cultures and traditions of two different countries or communities. A person’s beliefs are certainly different from another’s. Thus, an observer of these two festivals will never say that one festival is more correct than the other. Traditions and beliefs, just like cultures, are embedded in one’s mind and person; hence, they cannot be taken away from them. Therefore, respect for the two different festivals is proper.
There are indeed differences between the Bon festival and the Diwali festival. However, one good thing about these two festivals is that they always remind participants to look back and give thanks.
Works Cited:
Chen, K. (1968). Filial Piety in Chinese Buddhism. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies.
Cohen, Richard. Mahavira and His Teachings” by A. N. Upadhye. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 102, No. 1 (Jan.–Mar., 1982).
Preszler, June. Diwali: Hindu Festival of Lights. Capstone Press, 2006.
Rice, Jonathan. Japanese Mask: How to Understand Japanese Culture and Work Successfully with It (2004).
Rowthorn, Chris; Ashburne, John; Bender, Andrew; Atkinson, David. Japan. Lonely Planet, 2003.
Whiteley, Sandy and Whiteley, Sandra. On This Date: A Day-by-Day Listing of Holidays, Birthdays” (2002).
