Diwali Festival In India

Diwali Festival In India

"Diwali", the festival of lights, illuminates the darkness of the New Year's moon, and strengthens our close friendships and knowledge, with a self-realization.

          Diwali is celebrated on a nation-wide scale on Amavasya, the 15th day of the dark fortnight of the Hindu month of Ashwin, (October/November) every year. It symbolizes that age-old culture of India which teaches to vanquish ignorance that subdues humanity and to drive away darkness that engulfs the light of knowledge. Diwali, the festival of lights even to-day in this modern world projects the rich and glorious past of India.

Every year on the dark nights of Diwali the sound of firecrackers announces the celebration of the favorite festival of Indians. Homes are decorated, sweets are distributed by everyone and thousands of lamps are lit to create a world of fantasy. Of all the festivals celebrated in India, Diwali is by far the most glamorous and important. Enthusiastically enjoyed by people of every religion, its magical and radiant touch creates an atmosphere of joy and festivity.

         The ancient story of how Diwali evolved into such a widely celebrated festival is different in various regions and states of India. In the north, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and the surrounding areas, Diwali is the day when King Rama's coronation was celebrated in Ayodhya after his epic war with Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. By order of the royal families of Ayodhya and Mithila, the kingdom of which Sita was princess, the cities and far-flung boundaries of these kingdoms were lit up with rows of lamps, glittering on dark nights to welcome home the divine king Rama and his queen Sita after 14 years of exile, ending with an across-the-seas war in which the whole of the kingdom of Lanka was destroyed.

On the day of Diwali festival, doorways are hung with torans of mango leaves and marigolds. Rangolis are drawn with different colored powders to welcome guests. The traditional motifs are often linked with auspicious symbols of good luck. Oil diyas are arranged in and around the house. Because of these flickering lamps, the festival has acquired its name : Dipawali or Diwali meaning 'a rows of lamps'. On this day, people buy something for the house or some jewelry for the women of the house. It is auspicious to be buy something metallic, such as silver.

Whatever may be the fables and legends behind the celebrations of Diwali, all people exchange sweets, wear new clothes and buy jewelry at this festive time. Card parties are held in many homes. Diwali has become commercialized as the biggest annual consumer spree because every family shops for sweets, gifts and fireworks. However, in all this frenzy of shopping and eating, the steady, burning lamp is a constant symbol of an illuminated mind.

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Kadazan Dusun

Kadazan People

The Kadazans are an ethnic group indigenous to the state of Sabah in Malaysia. They are found mainly in Penampang on the west coast of Sabah, the surrounding locales, and various locations in the interior. "Kadazan" is a term referring to the Dusun Tangara most of whom lived in towns.

Origins

While it is widely believed that the term itself was a political derivative that came into existence in the late 1950s to early 1960s, no proper historical record exists pertaining to the origins of the term or its originator. However, an article by Richard Tunggolou may shed some light. According to Tunggolou, most of the explanations of the meanings and origins of the word ‘Kadazan’ assumed that the word was of recent origin, specifically in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Culture

          Kadazan culture is heavily influenced by the farming of rice, culminating in various delicacies and alcoholic drinks prepared through differing home-brewed fermentation processes. Toomis and linutau are the main rice wine variants served and consumed in Kadazan populated areas, and are a staple of Kadazan social gatherings and ceremonies.

The most important festival of the Kadazans is the Kaamatan or harvest festival, where the spirit of the paddy is honoured after a year's harvest. This takes place in May, and the two last days of the month are public holidays throughout Sabah. During the celebration, the most celebrated event is the crowning of the 'Unduk Ngadau', meaning harvest queen in Kadazan. Young women of Kadazan or Dusun descent from each district compete for this title. The beauty pageant is held to commemorate the spirit of 'Huminodun', a mythological character of unparalleled beauty said to have given her life in exchange for a bountiful harvest for her community.

          In marriages, dowries are paid to the bride's family and an elaborate negotiation is arranged between the groom and bride's families. As a traditional gesture of politeness and civility, the dowry is metaphorically laid out with match sticks on a flat surface, and representatives from each side push and pull the sticks across a boundary to denote the bargaining of the dowry. Dowries traditionally consisted of water buffaloes, pigs, sacks of rice and even urns of tapai. Modern dowry negotiations also include cash and land ownership deeds. Kadazan women from the Penampang and Dusun women from the Keningau, Ranau and Tuaran areas are widely regarded to have the most expensive dowries.

Dusun Dance

       While it is traditionally customary for Kadazans to marry within a village or a neighbouring village, a downshift of xenophobia over the past few decades has eased the difficulty once associated with interracial marriage. The Kadazans have a particularly good affinity with the local Chinese, resulting in the coinage of the term Sino-Kadazan, meaning half-Kadazan and half-Chinese offspring of these unions. Due to the overwhelming Christian influence and some marriages to Muslim spouses, resulting in a mandatory conversion to Islam, still induces outrage and rejection and is known to divide fiercely traditional Kadazans. 

      Islam has lately been embraced by a growing minority as a means to political ends considering the fact that the local Malay minority has gained political ascendance in recent years. Ruling Malay political parties have also openly been giving political and economical privileges to Kadazans who agree to convert to Islam as well as to other non-Christian Kadazans. Conspiracy has said that the Kadazan Christian trying to establish Christian government in Sabah.

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Minangkabau People

Minangkabau.

     

     Minangkabau people (Minangkabau: Urang Minang; Indonesian: Suku Minang; Jawi: مينڠكاباو), also known as Minang, is an ethnic group indigenous to the Minangkabau Highlands of West Sumatra, Indonesia. Their culture is both matrilineal and patriarchal, with property and land passing down from mother to daughter, while religious and political affairs are the responsibility of men, although some women also play important roles in these areas. This custom is called Lareh Bodi Caniago and is known as Adat perpatih in Malaysia. Today 4,5 million Minangs live in the homeland of West Sumatra, while about 4,5 million more are scattered throughout many Indonesian and Malay peninsular cities and towns.

      The Minangkabau are famous for their dedication to education, as well as the widespread diaspora of their men throughout southeast Asia, the result being that Minangs have been disproportionately successful in gaining positions of economic and political power throughout the region. 

       The co-founder of the Republic of Indonesia, Mohammad Hatta, was a Minang, as were the first President of Singapore, Yusof bin Ishak, and the first Supreme Head of State or Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

The Minangkabau are strongly Islamic, but also follow their ethnic traditions, or adat. The Minangkabau adat was derived from animist and Hindu-Buddhist beliefs before the arrival of Islam, and remnants of animist beliefs still exist even among some practising Muslims. The present relationship between Islam and adat is described in the saying "tradition [adat] founded upon Islamic law, Islamic law founded upon the Qur'an" (adat basandi syara', syara' basandi Kitabullah).

As one of the world's most populous (as well as politically and economically influential) matrilineal ethnicity, Minangkabau gender dynamics have been extensively studied by anthropologists. The adat (Minangkabau: Adaik) traditions have allowed Minangkabau women to hold a relatively advantageous position in their society compared to most patriarchal societies, as most property and other economic assets pass though female lines. With the arrival of the Dutch and other Muslim groups, the traditions have been gradually influenced by both western and conservative Islamic thought.

     Based on the Raffles' vision, Minangkabau is believed to have been the cradle of the Malay race. Their West Sumatran homelands was the seat of the Pagaruyung kingdom and the location of the Padri War (1821 to 1837).

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Bugis In Malaysia

Bugis.

        For centuries, many Bugis have left their villages in search for a new life and settlements. In the Malay culture, such practice is called as ‘merantau’ or pasompe in Bugis. The ‘merantau’ activities have over time strengthened the historical ties, blood connections and cultural linkages between the Bugis community and the people on the Malay Peninsula.

      The migration of Bugis to the peninsula occurred as early as the Malacca Sultanate. During the seventeenth century, there were already settlements of the Bugis people in the Malay Peninsula. Large-group migration, however, only occurred during the British colonial period, particularly the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Their migration to Malaysia has persisted until the present day. Although the exact number of the migrants cannot be determined due to the lack of written and oral sources, the majority of them have settled in Johor and Selangor states in Peninsular Malaysia.

        In Johor, their roles as jungle settlers and pioneers of new rural settlements are among the important aspects that form the historiography of Johor. Until today, their existence can still be observed in some settlements, which spread over a few villages within the Johor territories. Ever since their first arrival to the peninsula, the Bugis have not only successfully marked their name in the local history, but they have also made their presence much more prominent than that of other groups.

       The study of the history of the Bugis people coming to the Peninsula, especially to Johor is actually not a new historical phenomenon. It has long been accepted. In the Bugis community, sailing, travel, trade and travel is a whole tradition in their lives. As a well-known tribe in shipping activity, 

        Bugis sailors have developed a maritime culture over the last century. Their boats of the type phinisi and lambo has weathered the waters of the archipelago to trade and travel. The term "competitive" (sailing) in Bugis society also means to go abroad, is as a catalyst factor in people to leave their homes if they feel depressed.

The occurrence of large-scale migration in the 17th century and early 18th century in South Sulawesi Bugis society is because one of the consequences of such distress. They have migrated to Sumbawa, Lombok, Bali, Java, Sumatra, Borneo According Soehartoko, 'pasompe' is the process of moving residents out Sulewesi Wajo South in order to go abroad, looking for life experience and a new life in another area with a sailing. See Soehartoko, Roam For People Wajo Makassar: Summary of Research, Research Training Centre of Social Sciences University of Hasanuddin, 1971. See also Andi Kesuma Ima, Migration & The Bugis, Opu Daeng search presence Rilaka In Century XVIII in Johor, Yogyakarta, Waves, 2004.

Within the Bugis people of Borneo in Pontianak and Mampawa and Sea Island, rubber, sand, Kutei ( Samarinda), Bolongan and Powder Mountain, is responsible for the control of trade in the river valley. Most of the Bugis community was chosen as a destination Johor migration. They have been exploring and build home for settlements in several areas in Johor. Their role as forest settlers and builders rural settlements are among the most important aspects in the history of the state.

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