Every holiday is special in its own way. Usually, it is celebrated with the people we love and a perfect time to gather all our friends and family members. Now, a majority of people when the term holiday is mentioned think of Christmas, New Year, or Easter.

It’s probably because these are some of the most popular holidays in the world, however, if we want to remain respectful and inclusive towards other religions and cultures, we need to get ourselves familiar with them.

That’s precisely we’ve decided to create this article. Even though we will mention those religious holidays that are widely known, we will also talk about the ones that are equally important, yet maybe less talked about.

Most important religious holidays in the world

Christmas in January

We bet you didn’t see that coming. Even though many celebrate Christmas at the end of December, Orthodox Christians celebrate it on January 7. How come? Well, that’s because Orthodox churches utilize a different calendar to determine when their holidays are.

Namely, Julius Caesar of Rome made the Julian Calendar and according to it, another Christmas falls thirteen days after the Catholic one. But what matters is the fact that both celebrate exactly the same thing.

Additionally, Orthodox Christians still employ this calendar for numerous religious holidays. If you want to know more about some other major Christian holidays checking out the specialised type of calendar could help you with in-depth information. It’s certainly very interesting.

Hanukkah

Now, here’s another extremely popular winter holiday that takes place for more than eight days. Namely, the word Hanukkah means dedication, and this wonderful holiday is celebrated by Jewish people from all around the world.

Now, unlike Christmas, this one doesn’t have a story that is as pleasant. Namely, around 200 B.C. Israel was controlled by Greeks and Syrians and during one horrible event, known as Maccabean Revolt, many people have lost their lives and Jerusalem’s holy Second Temple was completely ruined.

Despite these terrible occurrences, a lot of brave people were able to seek justice. One of them was Judah Maccabee (the son of a Jewish priest) helped Israel restore Jerusalem after almost two years.

How do people celebrate Hanukkah? They usually light the menorah and say lots of prayers, but besides that kids frequently play with dreidels, while some others exchange presents and Hanukkah cards and enjoy tasty foods.

Enumerating more special holidays below

Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr

This holiday is also known as the “Festival of Breaking the Fast” and it represents a religious holiday that is celebrated by Muslims all around the world. Furthermore, it also marks the end of the fasting (that lasts one month) of Ramadan.

It is usually celebrated from one to three days and it involves some charity work, as well as lots of praying. Moreover, Ramadan represents the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, during which they fast from dawn until sunset.

During this religious holiday, prayer is extremely important. Namely, those who celebrate it, usually pray frequently and go to the mosque to attend special services. Prayers that are told at night (known as tara will) are pretty common, and so is rereading the Quran for one month, oftentimes, in the form of a prayer.

At the end of Ramadan, before the fast is over, people say a prayer known as the takbeer which praises Allah and acknowledged his power. So what is Eid Al-Fitr? It is a holy day that occurs at the end of Ramadan.

Some people simply call it Eid and it starts on the first day of the Islamic lunar month and the entire celebration can last up to three days.

Diwali

This religious holiday originating in India is also known as the festival of lights and it is celebrated each October. Now, a lot of people think of this holiday as a Hindu festival, however, it is also celebrated by Jains and Sikhs.

Furthermore, it usually lasts for five years, but what’s interesting is the fact that the dates change every year and are normally determined by the moon’s position. What does the term Diwali mean?

It represents the “row of lights” and during this spectacular festival, people embellish their homes with oil lamps and lights also known as divas. Additionally, a lot of people this holiday actually honour the Hindu goddess of wealth called Lakshmi, which is why people place these lamps to help her find the way into their homes and bring some wealth and prosperity.

There are so many beautiful religious holidays, however, we’ve managed to only scratch the surface with the ones that were mentioned here. Still, we’re hoping that the stories behind them were as interesting to you, as they were to us.