This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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History of Religions
History of the 3 Monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and of the main different Christianity confessions (Roman Catholicism, Eastern Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicanism and Protestantism)
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Pedagogical Approaches
New pedagogical approaches to teach history of religion
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Role of Religions in Civilization
How to didactically promote among students of different confessions, the capacity of a critical analysis and understanding of the role played by religions in the history of mankind
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Interreligious Students’ Competences
Set of teaching contents, to be used by teachers to highlight and valorize the universal values of tolerance and universalisms that all Monotheistic religions and religious texts contain to promote and sustain mutual understanding among students
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Managing Multi-Religious Classes
Teaching Sources to help teachers dealing with multicultural and multi-religious classes
Map
An interactive didactical map interactive didactical map giving access to sites with a religious relevance.-
Introduction
A comparative review of the liturgical celebrations, ceremonies and dietary rules existing in the different religions.
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Celebrations
Description and comparative analysis of the celebrations of different religions and confessions
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Ceremonies
Description and comparative analysis of the ceremonies of different religions and confessions
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Dietary Rules
Description and comparative analysis of the dietary rules of different religions and confessions
Events
The Pathway through Religions project has been promoted trough conferences and articles.
Conferences
The Pathway through Religions project was presented in a number of events in order to report about the activities carried out and the results achieved
Press Review
The Pathway through Religions project partnership made contacts with web sites focusing on the fields of educationPartnership
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Contractual Partners
From this section it is possible to access to a description of each contractual partner of the Pathway through Religions project.
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Schools
From this section it is possible to access to the information about the schools involved in the Pathway through Religions Project in the European countries involved.
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Associated Partners
As a result of the exploitation activity a number of associated partners officially joined the project in order to contribute to the improvement of the project impact on their target groups and to ensure the project sustainability by continuing using the project deliverables in the next years.
This section of the Pathway through Religions portal provides administrative information for the project contractual partners and for the European Commission and it is password protected.
Celebrations
Homepage > Training Course > Celebrations
Description and comparative analysis of the celebrations of different religions and confessions
Celebrations
7.3.3. Diwali
, the Festival of Light, comes at the end of October or early November. It's a festival that Sikhs, Hindus and Jains celebrate.
Diwali for Sikhs
For Sikhs, Diwali is particularly important because it celebrates the release from prison of the sixth guru, Guru Hargobind, and 52 other princes with him, in 1619.
The Sikh tradition holds that the Emperor Jahangir had imprisoned Guru Hargobind and 52 princes. The Emperor was asked to release Guru Hargobind which he agreed to do. However, Guru Hargobind asked that the princes be released also. The Emperor agreed, but said only those who could hold onto his cloak tail would be allowed to leave the prison. This was in order to limit the number of prisoners who could leave.
However, Guru Hargobind had a cloak made with 52 pieces of string and so each prince was able to hold onto one string and leave prison.
Sikhs celebrated the return of Guru Hargobind by lighting the Golden Temple and this tradition continues today.
The Festival of Lights
The name of the festival comes from the Sanskrit word dipavali, meaning row of lights.
Diwali is known as the 'festival of lights' because houses, shops and public places are decorated with small earthenware oil lamps called Diyas. These lamps, which are traditionally fueled by mustard oil, are placed in rows in windows, doors and outside buildings to decorate them.
In towns in India (and in Britain) electric lights are often used in Diwali displays.
In India oil lamps are often floated across the river Ganges - it is regarded as a good omen if the lamp manages to get all the way across. Fireworks are also a big part of the Diwali celebrations, although some Sikhs prefer not to use them because of noise, atmospheric pollution and the risk of accidental deaths and injuries.
Like Christmas in the West, Diwali is very much a time for buying and exchanging gifts. Traditionally sweets and dried fruit were very common gifts to exchange, but the festival has become a time for serious shopping, leading to anxiety that commercialism is eroding the spiritual side of the festival. In most years shopkeepers expect sales to rise substantially in the weeks before the festival. Diwali is also a traditional time to redecorate homes and buy new clothes. Diwali is also used to celebrate a successful harvest.
Diwali for Sikhs
For Sikhs, Diwali is particularly important because it celebrates the release from prison of the sixth guru, Guru Hargobind, and 52 other princes with him, in 1619.
The Sikh tradition holds that the Emperor Jahangir had imprisoned Guru Hargobind and 52 princes. The Emperor was asked to release Guru Hargobind which he agreed to do. However, Guru Hargobind asked that the princes be released also. The Emperor agreed, but said only those who could hold onto his cloak tail would be allowed to leave the prison. This was in order to limit the number of prisoners who could leave.
However, Guru Hargobind had a cloak made with 52 pieces of string and so each prince was able to hold onto one string and leave prison.
Sikhs celebrated the return of Guru Hargobind by lighting the Golden Temple and this tradition continues today.
The Festival of Lights
The name of the festival comes from the Sanskrit word dipavali, meaning row of lights.
Diwali is known as the 'festival of lights' because houses, shops and public places are decorated with small earthenware oil lamps called Diyas. These lamps, which are traditionally fueled by mustard oil, are placed in rows in windows, doors and outside buildings to decorate them.
In towns in India (and in Britain) electric lights are often used in Diwali displays.
In India oil lamps are often floated across the river Ganges - it is regarded as a good omen if the lamp manages to get all the way across. Fireworks are also a big part of the Diwali celebrations, although some Sikhs prefer not to use them because of noise, atmospheric pollution and the risk of accidental deaths and injuries.
Like Christmas in the West, Diwali is very much a time for buying and exchanging gifts. Traditionally sweets and dried fruit were very common gifts to exchange, but the festival has become a time for serious shopping, leading to anxiety that commercialism is eroding the spiritual side of the festival. In most years shopkeepers expect sales to rise substantially in the weeks before the festival. Diwali is also a traditional time to redecorate homes and buy new clothes. Diwali is also used to celebrate a successful harvest.
Pictures
Celebrating Diwali with candles and light at the Sikh holy shrine at Amritsar.
Videos
Diwali – celebrating Diwali in Southall London
