The harvest festival is a common celebration throughout the world. In every tradition and culture, the bountiful yield always rejoices as a successful human endeavor.
In America, officially, Thanksgiving Day has been celebrated on the third Thursday of November since President Roosevelt declared this particular day as an annual celebration of Thanksgiving as well as a national holiday.
Celebrating Thanksgiving Day in England
Even before the Americans celebrated Thanksgiving Day, the festival was a part of English culture. It was on November 5, 1605, that the first official Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in England.
For the English, it was a political and religious fight between the Catholics and the Protestants where the latter succeeded under the leadership of Guy Fawkes.
Actually, before the plan chalked out by the Catholics could be implemented to overthrow the power of England, the conspirators were caught, and the whole plan was wasted.
But for England, it was a time to celebrate and remain grateful to the divine power. Therefore, in England, Thanksgiving Day is more commonly known as Guy Fawkes Day.
Another way of looking at Thanksgiving Day is clear from the celebrations held even today.
American celebration of Thanksgiving Day
The grand feast can be considered as the first name for celebrating Thanksgiving Day in America.
The settlement of the pilgrims in Massachusetts and the start of their new livelihood, with the process of cultivation, moved forth in great shape with the first harvest itself.
So, along with the Native Americans and the tribes of the land, the chief of the group decided that this occasion could not go by without a celebration.
The celebration must have taken place in the months of September to November, though the exact days are not known.
The main idea of celebration was to worship the Almighty and pay thanks to Him but things didn’t end here.
A grand feast was organized in which every inhabitant participated. This was the beginning of Thanksgiving Day in America. In other words, it is often referred to as the Harvest Festival.
Now, the third Thursday of November has been fixed as the Thanksgiving Day celebration looking at every side, combining with the traditional image and taking everyone’s convenience into consideration.
Celebrating Chusok! The Asian way of giving thanks
It would be wrong to call the name chusok as the celebration of the Thanksgiving festival throughout the Asian continent as is not known by this name.
It is in Korea that this particular name of the Thanksgiving Day is quite popular, but the basic celebration is more or less same in the other regions.
It is also closely associated with giving hearty gratitude to the divine power for the good production of crops.
The Koreans celebrate it in the last week of September, particularly on the 24th of the month. The festival has, at its core, the traditional flavor and even the urban class participates in it whole-heartedly.
There are many more such celebrations in the name of Thanksgiving in different regions of the world. These three ways of looking at Thanksgiving Day, although calling it by different names, are indeed significant across the globe.
Common to all is that they form the basic concept of celebration in these regions. Perhaps, a difference in the look, but the idea is the same all over.
