Have you ever seen an American woman fast on Maha Shivratri so that she gets a desirable man to marry?

But you must’ve seen Indians celebrate all kinds of festivals, the concept of secularism after all. Hence, Halloween, or All Hallow’s Eve or Hallowmas Eve, an ancient Celtic festival which is celebrated on the last day of harvest in European countries and America, has become very popular worldwide including Urban India.

All Saints Eve is a Western Christian feast observed on 31st October in many countries. It begins the observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year. It is observed in the memory of the dead, including saints, martyrs, and all the faithful departed.

In India, the festival is super famous mostly among children as they have fun dressing up in spooky, ghostly costumes assuming they look spine-chilling and scary, visit friends, neighbors, and relatives with treat bags. It is not a holiday here, unlike other countries.

This year it was on the weekend, adding on to the spooky fun!

The tradition of celebrating Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which is a pagan religious tradition, the history of which goes back more than 2000 years. It is the time when people light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.

According to History.com, “In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints. Soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain.” The evening before All Saints day was known as ” All Hallows Eve “, and later Halloween.

The nature of Halloween celebrations has however changed over centuries. Initially, in the countries in the northern latitudes, the day marked the end of summer and the beginning of cold, dark winter when deaths and diseases were quite common. However, today, Halloween is parallel with children getting into scary-spooky costumes and asking for “trick or treat”.

The “treat” is mostly some kind of chocolate or candy that is given to children “trick” refers to the threat if something nice is not given.

In India, the clubs, pubs, hotels, and other public houses offer huge discounts and promote the festival even more. They modify the ambiance for a day or two and change it into something scary and fun for the guests. The youth dress into spooky costumes, wear ghostly makeup, post on social media about it, making others aware of it too.