Psychology of Festivals

The celebrations of Onam by the Keralietes spurred the question: Why do people celebrate? There are many apparent and obvious reasons. But beyond these apparents are there any real psychological reasons? Reasons that would explain why people celebrate festivals.

All cultures, all religions, all ethnic groups, whether they are minority or majority celebrate feasts and festivals. Mostly, when we look for their origins, we hardly find one. It dates back to time immemorial and the communities and societies failed to keep a track of the origins of the festivals. What we have are some legends and myths. It is in here we may look for their psychological implications.

My proposition is this: The celebrations are societies ways of keeping its members healthy. The societies which has more festivals are more happy, more psychologically healthy and more hard working.

Aristotle in his "Poetics" speaking of the usefulness of tragedy brings in the concept of "catharsis." Tragedy purges away the negative emotions from human psyche. Well, something similar is happening when we celebrate festivals. In the legends of Onam we have the society dreaming of a society with good governance, without inequality,etc. When the Bengalees celebrate the festivals of Durga puja or Kali puja, they are dreaming that they personally and socially would be purged of evil they see within them. So are all other festivals. The myths and legends that underlie the festivals bring to surface the human desire for health and wellbeing. They begin to identify and purify, and put on certain elements of what they celebrate.