Maternal bond is perhaps the most cherishing and promising relation in this world. Motherhood is therefore honored through the Mother’s Day celebrations. Mothers shape the society, influence the upcoming generations and thus have a potential of bringing a revolutionary change in the times to come.
To celebrate and honour this beautiful, comforting and truly warm relationship, Mother’s Day is celebrated in almost every culture, though in different time zones and various styles. Today’s spotlight is the way Mother’s Day is celebrated in different parts of the world.
Historic Relevance:
Mother’s Day celebrations can be traced back to ancient festivals, like the Greek cult to Cybele, the Roman festival of Hilaria or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration.
In different cultures, Mother’s Day is associated with different historic occurrences, religious or legendary relevances. This is the reason behind different dates of Mother’s Day celebrations.
In most of the countries, Mother’s Day is a recent observance, as evolved in America, when adopted by different cultures and countries, it was given different meanings according to their perception and religious beliefs.
Mother’s Day Celebrations And Arab Countries:
In most of the Arab countries, Mother’s Day is celebrated on 21st of March. Initially the Mother’s Day celebrations were introduced by Egypt which were adopted by many other Arab countries afterwards. The traditional songs to celebrate Mother’s Day are the distinct feature of Mother’s Day celebrations in Arab countries.
Mother’s Day Celebrations In Australia:
In Australia people celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May. It is not known as a public holiday. In Australia, Mother’s Day is celebrated in the similar fashion as in the United States. Wearing carnation on Mother’s Day is a tradition. Coloured carnations signify that the person’s mother is living while white carnation is worn to honor deceased mothers. Giving away cards, gifts and flowers to all the mothers, grandmothers and all the ladies who are mother like is a tradition in Australia. Mother’s Day celebrations are enthusiastically pursued in Australia.
Mother’s Day Celebrations In US:
In the United States, Mother’s Day is celebrated with great passion. It is a custom to honour and thank mothers by giving away tokens of love, for their unconditional love and support. Mother’s Day in the US is a national holiday and considered to be an equally important an event as Valentine’s day or Christmas.
Mother’s Day has been commercialized in the USA. florists, gift shop keepers and restaurant owners make enough money on Mother’s Day, as people crazily buy flowers and gifts for their mothers and take them out for special meals.
Canada observes the Mother’s Day celebrations exactly like the US.
Mother’s Day Celebrations In India:
In India, Mother’s Day has become a noticeable celebration during the last decade. People now a days are seen celebrating Mother’s Day with great enthusiasm. Media gives a great coverage and creates an emotional hype through various entertaining programmes especially prepared for the Mother’s Day. This induces an energy in the public and they feel motivated to celebrate it in even a better way than previous.
The rising trend of Mother’s Day celebrations is the main reason that the event is getting commercialized here in India.
Mother’s Day And The UK:
In the UK, Mother’s Day is not celebrated on the second Sunday of May, rather the fourth Sunday of the month of Lent. Since, Lents’ dates vary, so Mother’s Day is always celebrated on a different date. England was perhaps the first country in the whole world who acknowledged Mother’s Day in 1600 AD and started dedicating this day for Mothers. The Mother’s Day here was initially called as ‘Mothering Sunday’ which later on converted in the existing Mother’s Day. In the UK, it is a tradition to present a big almond cake to mothers as a token of gratitude on the Mother’s Day celebrations.