Ambuvachi

Ambuvachi, a celebration of the Mother Goddess Devi, is a rite observed in most of north and central India, but most elaborately in Bengal. ...

Amarnath Yatra

Amarnath is a shrine to the Hindu deity Shiva, located in a cave in the Indian state of Kashmir on the side of a mountain roughly 7,500 feet...

Amalaka Ekadashi

Amalaka Ekadashi is the Vaishnava Hindu fast on the 11th day of the waxing moon in the lunar month of Phaguna. On this occasion, the celebr...

Alphonse de Ligouri, Saint’s Day of St. (August 1)

Alphonse de Ligouri (1696–1787) was the founder of the Redemptorist order and one of the most influential moral theologians in Roman Catholi...

Alphabet Day (May 24)

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the Saint’s Day of Sts. Cyril and Methodius on May 11 of the old Julian calendar, which is May 24 on ...

All Souls Day (November 2)

All Souls Day is a primarily Western Christian day of remembrance of all people who have died in the faith. It is primarily observed by Roma...

All Saints Day (November 1)

In 835, Pope Gregory IV (r. 827–844) set November 1 as a day to honor all the saints (at a time where most people acknowledged as saints wer...

Ali ibn Abi Talib, Commemoration Days for

Ali ibn Abi Talib (c. 597–661), the son-in-law of Muhammad and the fourth caliph of the Muslim community, would be designated the first Imam...

Aldersgate Day

Possibly the most famous words ever penned by John Wesley (1703–1791), the founder of the Methodist movement, were recorded in his journal f...

Akshay Tritiya (Jain)

Akshay Tritiya is a Hindu holy day that falls during the waxing moon of the month of Vaishakh. For Hindus, it is a day of both festivities a...

Akshay Tritiiya

Akshay Tritiiya, also known as Parashurama Jayanti, the appearance day of Lord Parashurama, is a Vaishnava Hindu holiday that has gathered n...

Aki Matsuri (October)

Aki Matsuri is a traditional Shinto festival that has become a secularized Japanese national celebration analogous to Thanksgiving Day in th...

Aizen Summer Festival (June 30-July 2)

The Aizen Summer Festival is one of three summer celebrations based in Osaka, Japan, unique for being held at a Buddhist temple. Its role i...

Airing the Classics

Also known as the Double Sixth, because it occurs on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, Airing the Classics is a minor Buddhist observ...

Ahoi Ashtami

Ahoi or Hoi Mata (known as Sanjhi in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar) is a Hindu goddess whose domain is the family. She is seen as an aspect of th...

Agua, La Fiesta de (October)

In the mountains of the Peruvian Andes, the traditional religion of the indigenous people continues to be practiced alongside the Christiani...

Agnes, Feast Day of St. (January 21)

Agnes (d. c. 303) is one of several young female Christians who suffered martyrdom during the wave of persecutions during the reign of Roman...

Advent

The beginning of the Christian Liturgical Year in Western churches, Advent marks the four Sundays before Christmas. The word “advent” comes ...

African Methodist Quarterly Meeting Day (August)

Wilmington, Delaware, is the home of one of the most unique gatherings of African Americans that date to the early 19th century. The Big Aug...

Adi Da Samrajashram, Anniversary of Adi Da’s First Footstep on (October 17)

Adidam is a spiritual community founded by Adavita Vedanta teacher Franklin Jones (1939–2008), better known by his religious name Avatar Adi...

Adalbert of Prague, Saint’s Day of St. (April 23)

Adalbert of Prague (c. 956–997), a martyr from the era prior to the establishment of Christian dominance of eastern Europe, was born into a ...

Acorn Feast

The Hupa people reside in the Hupa Valley in Northern California, through which the Trinity River flows prior to its junction with the Klama...

Aboakyer Festival

The Aboakyer (animal catch) Festival is a celebration of the Simpafo (or Effutufo) people in and around Winneba, a town on the southern coas...

Abhidhamma Day

Abhidhamma Day is a Theravada Buddhist celebration observed primarily in Myanmar (Burma) that has grown out of a tradition concerning the or...

‘Abdu’l-Baha´, Ascension of (November 28)

The Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Baha´, like the Day of the Covenant (November 26), is a Baha´’ı´ holy day honoring ‘Abdu’l-Baha´ (1844–1921), who s...