Halloween is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day. It begins the observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the departed. The word ‘Halloween’ comes from All Hallows’ Eve and means ‘hallowed evening’. The history of Halloween dates back to a pagan festival called Samhain and involved people dressed up as saints and went door-to-door. Today, the trend of Halloween has picked up across the globe and is marked with costumes, spooky treats, trick-or-treating, Halloween party games, and Halloween food and cocktails. Jaipur too has a fair share of Halloween celebrations. Here are some interesting glimpses:
DRESS UP AND DANCE
It has become a trend to host and attend costume parties on Halloween over the years. ‘Bachata Jaipur’, which is a women-led Latin Dance Community hosted a Latin Social Night on Halloween at Club Naila. Telling more about the event, popular food blogger and member of Bachata Jaipur, Radhika Agarwal shares: “People dressed up as interesting characters from across the globe and came together to dance. It was fun to see people in costumes dancing together, from Aladdin dancing with Jasmine to Snoop dogg dancing with Ranveer Singh. One could also see Justin Bieber dancing with Witches and Khal Drogo dancing with a Cow Boy. I dressed up as the “Thug Life/Snoop Dogg MEME” that’s quite trendy on the internet. All in all, it was an exciting party and it is great to see that slowly, people from all over the world are coming together to celebrate and adapt festivals and traditions from across the globe.”
RISING OF THE PHOENIX
Jaipur’s Akansha Bakshi, who is a digital content creator and runs an Instagram page ‘Magnificent Mayhem’, chose to depict ‘Rising of the Phoenix’ this Halloween. Shedding light on her love for the festival, she says: “Having grown up in USA and Canada, I have always loved the Halloween celebrations and observed it as one of the most fun nights of the year. It is a festival I have always loved celebrating with my friends and siblings and every year we dress up and carve pumpkins together. This year I decided to conceptualize ‘Rising of the Phoenix’. I have always been fascinated with the Phoenix rising from the ashes and emerge from a catastrophe stronger, smarter and more powerful. It is something that resonated with me this year and so came the phoenix in an all gold avatar surrounded by fire and ashes.”
HALLOWEEN COSTUME PARTY
Jaipur based animal rights activist, Mariam Abuhaideri was introduced to halloween while she was a student in the US. However, she did not part her way from the festival even after she finished her studies and moved to other countries. “I was fascinated with the Celts who believed that on this night the boundary between the living and dead gets blurred. I felt connected to my loved ones including pets who had crossed the rainbow bridge. This is the first time in many years that I did not host a party and instead decided to go to Club Naila for their party. While I became a murdered bride inspired by a web series I had recently watched, my friend Abhishek put on a mask and a blood- stained shawl”, tells Mariam.
HALLOWEEN SPECIAL COOKIES
No celebration is complete without food and Jaipur based cafe and patisserie, O’baque, gave their regular cookies a Halloween makeover. “We made Jam Drop Cookies and Brookies Sandwiches with Marshmallow Web as a Halloween special offering”, shares Chef Sanyogita of O’baque.
Tusharika Singh
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