Thanksgiving Day

ཐུགས་རྗེ་ལེགས་འབུལ་ཉིན་མོ།
November 22, 2012 Thursday

Thanksgiving Day is one of the major holidays in the United States. With Thursday and Friday as holiday, combining this with the weekends, people plan for a great holiday with the friends and family. Origin of Thanksgiving Day has a long history dating back to ancient harvest festival in Europe. Harvest festival is popular in many countries, where people thank the gods and nature for good and healthy bountiful harvest.

Thanksgiving Day in the United States is believed to have started in 1621, when some 50 Plymouth Pilgrims had a feast with native Indians at Plymouth to thank the natives for their help and in granting corn seeds. The two communities got into peace accord and lived peacefully around that time. It was then observed impromptu annually after the harvest. It was during President Lincoln time that the day was made public holiday and celebrated widely.

Today, the Thanksgiving Day is celebrated by the people to thank their respective gods, family and friends for all the help and guidance they had received during the year. It is also an important occasion for the family members to gather at their country home and celebrate.  

Most importantly, it is a day for all to thank and to remember the native Indians for their sincere help in accommodating and allowing the early Plymouth Pilgrim settlers in the land. Today the United States accommodates people from all the continents with freedom, democracy and equality as its guiding principle. The Day also reminds us to be thankful and grateful for all the help and blessing we have received from our friends and neighbors during the course of our journey in this life.

It would have been a nice tradition still relevant in this modern busy material century to allow the people to have a peaceful and joyful family time if only the turkeys are spared of their lives.