Festivals Sports and Pastimes of India

• In traditional culture work and play went together, and in Indian tradition there was religious orientation as well. The Indian Festivals and Sports is a fascinating theme indeed. However the period, the geographical area, and the material on the subject are vast and prodi¬ gious. A comparative study, with parallel forms known through the ages in other parts of the world gives the treatment an extra enlightening dimension.
• Prof. Raghavan has had occasions to deal with the theme of festivities, pastimes and vratas, individually and collectively, in his writings in Tamil, English and Sanskrit.
• The late Dr. V. Raghavan was a prolific and versatile scholar in Sanskrit and Indology. He was intimately associated with all outstanding organisations of Sanskrit Studies in India and abroad. He was a Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow (1960-70) and President, International Association of Sanskrit Studies for several years. His facile pen has ranged over the whole gamut of Sanskrit literature. His analytical acumen, critical faculty, deep erudition and flowery eloquence have won the admiration of the entire scholarly world.
• Festivals form an integral and important part of the life, civilization and culture of a people. Several of them had their origin in the primitive stage of the peoples. There have been no people in any part of the world who have not had their festivals. The festivals were closely woven into the web of the lives of the people. The primary activity of man was the collection of food and agriculture; he was most concerned with vegetation, its decay and regeneration, and sowing and reaping; the elements of Nature which had their most prominent impact on him were the Sun and the Moon and the Constellations and the phenomena associated with these like light and darkness and re-emergence of the former and the cycle of seasons; the Sky and the Earth with which he lived were his parents. It was therefore most natural that his activity in relation to these, the importance he attached to these, his gratitude and his adoration of these expressed themselves in the form of festivities, sacrifices and offerings.