Valentines day history, importance and important dates in India

Every human has to agree that would have been a time in his/her life when they would have felt something special for a particular person. The feeling is such that you cannot stop thinking about that person be it while you are awake or sleep. The same face continues to come in front of your eyes. This is what everyone calls love, the time when the love arrow of that idiot cupid makes us lose our senses and for some unknown reason creates a sense of infatuation or attraction.

This feeling is life and the consequent days are something which one does not forgets for his/her whole life. Even if you don't speak to the person, just a look of that person leaves you giddy for sometime and makes up your mood. If you are someone who denies this then either you are too young, or may be you are lying or may be you need to loner who missed one of the best experiences of life. Valentines day is a day on which we celebrate the feeling of love.

History of Valentines day

Valentines day is a Christan festival and is not officially a celebrated day in India. Celebrated on 14 February every year it has a heart touching history. The name Valentine comes from a European priest Saint Valentine. During his time, Rome was ruled by a ruler named Claudius. Like every other Roman emperor he fought a lot of wars to gain more territory under Rome. But due to constant wars the youths of the country stopped joining the army because of the love with their families and partners. To stop this Claudius took a widely unpopular and cruel decision of banning the indulgence of men in commitments with their partners by the ritual of marriage.

Saint Valentine was a worshiper of the power of love and he took it upon himself to get these couples married in secret ceremonies where only the bride and groom were present. During one such ceremony the King's guards caught the priest red handed and he was sentenced to death. thus he became a martyr.

In the Christan and Roman traditions there are many similar festivals and on such festival in the Rome was Lupercalis/Lupercalia which was a celebration for fertility. During the rise of Christianity Lupercalis/Lupercalia, a pagan festival was renamed by Pope Gelasius to Saint Valentines Day.

In 1969 the word Saint was finally removed from the name after Pope Paul VI went through the history of Valentines day and came to the conclusion that the word Saint was unnecessary to celebrate a day which was for expressing love and emotions for our dear loved ones. According to him this day was to celebrate by showing our love to our loved ones by gifts and surprised in the most loving and romantic way they can.

History of Valentine day in India and India's historical relation with love

India history is filled with stories of unselfish lovers and their sacrifices. Indian literature, mythological text, scriptures and carvings of the famed Vatsayana's Kamsutra are quite enough to prove this. Our society, culture and religion always glorifies the instances of selfless love. Those who say that this a imported culture are just some ignorant people out to make some mean gains and need to do some research before making such claims.

Celebrations of Valentines Day in India

With the advance of globalization not only the economy to the world is connected together but also the culture and practices of other countries are penetrating in other countries. Same is the case with valentines day. During the recent years there has been a high acceptance and celebration of this day in today's youth. It might have lead to some friction with some orthodox and outdated groups like Ram Sena but that is actually adding fuel to this craze of this festival. People celebrate this day by taking their partners to malls, movies, high end hotels and giving and receiving costly gifts.

It must be noted that this festival is not the only festival which celebrates the spirit of love. In India love is celebrated after the institution of marriage. Our calendars are filled with such festivals like the Teej, Karwa Chauth etc. On these days wives keep a fast and pray for the long life of their husbands. nowadays as many movies and serials show women are not the only ones keeping these fast for the long and healthy life of their husband but this is being reciprocated by their husbands too which shows the sweet love between the couple nowadays who are not shy to show their love to the world.

Protests and opposition of Valentines day in India

Many sections of the society, specially political groups like Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and Ram Sena are not ready to accept this festival because of western nature and birth. Its opposition is more in the Muslim families and orthodox Hindu families due to obvious reasons. But the more vocal protesters of this festival are above mentioned political groups who resort to violence by beating up couples. getting them 'married', burning valentines day cards, vandalizing shops selling valentines day merchandise and much more. But what they do does not deter people from celebrating this festival but instead works as a advertisement to encourage youngsters to celebrate this festival.

Ways of celebrating Valentines day in India

People might not know the history behind Valentines day and the fact that it is actually a religious festival but they do eagerly wait for this festival. Even the kids are aware when this day is arriving and though they might not have a Valentine but they do like to talk about it a lot. Couples wait for this day with eagerness waiting what their partner will gift them.
Planning for this day start quite a number of days before. It may involve a long drive in a high end car or a dinner at a expensive hotel, they main aim is to impress the other partner.
On this day restaurants arrange special nights for couples at special rates. You are bound to have a nice party if you are a party regular. Even if not a dinner at such hotels can be a rememberable experience.

Gift for him on Valentines day

Guys love gadgets, gift them a latest phone or a high end camera

Dress nicely for the day, a beautiful girlfriend can be a perfect gift for a guy

A CD of his favorite artist or band

A nice special photo of you

A romantic cum humorous Valentine day card

If your man is too emotional type gift him a red rose to touch his heart

Gift for her on Valentines day

If you are a new couple a bunch of red roses can never be a wrong bet

Jewelery is something a women can;t say no to. Select a small but expensive looking jewelery

A gadget like a mobile phone or iPad will also keep her happy

If you are loaded and your parents aware of your relationship why not take her to a trip to a beach or shopping trip in foreign (for this you need to be highly loaded!!)

Book her a trip to a spa (take care, otherwise she might think you do not think here beautiful)

Soft Toys (not all girls like these, try to find if it is one of here likings

Most people like chocolates, gift it in a heart shaped box with pink wrapping and nice laces (better ask some other girl or the shopkeeper to do this)

Timetable/Schedule of days before Valentine

Valentine Week Day 1 - Rose Day

Valentine Week Day 2 - Propose Day

Valentine Week Day 3 - Chocolate Day

Valentine Week Day 4 - Teddy Day

Valentine Week Day 5 - Promise Day

Valentine Week Day 6 - Kiss Day

Valentine Week Day 7 - Hug Day

And now comes he final day, the day of test, the Valentines Day