Story of Thanksgiving and how the festival finds a place in Indian communities

Hyderabad: This year, Thanksgiving will be celebrated on November 27. Modern Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated by all religions on the fourth Thursday of November in the US.

What is Thanksgiving, and is it celebrated in India?

The occasion is celebrated with family gatherings, a large meal and expressing gratitude for the past year’s blessings. While traditions like watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and playing football are popular, the focus remains on family and time for reflection, sharing and appreciation.

Of late, influenced by American expats, American films and people working in the US, Thanksgiving is gaining popularity even in India. Many chic restaurants and some of Hyderabad’s 5-star hotels are setting a menu for a turkey dinner.

Here are some of the ways Thanksgiving is celebrated in most parts of the world:

Family gatherings

People gather with family and friends to share food and company. Flights in the US get very expensive at this time of the year.

Festive meals

A large meal is the mainstay of this celebration, with roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie being classic dishes.

Parades and sports

Watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a popular tradition for many, as is watching football games.

Expressing gratitude

The spirit of gratitude and appreciation is considered a universal value that goes beyond borders and languages. A key part of the celebration is for everyone to share what they are thankful for.

Volunteering

Some people volunteer to help those in need, such as by donating food, volunteering in orphanages, old age homes and soup kitchens.

Presidential Turkey Pardon

In a unique tradition followed in the US, every year, the American President pardons one or two turkeys from the annual Whitehouse Thanksgiving dinner, allowing them to live out the rest of their lives on a farm. This year on Tuesday, President Trump pardoned two turkeys named Gobble and Waddle.

Secular nature

Thanksgiving is a secular holiday that is celebrated by people from different cultural and religious backgrounds.

Economic impact

The Thanksgiving holiday is recognised as the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season in the United States.

History of Thanksgiving

American Thanksgiving originated from a 1621 harvest feast shared by English colonists and the Wampanoag people in Plymouth, Massachusetts, though this event was not initially called Thanksgiving.

The holiday, as it is known today, was officially established by Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

Early history

An early, documented Thanksgiving celebration occurred with 38 English settlers arriving in 1619 at Berkeley Hundred in what is now Virginia, with a charter that required the day to be kept ‘Holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God’ but it is the more famous 1621 harvest feast between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag, which is considered the basis for the modern holiday.

The event was a three-day celebration to give thanks for a successful harvest, with about 50 pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag men attending.

After that, Thanksgiving celebrations took place infrequently in New England settlements. George Washington issued a proclamation for a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789.

Sarah Joseph Hale had campaigned for 36 years to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation for it to be celebrated on the last Thursday of November, partly to foster national unity during the Civil War.

Between 1939 and 1941, during the Great Depression, President Franklin D Roosevelt moved the date to the third Thursday of November to lengthen the Christmas shopping season. Congress later standardised the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November in 1941.

Historical holiday about people and land

Modern Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated with family gatherings, feasts featuring turkey, and events like parades and football games.

The modern holiday differs from the historical reality, as the 1621 feast occurred during a time of significant cultural differences and a temporary alliance that deteriorated into conflict over time.