50+ Lifestyles

Religious Holidays in April

By Eloise Graham

April 10 – Mahavir Jayanti which is the celebration of the birth of Lord Jayanti, the 24th Tirthankara in Jainism. Jainism is an ancient Indian non-theism religion. Non-theism means there is not a belief in a god or creator. They believe in reincarnation.

April 12 – Memorial of Jesus’ Death observed by Jehovah’s Witnesses. This date of the death is different than the Christian date of Easter. Jehovah’s Witnesses use a Biblical lunar calendar. They believe that the traditional “Easter” celebration focuses too much on many pagan rituals.

April 12 – 20 – Passover commemorates the liberation of the Jewish people from Egyptian  slavery. The Seder meal is a time of retelling the Exodus story.

April 14 –  Vaisakhi is a major religious celebration of Sikhs, commemorating the founding of the Khalsa.

April 20 – Easter as observed by members of Universal Unitarian. They celebrate rebirth of life and nature and the resurrection of past relationships.

April 20 – Easter is celebrated by Christians as the day of Christ’s resurrection to life after being crucified three days before. His crucifixion was an atonement for the sinners of the world.