Red envelopes stuffed with cash as gifts exchanged hands, and colourful dragon and lion dancers streamed in and out of decorated residences here Friday, ushering in the Chinese lunar New Year.
|Last Updated: Feb 01, 2014, 10:05 AM IST|Source: IANS
Kolkata: Red envelopes stuffed with cash as gifts exchanged hands, and colourful dragon and lion dancers streamed in and out of decorated residences here Friday, ushering in the Chinese lunar New Year.
The azure night sky lit up with firecrackers, as youth and teenagers soaked in the festivities, and the Year of the Horse in the Chinese almanac imbued the community with the gift of speed.
The essence of the festival is the spirit of renewal and family reunions.
The first day of the Chinese New Year is the most significant in the Chinese calender. The celebrations last 15 days and culminate with the Lantern Festival. Each year is associated with one of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. For 2014, it`s the horse in its wooden aspect.
"The horse or wooden horse symbolises speed and energy. It inspires us to pick up the pending work and speed it up. However, one must be careful in doing things in a hurry," Indian Chinese Association president Paul Chung told IANS.
Kolkata`s 4,000 strong Chinese community - settled mainly in the city`s eastern Tangra area and the largest in the country - celebrated the occasion with a strong emphasis on renewing familial ties. The lion and dragon dancers moved to the pulsating beats of drums -- they were supposed to bring good luck during the year ahead.
"We have lion dancers who entered each house of the community to bring good luck to the household. There were dragon dances too amidst loud drumming. Both lions and dragons are considered auspicious by Chinese," Chung said.
"But our theme is family bonding. It is a time for reunions. If ties within family are well established, then society is well established. We have tried to bring back that part of our culture and we have succeeded," Chung said while explaining that in the run-up to the New Year, everybody embarked on a cleaning spree a week ago.
One of the customs to strengthen relationships was handing traditional red envelopes filled with cash.
"Adults gave their parents a red envelope filled with cash as a token of good luck. Grandparents handed over cash-filled red envelopes to their grandchildren as a blessing. This is like a cycle. It strengthens the bonds within our families. Our families are very close-knit units," said Chung.
After the festivities quietened down, the families sat together to savour a course of an entire fish specially cooked for the red-letter - rather red envelope - day.
"Fish in Chinese means extra. So you will get everything in extra amounts this year," added Chung.
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.