7 Jun
(Sun)
Trinity Sunday
The first Sunday after Pentecost. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three modes of God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
11 Jun
(Thu)
Corpus Christi
Christian festival in honor of the Holy Eucharist. The name derives from the Latin for "body of Christ".
16 Jun
(Tue)
Martyrdom of Guru Arjan
Festival commemorating the death of the fifth Guru, who was executed, at the behest of the Moghal Emperor, for refusing to pay a fine arising from a charge of treason. It was Guru Arjan that made the first compilation of the Adi Granth (the Sikh scriptures) and supervised the completion of the Golden Temple at Amritsar. A gurpurb (holy day commemorating an event in the life of a Guru) is held on this day with an akhand path — an unbroken reading of the Guru Granth Sahib, normally lasting 48 hours.
19 Jun
(Fri)
Dragon Boat Festival
Also known as Tuen Ng Festival or Duan Wu Festival, this festival is held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. The festival is said to commemorate the death of the poet and statesman Ch'u Yuan (circa 279BC) who, disgusted by the corruption of the government, decided to commit suicide by drowning. Local people, knowing him to be a good man, decided to throw food into the river to feed the fish to prevent them from eating his body. They also sat on dragon boats, and tried to scare the fish away by playing loud drums and with the fierce looking dragon-heads on the front of their boats. To commeorate this people eat zongzi (the food originally intended to feed the fish) and race dragon boats.
21 Jun
(Sun)
Midsummer Solstice/
Midsummer’s Day (Pagan)
The date at which the Sun reaches its most northerly distance from the equator. The festival of Midsummer, sometimes called Litha, is important in Pagan culture.
24 Jun
(Wed)
Ratha Yatra
This festival (whose name means "chariot journey") is observed most notably at Puri in Orissa, where processions of devotees push huge wagons (rathas) carrying images of Krishna, who is known under the name of Jagannath (Lord of the Universe), through the streets. The image of Krishna is accompanied by images of his brother and sister, Lord Balabhadra and Subhadra. The festival is celebrated in Britain with a procession through London on an appropriate Sunday.
