Thanksgiving Day – Day of Feast

Thanksgiving is a national
holiday celebrated mainly in Canada & USA; it is a day to give thanks for
the blessing of the harvest .In Canada, it is celebrated on the second Monday
of October and on the fourth Thursday of November in USA. This day is
celebrated in other countries too. It is an official holiday to spend the time
with family and friends.

In every culture, there exists a
custom, ritual or a tradition to celebrate the harvest season and to be
thankful to the God for good harvest and they pray for the same in the coming
years. The harvest thrives on Nature and it’s believed that the nature is
regulated by the Almighty God, who takes care of everything. Sunlight, rain,
breeze, the different seasons, all in proportion is the basic requirement for a
good harvest. The Thanksgiving Day is celebrated with full pomp and show to
thank the God for his blessings on each and every life on this earth. It is a
celebration of the blessings of the year, including harvest.

History:

The immigrants who sailed to United States
aboard the Mayflower were people of Puritan sect, who took shelter in
Netherlands but were disgusted by their lifestyle. They settled in United
States for a better life but they were petrified by the calamities of nature
and many lost their lives in mid. But in 1621, after great turmoil, there was a
huge harvest and the left people celebrated with 91 Indians who had helped them
in their tough days. In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians
shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first
Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of
thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn’t until
1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed
a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. And in 1941, in United States, the day was finally
sanctioned by the Congress as legal holiday on the last Thursday of November,
every year. It’s also believed that it is the starting of holidays and this day
of celebration precedes Christmas celebrations.

                                             Source: here

Turkey:

 The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada is a large meal, generally
centered on a large roasted turkey.
“The First Thanksgiving,” the 1621 feast between
the Pilgrims and theWampanoag at Plymouth Colony contained turkey, waterfowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin,
and squash.

Thanksgiving turkeys are stuffed with a
bread-based mixture and roasted. Sage is the traditional herb added to the
stuffing (also called dressing), along with chopped celery, carrots, and
onions. Other ingredients, such as chopped chestnuts or other tree nuts,
crumbled sausage or bacon, cranberries, raisins, or apples, may be added to
stuffing. Deep-fried
turkey is rising in popularity. Turkey being the most common main dish of a
Thanksgiving dinner, Thanksgiving is sometimes called “Turkey Day.”

It is the food we bring to others in their
times of need. It is the food we share, with love, with our families and with
others. It binds us together. It is a day of celebration of food with the people
around.