Religious and Cultural
Diversity Calendar 2012
January
February
Baha’i
One of the youngest
of the world’s major
religions.
Buddhism
April
May
2 Nineteen Day Fast (Start)
21 Naw-Ruz
21 Ridvan (First day)
29 Ridvan (Ninth day)
2 Ridvan (Twelfth day)
23 Declaration of the Bab
29 Ascension of Baha’u’llah
9 Martyrdom of the Bab
6 Theravada New Year
5 Wesak or Buddha day
3 Asala – Dharama Day
17 Ascension Day
20 Ascension Day (Catholic Church
in England & Wales)
27 Pentecost – Whitsun
7 Magha Puja
8 Parinirvana-Nirvana Day
15 Nirvana day (Alternative date)
A way of living based
on the teachings of
Siddhartha Gautama.
Christianity
The world’s biggest faith,
based on the teaching
of Jesus Christ.
6 Epiphany 6 Theophany (Orthodox)
7 Christmas Day (Orthodox)
8 Baptism of the Lord
18 Week of Prayer for Christian
Unity (Start)
Chinese
23 Chinese new year
Hinduism
14 Makar Sankranti
28 Vasant Panchami
A group of faiths
rooted in the religious
ideas of India.
March
2 Candlemas 11 Our Lady of
Lourdes 21 Shrove Tuesday
22 Ash Wednesday
27 Clean Monday – Beginning
of Lent (Orthodox)
1 St Davids Day
17 St Patricks Day
18 Mothering Sunday
25 Annunciation
1 Palm Sunday 5 Maundy Thursday
6 Good Friday 7 Holy Saturday
(Western) 8 Easter Sunday
(Western) 15 Easter (Orthodox)
23 St George’s Day
20 Mahashivratri
8 Holi
23 Ugadi (Yugadi)
1 Rama Navami
1 Swaminarayan Jayanti
6 Hanuman Jayanti
Islam
4 Milad un Nabi (Birthday of the
Prophet Mohammad)
9 Milad un Nabi (Shia)
Judaism
8 Tu B’Shevat
7 Fast of Esther (Taanit Esther)
8 Purim
9 Shushan Purim
Paganism
2 lmbolc
20 Spring Equinox – Eoster
Revealed in its final
form by the Prophet
Muhammad.
Based around the Jewish
people’s covenant
relationship with God.
June
July
1 Beltane
20 Summer Solstice – Litha
October
November
20 Birth of the Bab
12 Birth of Baha’u’llah
26 Day of the Covenant
28 Ascension of Abdu’l-Baha
2 Feast of the Guardian Angels
31 Haloween (All Hallows’ Eve)
1 All Saints Day
2 All Souls Day
30 St Andrews Day
2 Raksha Bandhan
10 Janmashtami – Krishna Jayanti
16 Navaratri (Start)
24 Dussera
13 Diwali
14 Lailat al Qadr
19 Eid-Ul-Fitr
26 Eid-Ul-Adha
15 Al-Hijira
24 Ashura
December
8 Nativity of the Theotokos
8 Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary
14 The Triumph of the Cross
2 Advent Sunday 8 Feast of the
Immaculate Conception
24 Christmas Eve
25 Christmas Day
26 St Stephen’s Day
17 Rosh Hashanah (First day)
19 Fast of Gedalliah
26 Yom Kippur
1 Sukkot
7 Hoshanah Rabbah
8 Shemini Atzeret
9 Simchat Torah
9 Hanukkah
1 Lughnasadh – Lammas
22 Autumn Equinox
31 Samhain (Haloween)
21 Winter Solstice – Yule
17 Birthday of Marcus Garvey
11 Ethiopian New Year
8 17th Tammuz
29 Tisha B’Av
10 Lag B’Omer
20 Yom Yerushalayim
27 Shavuot (First day)
September
8 Bodhi Day
6 Transfiguration
15 Dormition of the Theotokos
15 Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
3 Trinity Sunday
7 Corpus Christi
10 All Saints Day (Orthodox)
10 Corpus Christi (Catholic Church
in England and Wales)
20 Ramadam (Start)
6 Fast of the Firstborn 7 Passover
(First day) 14 Passover (Final day)
19 Yom Hashoah 25 Yom
Hazikaron 26 Yom Ha’atzmaut
August
Contemporary religions
usually based on
reverence for nature.
Rastafari
7 Christmas Day (Ethiopian)
Shinto
1 Oshogatsu
15 Seijin Shiki (Adults Day)
Sikhism
5 Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh
(Nanakshahi calendar)
31 Birthday of Guru Har Rai
(Naanakshahi calendar)
21 Anniversary of Haile Selassie’s
visit to Jamaica
A young religion
founded in Jamaica
in the 1930s.
Japanese folk tradition
and ritual with no
founder or single
sacred scripture.
The religion founded by
Guru Nanak in India in
the 15th Century CE.
3 Risun (Setsubun)
Zoroastrianism
One of the oldest
monotheistic faiths,
founded by the
Prophet Zoroaster.
23 Birthday of Haile Selassie I
3 Hina-matsuri – Festival of Dolls
3 Shubun-sai – Equinox Day
9 Hola Mohalla (Lunar calendar)
21 Jamshedi Noruz (Fasli)
26 Khordad Sal (Fasli)
15 Shichigosan (7-5-3 festival)
23 Ninamesei
13 Vaisakhi 14 Hola Mohalla
(Nanakshahi calendar) 14 Birthday
of Guru Nanak (Nanakshahi
calendar) 18 Birthday of Guru Tegh
Bahadur (Nanakshahi calendar)
18 Birthday of Guru Angad Dev
(Nanakshahi calendar)
2 Birthday of Guru Arjan Dev
(Nanakshahi calendar)
23 Birthday of Guru Amar Das
(Nanakshahi calendar)
16 Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev
(Nanakshahi calendar)
9 Birthday of Guru Ram Das
(Nanakshahi calendar)
5 Birthday of Guru Hargobind
(Nanakshahi calendar)
23 Birthday of Guru Har Krishen
(Nanakshahi calendar)
19 Jamshedi Noruz (Qadimi)
24 Khordad Sal (Qadimi)
13 Diwali
24 Martyrdom of Guru Tegh
Bahadur (Nanakshahi calendar)
28 Birthday of Guru Nanak
(Lunar calendar)
18 Jamshedi Noruz (Shenshai)
23 Khordad Sal (Shenshai)
The calendar has been developed by
Manorlands Hospice as part of the Hospice
Apprenticeship Project diversity initiative.
Sue Ryder is a charity registered in England and Wales (1052076) and in Scotland (SC039578).
Ref No.00819. © Sue Ryder. November 2011.
2 Coronation of Emperor Haile
Selassie I
The definitions and dates used have been extracted from the
BBC Website (www.bbc.co.uk). These were accurate at the time of print.
For more information
call: 01535 642308
email: [email protected]
visit: www.sueryder.org/manorlandshospice