From Christmas Week to Shahidi Week

A Sanatani Homage to Sacrifice, Roots, and Civilizational Memory 🚩

1. A Silent Question We Must Ask Ourselves

As years pass, it is becoming increasingly common to see Hindu households celebrating Christmas with greater enthusiasm than even many Christian families.
Decorations, Santa stories, cakes, gifts, and “Merry Christmas” greetings have quietly entered Hindu homes—often without reflection.

At first glance, this appears harmless. But beneath this surface lies a deeper civilizational question:

Are we truly giving our children joy?
Or are we unknowingly allowing them to drift away from their own identity?
Are we enriching their worldview—or slowly erasing their cultural memory?

Festivals are not neutral events. They shape imagination, memory, and belonging.

2. 25 December in Sanatana Dharma: Tulsi Vivah, Not Cultural Amnesia

Very few Hindu families today are aware that 25 December is traditionally observed as Tulsi Vivah in Sanatana Dharma.

Tulsi Vivah symbolizes:

Purity, devotion, and sacrifice
Harmony between nature and divinity
The sanctity of marriage as a dharmic responsibility
Respect for feminine and ecological power

Teaching children about Tulsi Mata and Vishnu–Shaligram Vivah gives them:

Cultural confidence
Spiritual grounding
A sense of continuity with their ancestors

If we do not tell our children what 25 December means in our civilization, someone else will define its meaning for them.

3. Shahidi Week: Remembering the Price of Freedom and Faith

The last week of December is also Shahidi Week—a period soaked in sacrifice.

Sikh Gurus and the Ultimate Stand for Dharma

Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji laid down his life to protect religious freedom—not only for Sikhs, but for all of Bharat.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s Sahibzade were bricked alive for refusing to abandon Dharma.

Sanatani Kings and Warriors

Maharana Pratap, who chose hardship over submission
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who defended Dharma and Swarajya
Rani Durgavati, Raja Suheldev, Lachit Borphukan
Tribal icons like Birsa Munda, who fought both colonial rule and cultural destruction

These were not mythological figures. They were real protectors of Bharat—yet their stories are missing from most classrooms.

4. A Hard Truth: 70 Years of Educational Neglect and Historical Distortion

One of the most painful realities we must acknowledge is this:

For nearly seven decades after Independence, Indian governments systematically neglected teaching Sanatana Dharma and mutilated Indian history in school education.

What was done?

Sanatana Dharma was excluded from curriculum, treated as regressive or irrelevant
Muslim invaders were glorified as great rulers and nation-builders

Sanatani kings and warriors who resisted invasions were either:

Reduced to footnotes
Or erased altogether

The freedom struggle was selectively narrated, ignoring:

Armed revolutionaries
Tribal uprisings
Spiritual resistance movements

The result?

Generations of Hindu children grew up:

Knowing more about Mughal courts than their own kings
Feeling cultural embarrassment instead of pride
Detached from temples, traditions, and festivals
Cut off from their Sanatani civilizational roots

This intellectual disconnection did not happen accidentally. It was the continuation of colonial thinking, even after the British left.

5. Macaulay’s Shadow and the Cut from Our Roots

The British understood one thing clearly:

India cannot be enslaved as long as its Sanatana consciousness survives.

That is why:

Gurukuls were dismantled
Indigenous knowledge systems were ridiculed
Indian traditions were branded “backward”
Western culture was portrayed as superior
Sadly, post-Independence governments continued this mindset, replacing colonial rulers but not colonial thinking.

Festivals like Christmas and foreign cultural symbols were normalized, while:

Holi and Diwali were problematized
Hindu traditions were questioned
Sanatana identity was diluted

6. Tribal Society, Conversions, and Economic Exploitation

Another painful reality:

Large sections of tribal society are being targeted for conversion
Poverty is used as the main tool
Foreign funding fuels missionary activity

This is not about faith—it is about economic vulnerability.

True solution:

Economic upliftment
Education rooted in culture
Restoring pride in tribal Sanatana heroes like Birsa Munda
Reconnecting tribals with their civilizational identity

Dharma cannot survive on sermons alone—it survives through dignity and opportunity.

7. Why This Matters for Our Children

Children learn identity through:

Stories they hear
Festivals they celebrate
Heroes they admire

If we do not:

Teach them Tulsi Vivah
Explain Shahidi Week
Tell them about Sanatani kings and freedom fighters

Otherwise someone else will shape their worldview.

This is not intolerance. This is civilizational self-respect.

8. A Balanced Path Forward

This is not about opposing any religion or festival.

It is about:

Stopping blind imitation
Ending cultural inferiority
Restoring truth in education
Passing on heritage with confidence

We can respect others without forgetting ourselves.

9. Culture Is the Greatest Inheritance

Our ancestors:

Protected Bharat from invaders
Resisted colonial rule
Preserved Dharma through sacrifice

The least we can do is:

Remember them
Teach our children the truth
Celebrate our own festivals with pride

👉 On 25 December, light a lamp for Tulsi Mata
👉 Remember the Shahids who gave their lives for Dharma
👉 And give your children the greatest gift of all—identity

Because: