16th January 2026
Buddhist
Shinran Shonin (1173-1262) was the founder of Jodo Shin-shu (or Shin Buddhism), one of the schools of Pure Land Buddhism. It is celebrated by some Mahayana Buddhists.
11th January 2026
Christian Orthodox – Julian calendar
At Theophany Orthodox Christians commemorate the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist; they recall how at this event the heavens were opened and a voice was heard proclaiming Jesus, while God’s spirit descended on him in the form of a dove. During this event God was manifest as three persons in one – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. ‘Theophany’ means ‘Manifestation of God’. The first miracle of Jesus, performed at Cana in Galilee, is also remembered at this time.
27th January 2026
National
This is a remembrance day for all the different categories of people who suffered at the hands of the Nazis during the second World War (1939-45). It aims to keep fresh in the mind the memory of those who suffered and died at that period, and to help ensure that no such atrocity happens again. The date was chosen as the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, but for many it is appropriate to remember others who have been victims of subsequent acts of genocide elsewhere in the world.
Holocaust Memorial Day remembers especially the millions of people who were killed in Auschwitz and other concentration camps. More than a million people were killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau, a Nazi death camp in German-occupied Poland, during World War Two. The majority were Jews and the former extermination camp has become the world’s largest Jewish cemetery; but the site was also the death place for many people who did not fit into the Nazis’ view of their world: Poles, lesbians, homosexuals and the disabled were amongst those killed here.
Many of the concentration camps set up by the Nazis in World War Two were razed to the ground towards the end of the war, but this Nazi German death camp was liberated before it was completely destroyed. Now it has become a museum, and a focus for people of all nations, and especially for the young, to visit as pilgrims.
The Holocaust began in 1933 when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. It ended in 1945 when Allied powers defeated the Nazis. Jewish people were excluded from public life on September 15th, 1935 when the Nuremberg Laws were issued. These laws also stripped German Jews of their citizenship and their right to marry Germans.
Kristallnacht occurred on November 9th and 10th, 1938. Nazis pillaged, burned synagogues, broke windows of Jewish-owned businesses, and attacked Jewish people in Austria and Germany. 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. In prison camps, prisoners were forced to do hard physical labour. Torture and death within concentration camps were common and frequent.
Once World War II began, the Nazis ordered all Jews to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing so they could be easily targeted. Jews were forced to live in specific areas of the city called ghettos after the beginning of World War ll. In the larger ghettos, up to 1,000 people a day were picked up and brought by train to concentration camps or death camps.
11 million people were killed during the Holocaust (1.1 million children). 6 million of those victims were Jewish. Other groups targeted by the Nazis were Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, disabled people, and Roma. Two-thirds of Jewish people living in Europe at the time of World War II were killed by Nazis.
30th January 2026
Zoroastrian – Iranian
Jashn-e Sadeh is a mid winter festival, celebrated 50 days and nights before the advent of the spring NoRuz, and signifies that the days are getting longer. On this day it is customary to pay visits to the Fire Temple to give thanks to the Creator God, to celebrate with a bonfire after sunset, to recite the Atash Niyayeesh or litany to fire, listen to stories of the legendary Iranians during the reign of King Hoshang, who discovered the art of making fire, share piping hot stew and bread, and enjoy the dancing and merry making.
23rd January February 2026
Hindu
BASANT Sikh (Punjabi)
This festival marks the beginning of Spring, and is widely celebrated in north India. In eastern India, and notably in Bengal, Hindus worship especially Saraswati, the goddess of learning and the arts. Yellow is particularly associated with the festival and so murtis of Saraswati are dressed in yellow. Another (secular) tradition is kite-flying, associated especially with the city of Lahore.
16th January 2026
27th Rajab
Muslim
This festival celebrates the journey of the Prophet Muhammad, in the tenth year of his prophethood, from Makkah to Jerusalem, and through the heavens to the presence of God, all in one night. On this night Muslims believe the Prophet received the command that they should pray five times each day. The rock in Jerusalem from which the Prophet ascended is now contained in the Dome of the Rock. Muslims mark this night by reading the Qur’an and saying additional prayers. The following day is accordingly a day for recuperation rather than one for physical activity.
Suras 2:144 and 17:1 refer. The full story is in the Hadith, together with the times of prayer.
12th January 2026
Hindu
Born Narendra Nath Datta in 1863 in Calcutta, he was an Indian Hindu monk who became the chief disciple of the 19th century saint Ramakrishna. Vivekananda, as he became known, was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and helped to develop Hinduism during the latter part of the 19th century to the stage where it held the status of a major world religion. He died in 1902. He pioneered the development of the Ramakrishna Mission and the creation of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre movement first in India and then throughout the world, travelling widely and emphasising the devotional and social aspects of the teaching and practice of his beloved Guru, Ramakrishna.
11th January 2026
Baptism of Christ (Anglican)
Baptism of the Lord (Roman Catholic)
Christians commemorate the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist; they recall how at this event the heavens were opened and a voice was heard proclaiming Jesus, while God’s spirit descended on him in the form of a dove. During this event God was manifest as three persons in one – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The first miracle of Jesus, performed at Cana in Galilee, is also remembered at this time.