The Valentine Day is celebrated the world over as the
day of lovers but have you ever thought that what are the traditions
associated with this day. Fourteenth February is synonymous with
celebrating love and today it has many underlying features which are
similar across the globe. For instance exchange of love notes and
sending the loved one flower and gifts has become quite common. Over the
ages however different traditions have evolved keeping with the local
customs of the region. Here we give you a regional flavor of how
Valentine was celebrated or is even today celebrated in keeping with
these unique Valentine customs.
In Ancient Rome Valentine day was the day of drawing of names
of young girls and boys and pairing them up with each other for the rest
of the year. Subsequently the Young lads use to fall in love with each
other and afterwards get married. This was indeed a fine custom of
finding maidens for young men as the rules about their meeting up were
strict. In 17th century England Valentine Day was celebrated by
giving sweets and candies to young children by St Valentine. The kids
dress up as young adults and sing poetic verses on the streets wishing
the Saint such as:
Good morning to you, valentine
Curl your locks as I do mine
Two before and three behind
Good morning to you, valentine.
In America in the 17th and 18th century the tradition of
sending love notes was followed religiously on this day. With time the
tradition has transformed into sending greeting cards and e-greetings in
keeping with modern times. In Italy Valentines Day was
traditionally celebrated as spring festival. On this day people gathered
in beautiful gardens and recited poetry and subsequently went for a
stroll with their loved one. However with fast paced lives of people
this valentine tradition is somewhere lost. In Spain the simple
tradition of sending flowers to your wife or girlfriend and gifts to
your husband or boyfriend is essential. Many of these customs are lost
somewhere in the modern times but it would be interesting to celebrate
Valentines Day in keeping with these customs.
