Thread: Origins of Valentine's day

In spite of what you have been told by everyone, the truth is that Valentine's Day originated hundreds of years ago, in India, and to top it all, in the state of Gujarat !!!



It is a well known fact that Gujarati men, specially the Patels, continually mistreat and disrespect their wives (Patelianis) . One fine day, it happened to be the 14th day of February, one brave Patelani, having had enough "torture" by her husband, finally chose to rebel by beating him up with a Velan (rolling pin to make chapattis).



Yes....the same Velan which she used daily to make chapatis for him.... only this time, instead of the dough, it was the husband who was flattened.



This was a momentous occasion for all Gujarati women and a revolt soon spread, like wild fire, with thousands of housewives beating up their husbands with the Velan. There was an outburst of moaning "chapati-ed" husbands all over Anand and Amdavad.



The Patel menfolk quickly learnt their lesson and started to behave more respectfully with their Patelanis.



Thereafter, on 14th February every year, the womenfolk of Gujarat would beat up their husbands, to commemorate that eventful day - the wives having the satisfaction of beating up their husbands with the Velan and the men having the supreme joy of submitting to the will of the women they loved.



Soon The Gujju men realized that in order to avoid this ordeal they need to present gifts to their wives....they brought flowers and sweets. This is how the tradition - Velan time - began.



As Gujarat fell under the influence of Western culture, the ritual soon spread to Britain and many other Western countries, specifically, the catch words 'Velan time' !!! In course of time, their foreign tongues, this got anglicized to 'Velantime' and then to 'Valentine'. And thereafter, 14th of February, came to be known as Valentine's Day and now you know the true story of Valentine's day.

Dear Prasad
Can you kindly provide the source of this story?

Originally Posted by saarangam

Dear Prasad
Can you kindly provide the source of this story?

The thread is posted in Chit-chat, like you said a story,and you want source? LOL

It is believed that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the mid- February to commemorate the anniversary of St.Valentine's death or burial--which had occurred in A.D. 270. It is also claimed that the Christian church have decided to place St. Valentine's feast day on 14th February in an effort to "Christianize" the pagan Fertility festival of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Rome's founders Romulus and Remus.

The story goes that members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been taken care of by a she-wolf or lupa. Here the priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. Then the goat's hide would be striped into strips and dipped into the sacrificial blood and taken to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later , as per the legend the young women in the city would drop their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would choose a name and pair with his chosen woman for the year. These matches often end in marriage. This fertility festival was converted by Christian Church to St.Valentine day.

Now it is taken over by Media and Greeting Cards business. It is believed that more than 150 million Valentine day Cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine day the second most popular Card exchanging Holiday after Christmas.

Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.