As much as Arampur residents structure their lives in observance of agricultural and business calendars, so do most attend to an implicitly understood annual schedule of public celebrations and commemorations. Only a handful can be listed here.

During Chhath, Hindu wives fast in order to make their prayers for the protection of their husbands more potent. After processing to the nearest large body of standing or running water, women pray to both the setting sun and, then, the next morning while enduring possibly chilly water, to the rising sun. In their homes they continue with a series of offerings of rice and sweets.

For Hindus, a series of holidays celebrate individual deities. Durga Puja (worship) involves creating a temporary murti made of straw and clay and elaborately painting and clothing the statue with the greatest care. After some days of propitiation, devotees parade the image through the village and immerse it into a large body of water so that it dissolves back into its component part. Lakshmi Puja proceeds similarly.

Kali Puja has special significance for almost all Hindus in a village because it honors the goddess whose temple stands at the boundary of their fields as protection against ill-intentioned elements. Men and boys

circumambulate the village perimeter before approaching the Kali mandir (temple) where women and girls wait and the havan (fire pit) is fired. The puja culminates in the sacrifice of an animal to the goddess. In some villages this takes the form of a blood sacrifice of a goat or chicken whereas in Arampur an animal is released to roam the fields freely.

A blood sacrifice figures into one of the two Id holidays the Muslims celebrate. Following the completion of the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca ), Muslims globally celebrate Id al-Adha (“Feast of the Sacrifice,” also Baqr Id) with the sacrifice of an animal (usually a goat or sheep) in memory of the miraculous replacement of a ram for Ibrahim’s son after Allah commanded that he be sacrificed. The animal is divided into three portions to be equally divided between one’s immediate family, one’s extended family and

friends, and the needy. Beforehand, however, almost all the men attend namaz (formal prayers) in the mosque while their children feast on sweets.

The other Id holiday is Id ul-Fitr (“Feast of the Breaking of the Fast”). During the month of Ramzan (or Ramadan), all able Muslims abstain from food, drink, and sexual intercourse from before sunrise to after sunset. Ramzan memorializes the revelation of the Quran while the fasting (and almsgiving) reminds Muslims of the poor. Each night during the month, family members and friends share a celebratory breaking of the fast. At the end of the month, upon sighting the crescent moon of the new lunar month, all men attend namaz at either the idgah (place of Id) or Friday Mosque, embrace each other with the excitement of the day, and return for a major meal.