# Do religions that were created in tropical regions have significant calendar events **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-religions-that-were-created-in-tropical-regions-have-significant-calendar-events/563599 "2010-12-10T00:04:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-religions-that-were-created-in-tropical-regions-have-significant-calendar-events/563599/1 "2010-12-10T00:04:59Z")
My understanding is many religions have important events that occur according to the 4 seasons calendar, esp surrounding the winter solstice on the 21st of december. So do religions that formed in cultures that only have wet and dry seasons generally have major religious events and stories that revolve around the transitions of the seasons the way religions that formed in areas that have 4 seasons seem to have about the winter solstice? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-religions-that-were-created-in-tropical-regions-have-significant-calendar-events/563599/2 "2010-12-10T02:44:18Z")
They may not have celebrated the winter solstice specifically, but yes, they would have had seasonal celebrations. The transition between the wet and dry seasons was critically important for agriculture, so they had a strong motivation to keep track of seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-religions-that-were-created-in-tropical-regions-have-significant-calendar-events/563599/3 "2010-12-10T02:50:50Z")
In truly tropical regions (that is, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn), there will be two days each year when the Sun is directly overhead at noon (just one at the summer solstice, if you’re right on the line), and many tropical cultures have some sort of celebration on those days. In Hawaii, this is known as “lahaina noon”, but I can’t remember any of the other names. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-religions-that-were-created-in-tropical-regions-have-significant-calendar-events/563599/4 "2010-12-10T06:12:43Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > So do religions that formed in cultures that only have wet and dry seasons generally have major religious events and stories that revolve around the transitions of the seasons the way religions that formed in areas that have 4 seasons seem to have about the winter solstice? Yes. Any agricultural society is going to develop celebrations that help them mark critical points of the growing season. Harvest is an obvious festival, and it’s pretty natural to have something for when the plants die off. Wet and dry season is rarely that straightforward. In Cameroon _collective :rolleyes:, I know_ we had a nine month dry season. They split the year into small hot season, cold season (70 degrees! break out the snowsuits…not even kidding,) big hot season and wet season. Even educated people had never heard of the French words for the four seasons. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-religions-that-were-created-in-tropical-regions-have-significant-calendar-events/563599/5 "2010-12-10T06:47:00Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Even educated people had never heard of the French words for the four seasons. I understand that in some Spanish-speaking equatorial regions they use the Spanish words for winter and summer (_invierno_ and _verano_) for the wet and dry seasons, respectively. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-religions-that-were-created-in-tropical-regions-have-significant-calendar-events/563599/6 "2010-12-10T10:54:34Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I understand that in some Spanish-speaking equatorial regions they use the Spanish words for winter and summer (_invierno_ and _verano_) for the wet and dry seasons, respectively. Which is odd, because in general equatorial regions experience the wet season in summer. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-religions-that-were-created-in-tropical-regions-have-significant-calendar-events/563599/7 "2010-12-10T12:05:46Z")
Here’s a [chart showing when the Sun is at zenith](http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~joel/g110_w08/lecture_notes/sun_angle/agburt02_14.jpg). From this chart I see that Thailand’s Songkran festival is 2-3 weeks before zenith occurs in the old Thai capitals. Anyway, I read in Wikipedia that Songkran derives from Hinduism’s _Holli_, though the dates are different. Songkran (April 14) is about the hottest day of the year and, until recently, the rains arrived almost like clockwork just after Songkran. Songkran is just one of four (yes, 4!) different New Year’s Days celebrated in Thailand! Only two of these calendars are still in common use, but Thais do like to party! December is the coolest month here. But this December will have to cool down soon or it will be the warmest December I can remember. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-religions-that-were-created-in-tropical-regions-have-significant-calendar-events/563599/8 "2010-12-10T15:10:36Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I understand that in some Spanish-speaking equatorial regions they use the Spanish words for winter and summer (_invierno_ and _verano_) for the wet and dry seasons, respectively. Yes. Here in Panama the verano (“summer”), which is the warmer and drier season, is from mid-December to mid-April. The cooler, wetter invierno ('winter") is the rest of the year. > [@Blake](#): > > Which is odd, because in general equatorial regions experience the wet season in summer. I assume you mean that the equatorial wet season in each hemisphere takes place at more or less the same time as the respective summer in the temperate zone of that hemisphere, which is roughly true. However, this varies a great deal, with some regions having two dry and two wet seasons a year, while others like Panama have one of each (and the rainy season includes the northern spring, summer, and autumn). A few areas are essentially aseasonal in rainfall. The seasonal references in Spanish make sense, since the verano is the time of relatively warmer weather.