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The Quran is the central religious text of which faith?
Festivals and the Religious Calendar
Festivals are fixed by calendars, and the calendars disagree — which is why some dates wander through the seasons.
About this topic
A religious calendar is a piece of arithmetic before it is anything else. The Islamic year is purely lunar and runs about eleven days shorter than the solar one, so Ramadan and the hajj move steadily through the seasons over a 33-year cycle. The Jewish calendar is lunar with an extra month added periodically, which keeps Passover in spring. Easter uses a rule tied to both the moon and the spring equinox, and churches using different calendars can end up weeks apart. What the festivals mark varies just as much: a fast, a harvest, a historical deliverance, the life of a founder. Some are quiet and inward, like Yom Kippur; some are public and loud, like Holi. This quiz asks what each one commemorates and how it is observed, described from the outside rather than argued about.
Questions & answers
Festivals and the Religious Calendar: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1Eid al-Fitr marks the end of what?
- A The Islamic new year
- B Ramadan, the month of fasting Correct
- C The hajj pilgrimage
- D A period of formal mourning
Answer: B. Ramadan, the month of fasting
Why: It opens with a communal prayer and traditionally involves a charitable payment made before it. Eid al-Adha is the second and separate major festival.
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2Which Jewish festival is a day of fasting, prayer and atonement?
- A Yom Kippur Correct
- B Purim
- C Sukkot
- D Shavuot
Answer: A. Yom Kippur
Why: It falls ten days after Rosh Hashanah, the new year. Ordinary work is set aside and the fast runs for about twenty-five hours.
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3Passover commemorates which events?
- A The building of the Second Temple
- B The return from exile in Babylon
- C The reign of King Solomon
- D The departure of the Israelites from Egypt Correct
Answer: D. The departure of the Israelites from Egypt
Why: The seder meal retells the story using foods that stand for parts of it. Shavuot, seven weeks later, is the festival linked to the giving of the Law.
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4Which Christian season of roughly forty days precedes Easter?
- A Epiphany
- B Pentecost
- C Lent Correct
- D Advent
Answer: C. Lent
Why: In western churches it begins on Ash Wednesday and is traditionally marked by fasting or giving something up. Advent is the corresponding period before Christmas.
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5Why does the date of Easter change from year to year?
- A It is fixed to the first Sunday in April
- B It is set by a lunar rule tied to the spring equinox Correct
- C Each national church picks its own date
- D It follows the date of the Jewish new year
Answer: B. It is set by a lunar rule tied to the spring equinox
Why: The usual rule puts it on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after 21 March. Churches using the Julian calendar often arrive at a different day.
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6Vesak, observed across much of Asia, commemorates events in the life of whom?
- A The Buddha Correct
- B Confucius
- C Guru Nanak
- D Mahavira
Answer: A. The Buddha
Why: It marks his birth, enlightenment and death, which several traditions place on the same full-moon day. Practices vary widely from country to country.
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7Holi is most widely associated with which practice?
- A Keeping a full day of silence
- B Lighting a nine-branched lamp
- C Carrying a boat in procession to the sea
- D Throwing coloured powders and water Correct
Answer: D. Throwing coloured powders and water
Why: It falls in spring and is preceded by a bonfire the night before. The colours are linked to stories about Krishna.
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8Over how many nights are candles lit at Hanukkah?
- A Nine
- B Twelve
- C Eight Correct
- D Seven
Answer: C. Eight
Why: The lamp used has nine branches, because one candle is reserved for lighting the others. The festival recalls the rededication of the Temple in the second century BC.
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9When does the hajj take place?
- A Once every four years
- B In one fixed month of the Islamic lunar calendar, so it moves through the seasons Correct
- C In the first week of Ramadan
- D At any time the pilgrim chooses
Answer: B. In one fixed month of the Islamic lunar calendar, so it moves through the seasons
Why: It falls in Dhu al-Hijjah, and every adult Muslim who is able is expected to make it once. A shorter visit made at other times is called umrah.
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10Guru Nanak Gurpurab is observed by Sikhs to mark what?
- A The birth of Guru Nanak Correct
- B The compiling of the Guru Granth Sahib
- C The founding of the Khalsa
- D The building of the Golden Temple
Answer: A. The birth of Guru Nanak
Why: Celebrations usually include a continuous reading of the scripture over about forty-eight hours. Vaisakhi, in spring, is the festival tied to the founding of the Khalsa.
Frequently asked questions about Festivals and the Religious Calendar
How many questions are in Festivals and the Religious Calendar?
Festivals and the Religious Calendar has 10 questions and takes about 7 minutes to finish. It is rated Medium and sits in our Religion & Belief category.
How is Festivals and the Religious Calendar scored?
Each of the 10 correct answers adds 10 XP, up to 100 XP for a clean run. Wrong answers cost you nothing, and your full question-by-question review is shown at the end.
Are the answers to Festivals and the Religious Calendar explained?
Yes. All 10 questions carry a written explanation of why the correct answer is right, so the quiz works as a study sheet as well as a test.
Can I replay Festivals and the Religious Calendar?
Yes, as often as you like. The questions and the answer options are reshuffled on each run, and you can use Practice Mistakes afterwards to retry only the ones you missed. No account is needed to play.
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