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Dia de los Muertos
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DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

The Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos or Día de los Muertos)[1][2] is a holiday celebrated on the 1st and 2nd of November. It originated and is mostly observed in Mexico but also in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere. Although associated with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, it has a much less solemn tone and is portrayed as a holiday of joyful celebration rather than mourning.[3] The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and to remember friends and family members who have died. These celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.[4]

Traditions connected with the holiday include honoring the deceased using calaveras and aztec marigold flowers known as cempazúchitl, building home altars called ofrendas with the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these items as gifts for the deceased.
DATABASES
The Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos or Día de los Muertos)[1][2] is a holiday celebrated on the 1st and 2nd of November. It originated and is mostly observed in Mexico but also in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere. Although associated with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, it has a much less solemn tone and is portrayed as a holiday of joyful celebration rather than mourning.[3] The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and to remember friends and family members who have died. These celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.[4] Traditions connected with the holiday include honoring the deceased using calaveras and aztec marigold flowers known as cempazúchitl, building home altars called ofrendas with the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these items as gifts for the deceased.
Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a tradition first practiced thousands of years ago by indigenous peoples such as the Aztecs and the Toltecs. They didn’t consider death the end of one’s existence but simply another chapter of life. Rather than grieve their dead, ancient Mexicans celebrated the lives of the deceased and honored their memories. During Día de los Muertos, observed Oct. 31- Nov. 2, they believed the dead had a brief window to leave the spirit realm and visit their loved ones in the mortal world.
The Day of the Dead, otherwise known as Dia de Muertos, or Dia de Los Muertos, is a public holiday celebrated in Mexico, as well as by people of Mexican ancestry living in other places around the world. Many consider it to be the Mexican version of Halloween, but it is really quite different. For one reason, it has been celebrated in Mexico since 1800 BC. This popular holiday that spans a few days concentrates on family and friends gathering together in order to pray for and remember friends and family who have died, as well as to offer them support during their spiritual journey. A great honor was bestowed on this cultural celebration when it was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Day of the Dead might sound like a solemn affair, but Mexico’s famous holiday is actually a lively commemoration of the departed. The nationwide festivities, which include a massive parade in Mexico City, typically begin the night of Oct. 31 with families sitting vigil at grave sites. Mexican tradition holds that on Nov. 1 and 2, the dead awaken to reconnect and celebrate with their living family and friends. Given the timing, it may be tempting to equate Day of the Dead with Halloween, a ghost-themed U.S. holiday. But the two holidays express fundamentally different beliefs. While Halloween has its origins in pagan and Christian traditions, Day of the Dead has indigenous roots as a celebration of the Aztec goddess of death.
The Day of the Dead or Día de Muertos is an ever-evolving holiday that traces its earliest roots to the Aztec people in what is now central Mexico. The Aztecs used skulls to honor the dead a millennium before the Day of the Dead celebrations emerged. Skulls, like the ones once placed on Aztec temples, remain a key symbol in a tradition that has continued for more than six centuries in the annual celebration to honor and commune with those who have passed on. Once the Spanish conquered the Aztec empire in the 16th century, the Catholic Church moved indigenous celebrations and rituals honoring the dead throughout the year to the Catholic dates commemorating All Saints Day and All Souls Day on November 1 and 2. In what became known as Día de Muertos on November 2, the Latin American indigenous traditions and symbols to honor the dead fused with non-official Catholic practices and notions of an afterlife. The same happened on November 1 to honor children who had died.
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