Happy Valentine’s Day 2022: Date, history, significance of this romantic event

Happy Valentine’s Day 2022: Here's all you need to know about the date, history, significance and some interesting facts about the season of Cupid and the much-awaited romantic celebration of love

In his play Oedipus at Colonus, ancient Greek tragedian Sophocles wrote, “One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love” and who better to ascertain it than all the couples who are eagerly waiting for Valentine's Day and have a unique date idea or a list of activities planned to spend a romantic day with their partner. Each year, Valentine's Day happens to be a good opportunity or excuse to confess your feelings to your crush or romantic partner and whisper sweet nothings in your own intimate way.

Starting February 7, the Valentine's Week commences with the Rose Day, followed by Propose Day, Chocolate Day, Teddy Day, Promise Day, Hug Day, Kiss Day and finally Valentine’s Day. Here's all you need to know about the date, history, significance and some interesting facts about the season of Cupid and the much-awaited romantic celebration of love.

Date:

Love is in the air as the much-awaited Valentine's Day will be celebrated by couples of all ages on February 14.

History and significance:

Valentine’s Day is all about love, and Cupid is known as the angel of love. According to Roman mythology, Cupid is the son of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. The bow and arrow of Cupid depicts piercing a heart and casting the spell of love.

There are two stories related to the origin of the day. While one relates Valentine’s Day to Lupercalia, a raucous Roman festival, another relates it to the death of St Valentine.

During Roman festival Lupercalia, which was celebrated on February 15, men stripped naked and spanked young maidens with hides of goats in the hopes of upping their fertility. However, the other legend says St Valentine was executed on February 14, as a punishment for performing secret marriages while they were banned by Roman emperor Claudius II.

Interesting facts:

You might have often heard the phrase “wear your heart on your sleeve”, being used to express love. Interestingly, this is more than just a phrase. In the Middle Ages, young men and women used to wear the name of their Valentine pinned to their sleeve for one week to let people know about their feelings.

On the other hand, candied-hearts have become a trend nowadays but do you know what they were originally supposed to be? Interestingly, the idea of candies came in 1847, through Boston pharmacist Oliver Chase, who invented the machine to make lozenges. These conceptualised the ideas of candies.

By the way, if you are single on Valentine’s Day, don’t be sad because you have SAD aka Singles Awareness Day celebrated on February 15. The day serves as a complement to Valentine’s Day for singles.