The ritualistic part of the religion carries with it the celebration part too..Every festival is accompanied by eating and enjoying.. And with some core festivals, like say Onam in Kerala, or Pongal in Tamilnadu, or Diwali almost all over India,(I say for Hinduism) people even incur debts to celebrate. This applies to celebrations in various localities too.. The theertha yatras and Melas also play a significant role.
Somehow such celebrations bring in a lot of togetherness and happiness among people.. Such mental highs are of great social significance.. In good old days ( and in modern times too in certain cases) celebrations attracted trade fares, temporary markets, and gatherings of people to enjoy fine arts and performances, and even marriages in India get fixed during those occasions.. These are all the social parts of religions celebrations and the deity or deities just provide the point or focus for assembly.
Most religions stop with that.
But somehow HInduism has always endeavored to travel beyond this.. The search for the spirit within and without, the desire for knowledge of the Supreme Being beyond the rituals and celebrations.. and even a keen desire to have deliverance from the worldly life with its ever so many bouts of happiness and misery, made the HIndu contemplate deep.. and we know the result of such contemplation in the exemplary level of output in Upanishads etc..
The ritualistic and celebration part of the religion indeed has its own merit as a cementing force for the varied social and cultural entities spread over the whole of Bharatavarsha.
The spiritualist part of the religion is sublime and has distinguished India as a great intellectual force in the world..
So both parts are great in their own ways..
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