There are more tales of the "origins" of Valentine's Day than arrows in Cupid's quiver.
Story I
what did Saint Valentine have to do with love notes and affection? Absolutely nothing! In fact, there’s a good chance he may never have existed. There are at least three St. Valentines in history
Story I.1
Most popular stories suggest that valentine day owes its origin to the Roman Empire during the reign of emperor Claudius II. As early as AD 260s, Emperor of Rome was in need for competent soldiers and thought soldiers must not get married. He believed that married soldiers were not fit for service in army and they kept worrying about their families, when they were fighting in the battlefield. He issued an edict then ordering soldiers not to marry; however, a priest in Rome named Valentine disobeyed this order and used to validate marriage contracts for soldiers secretly. When the emperor learnt of Valentine's story, he ordered his death on Feb. 14, 269 AD.
Story I.2
But there are different versions of the same story, which contradict above story. Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries.
Story I.3
Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine.
Story II
In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia. The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry. The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavoured to do away with the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of saints for those of maidens. And as the Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors appear to have chosen Saint Valentine's Day for the celebration of this new feaSt. So it seems that the custom of young men choosing maidens for valentines, or saints as patrons for the coming year, arose in the same way as the case of origin of Christmas to Mothers day.
Story III
The day was begun by the residents of ancient Rome who wanted to honor the she-wolf that had raised Romulus and Remus. It was Romulus who founded Rome, after killing his brother Remus in a fit of rage. At least that’s the story they’ve been telling over the centuries. The Christian church seems to have replaced this story with their own.
Story IV British
So when did the practice of sending love notes and gifts to that special someone begin? Some believe it started in 16th century England and Scotland. In those days it was generally thought the birds mated on Feb. 14, and the atmosphere was so filled with love people naturally spent the day expressing their affection for others.
But this was not the age of smiley face missives and cartoon cards. By George, this was serious business. Just being someone’s valentine more often than not ended in marriage.
The Brits would hold lotteries. During the evening of Feb. 14 they would hold large parties. At these parties everyone there would place his, or her, name in the pot, the men’s on one side, and the women’s on the other.
The woman’s name drawn by each man was the one that counted. After drawing a woman’s name the man was supposed to entertain her with dances, feasts, and gifts — not for just that one day, but for as long as a week. Yeah, it was serious business — sometimes the lavish gifts received by a woman would have a value of several thousand dollars.
The Brits had another rather unique belief. Single British women believed they would marry the first man they saw on St. Valentine’s Day. One English lady spent the day in bed just to make sure she didn’t see any men, until her boyfriend came calling in the evening.
The Feast of Lubercus
The first interpretation has this celebration originating as a pagan tradition in the third century. During this time hordes of hungry wolves roamed outside of Rome where shepherds kept their flocks. The God Lupercus, was said to watch over the shepherds and their flocks and keep them from the wolves. Every February the Romans celebrated a feast called Lupercalia to honor Lupercus so that no harm would come to the shepherds and their flocks.
Conclusion
As you can see there is no certainty , it seems it started as pagan festival and later converted to Christian one. The Pagan element of Love lotteries have been given a noble meaning of exchanging love notes.
It is funny what is happening today. For pink chaddi's :-The love lottery angle seems to contradict all the parameters of Love like knowing your partner before you fall in love, All the gifts are today purchased by woman defying tradition that man purchase gifts to please woman. For muthaliks, sainiks and dal activist:- they are continuing the tradition of marrying of lovers set by valentine.