Diwali (also called Divali or Deepavali) is a “festival of lights” that celebrates the triumph of light over dark and good over evil, and the blessings of victory, freedom, and enlightenment.
Diwali occurs annually in autumn (or spring, in the southern hemisphere), during the Hindu month of Kartik. (To put it in Western terms, Kartik begins around mid-October and ends in mid-November.) Specifically, Diwali occurs on the darkest day of the lunar month, which is the day before the new Moon.
- In northern India, they celebrate the story of King Rama's return to Ayodhya after he defeated Ravana by lighting rows of clay lamps.
- In southern India, they celebrate it as the day that Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura.
- In western India, the festival marks the day that Lord Vishnu, the Preserver (one of the main gods of the Hindu trinity) sent the demon King Bali to rule the nether world.
Diwali is celebrated over five days. From my research:
Day 1 : Dhanteras - on this day families start decorating the house with diyas and buy new gold for the house
Day 2: Choti Diwali - also called Narak Chaturdashi. On this day Lord Krishna killed the demon named Narakasur
Day 3: Diwali - This is the main festival day. Families make the house spic span clean and cook good food, decorate the house, wear new clothes, and get ready for the big Pooja in the evening. It’s believed that Goddess Laxmi ( the Goddess of Wealth) pays every house hold a visit
Day 4: is sending off the Gods you called in On Diwali and also worshiping Nature ( symbolically the mountain named Govardhan). On this day Lord Krishna saved the world from the wrath of Nature by lifting the Govardhan mountain so everyone could take shelter under it
Day 5 is Bhai Dooj (Bhai means brother and dooj means the second day) On this day Goddess Saraswati is also worshiped. Sisters also pray for the long lives of their brothers.
Diwali comes on the no moon day. When Rama came back to Ayodhya, it was very dark so they all lit lamps to welcome them and also to remove the darkness
A rangoli made of flowers. Credit: www.almanac.com
Thanks to my friend Bhawna Saxena for educating me about Diwali. I personally learned about Diwali back in 2006 at work by attending a potluck celebration that a group of co-workers put together and now it is an event sponsored by the company that I participate every year as part of the dance crew. I have done Bollywood, Bhangra dances and even won the company got talent award back in 2007
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I have used the following article as sources for this article:
