Indian Festivals >> Diwali (Deepavali)

When one thinks about Indian festivals, the festival that instantly comes to mind is DIWALI or DEEPAVALI as called by some.. This Hindu festival brings excitement and joy to the hearts of people even before it arrives.

Diwali is the festival of Laxmi, the Goddess of prosperity and wealth.. It is believed that Goddess Laxmi brings peace and prosperity to all.

Diwali is celebrated all over India. The preparations for the festival begins well in advance. People start decorating their homes, preparing sweets and farsans and buy new clothes & jewelry all this to welcome the Goddess into their homes who comes to bless all.

The festival of Diwali is celebrated for a period of 5 days the last day being the 15th day of Ashwin -(a month of Hindu calendar) which falls somewhere in the month of October and November.

People light up their homes with clay oil lamps and colorful lights and Rangolis . This new moon night or Amavasya as it is called is thus turned into a bright and colorful night.

Diwali is a festival of Hindus, but especially of the Businessmen, On this day they do puja of Account books and start writing their new accounts. This is called as "CHOPDA PUJAN" meaning puja of account books.

The celebration of Diwali can be viewed in all its splendor at night when all the homes are lit up. Diwali is incomplete without its fireworks. People especially children burst crackers of all variety - Sparkles, Flower Pots, Rockets, from the fancy ones to the loud noise making Bombs.

Legend of Diwali

When Lord Ram killed Ravan and were returning to Ayodhya along with Laxman, Sita and Hanuman, at that time Diwali was celebrated in Ayodhya for the 1st time. The people of Ayodhya lit up their homes with oil lamps and turned the night into a light festival. From that time onwards Diwali is celebrated to marks the Victory of Lord Ram over the evil Ravan.

Some Beliefs about Diwali

Why do people clean and decorate their homes for Diwali?
Diwali is considered to be the festival of the Goddess wealth and prosperity Laxmi - Goddess Laxmi visits all homes to bless the people and so to welcome the goddess homes are cleaned & decorated.

Why do people Light up their homes with clay oil lamps?
People light up their homes to welcome Goddess Laxmi. In earlier days there were no lights and not even candles, so in keeping with tradition clay lamps are still used today besides clay lamps are considered Shudh (pure).

Clay lamps also indicates the victory of Light over Darkness, Good over Evil, as well as the victory of Truth over Falsehood and that man can succeed only through his virtues.

So lets all join together in spreading the LIGHT & GOOD CHEER therefore making the world a better place, a place where there's no room for darkness.