Diwali is a festival of lights to celebrate the victory of good over bad. It is one of the biggest festivals celebrated with all its splendour and enthusiasm in India. It is the most important festivals of Hindus. Diwali is a festival observed to mark joy, victory, and harmony. Diwali is a Hindi word derived from the Sanskrit word Deepawali, which means rows of diyas or lights.
People celebrate Diwali to mark the return of Lord Ram along with Goddess Sita and Laxman to Ayodhya after living in exile for 14 years and defeating demon King Ravana. People lit diyas to welcome them. Diwali is celebrated 20 days after Dussehra in the Hindu month of Kartika.
People decorate their homes and offices with colourful lights and lamps are lit. People start cleaning their house so that Goddess Lakshmi will shower her blessing on them by giving wealth and prosperity to their home. Courtyards are decorated with colourful rangoli. They dress in new clothes and cook delicious food and sweets. A lot of delicious dishes, such as Jalebis, Gulab Jamun, Kajoo Barfi and Kheer, are prepared to celebrate Diwali. They exchange gifts and distribute sweets among their relatives, neighbours and friends and share happiness. And, people young and old, after the Sunset, burst crackers.
Diwali is a five-day celebration starting with Dhanteras. Dhanteras is marked by worshipping Goddess Lakshmi. On this day, Hindus per custom consider it auspicious to purchase precious items like gold and silver and they worship wealth.
On the second day, Naraka Chaturdashi is celebrated. On this day, people after waking up early in the morning apply oil on them and take bath to remove all sins from their life.
Lakshmi Pooja is done on the third day and is considered to be the main festival. On this day, Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped with great devotion. People offer prayers for their health, wealth, and prosperity. People wear new clothes on this day, offer puja to Goddess Lakshmi and diyas are lit and people burst firecrackers. Goddess Lakshmi symbolizes wealth and prosperity, fertility and abundant crops, and also good fortune.
On the fourth day, Govardhan Puja is performed. It is believed that on this day, Lord Krishna defeated Indra by lifting the Govardhan Mountain. People celebrate this day by making a small hillock using cow dung, which symbolises Govardhan Mountain, and they worship it.
Bhai Dooj is celebrated on the fifth day. Sisters visit their brothers on this day and perform a ’tilak’ ceremony. They pray for their brother’s long and happy life while brothers give valuable gifts to their sisters. Business community in India consider Diwali as the first day of the financial new year. On this day, people begin new businesses and they pray for a successful year ahead. Diwali signifies the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. The lights of Diwali signify to end all bad things and gives us strength to do good things and goodwill for the rest of the year.
News Mania Desk
