The festival of lights! दिवाली

Diwali is the Christmas of India...celebrated by one and all regardless of their religion. Diwali is probably the most popular of all Hindu festivals. It marks the celebration of Lord Rama’s victory over the rakshaas ‘Ravana’.

Smitten by Sita’s beauty, Ravana had abducted Sita and held her captive in Lanka {his kingdom}. Lord Ram the eldest of King Dashtra’s sons’ was sentenced to 12 years of ‘vanvas’ {live in the forest as a common man. He was accompanied by his wife Sita and brother Laxman}. It was here that Ravana saw and abducted Sita.

SriRama travelled all the way across to Lanka and defeated Ravana in battle. People welcomed Lord Ram when he returned with Sita by lighting diyas .

There were so many of them that when they formed a long queue they appeared as a line of lamps (avali: rows).

Every year that day in the hindu calendar is celebrated by lighting lamps and fire crackers and is hence the named “Deepavali”.

Deep(diyas or lamps) + Avali(rows) = Deepavali ; which has been shortened to diwali!

Over years the interpretation of this festival has changed making today’s version of Diwali pretty different. I am going to give you all a glimpse of celebration of diwali in present day India…or more so..present day Bombay and as its modified version in Lubbock, Texas!

True to that myth diwali is still celebrated across the nation, and now probably all over the globe by lighting diyas and hanging lanterns…aptly being called the festival of lights.

On a philosophical level, diyas spread the light of hope and happiness; driving away the darkness originating from all the negative things.

This festival is celebrated by creating beautiful drawings on the porch, using rangoli! Diyas are then lit at the main entrance and all over the place. Lanterns also popularly known as “kandils” are hung on the doorstep. On the day of lakshmi poojan all this is done to welcome Lakshmi the Goddess of wealth into our homes! That marks the first day of diwali. For some people, dhanteraas is celebrated on the day before Lakshmi poojan. On that day, money and ornaments are worshipped to honor the Goddess.

The third day of diwali marks the Hindu New Year when Lord Satyanarayan is worshipped.

Bhau-bheez a festival where siblings celebrate their bond and love for each other is celebrated on the fifth day. Traditionally the sister cooks and invites her brother for dinner. The brother in return gets her gifts and promises to help and support her by being her best friend.

The highlight of this festival for most is the fireworks. The magnitude of fireworks had increased tremendously; disrupting peace. The government has finally decided to intervene and has set up a time limit until which the fireworks can be used. Furthermore, an additional ban was placed on the type of fireworks being used, which are measured in terms of decibels of sound they produce!

Inspite of these obvious drawbacks... I adore the festival of Diwali। The entire city is dressed up in vibrant colors and the sky is full of lights emanating from the fireworks. Plus everyone is extra nice to each other owing to the holiday spirit; to say nothing about the goodies being cooked and served!

After staying in “beloved” Bombay for 23 years I moved to Texas, specifically Lubbock। Lubbock is a university town and has nothing exciting going on unless you have some fun people around. So for Diwali which invariably falls in the middle of midterms and submissions, we (friend circle) get together and do Laxmi poojan. It is fun, all of us cook a dish and get it to the get-together. This is popularly known as potluck, which is much more fun as you get a variety of dishes like the time when you were back home! This helps bring about some festive spirit and makes the day special inspite of being thousands of miles away from home!