Nowadays the whole of the India has been clad in the
festive atmosphere with brotherhood, peace and love prevalent in the whole of
the air and the fragrance of festivals and sweets rife everywhere. Still now understood
why? Diwali, India’s biggest festival is approaching faster and faster.
Diwali is India’s most charming and wonderful festival
which is a melody for all the people around the nation. Diwali is a festival
which inspires Indians around the globe to again make a new beginning, to
forget the past failures and to against invite the Goddess of money Goddess
Laxmi and the Lord of prosperity Lord Ganesh to our homes and therefore this
festival means a lot to everyone.
Diwali’s origin from two Sanskrit words Deepa(lamps)
and avail(row) meaning rows of lamps or light. This festival is celebrated not
only in India but also in Singapore, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Suriname and Malaysia.
Diwali is a festival of light signifying the victory
of good over evil, hope over despair, happiness over sadness, knowledge over
ignorance and light over darkness. Diwali encourages us to again make a new
commencement, to forget the nightmares of the past but to heed to the lessons
of failure and therefore start a new beginning in itself which would go on to
be prosperous, helpful to others and all in all wonderful.
Diwali dates back to ancient times in
India, as a festival after the summer harvest in the Hindu
calendar month of Karthikai. The festival is mentioned in Padma Purana, the Skanda
Purana, and other Sanskrit Hindu scriptures; the divas (lamps)
are mentioned in Skanda Purana to symbolically represent parts of sun, the
cosmic giver of light and energy to all life, who seasonally transitions in the
Hindu calendar month of Kartik.
According to Hindu mythology, this
festival is one of the most pious and remarkable of all the celebrations of the
Hindu calendar because on the auspicious day of Diwali, Shri Ram, one of the
incarnations of Lord Vishnu, came back to Ayodhya. According to Ramayana, Lord
Ram, after defeating Ravana, king of Sri Lanka, and after completing his
14-year old exile, came back to his kingdom with Goddess Sita and Lord Hanuman.
As the day of his return coincided with one of the darkest days of the year of
new moon night of the unisolar month of Kartik, elated people of Ayodhya lit up
lamps everywhere in the city of Ayodhya to nullify the darkness and to
celebrate the homecoming of Shri Ram thereby signifying that no matter how much
is the magnitude of darkness, despair, ignorance, calamities, lord is always
there with us to devastate its effect, we just need to be calm and happy at all
times and to keep in mind that “God helps those who help themselves”.
Diwali is celebrated over a period of
five days. Dhanteras pioneers the beginning of the festival of Diwali. This day
celebrates the churning of ocean and the birth of Goddess Laxmi and therefore
on this day houses and offices are cleaned, decorated and renovated and in
addition to that gold and silver articles and bought and Laxmi Puja is done in
the evening.
The next day is Naraka Chaturdashi. On
this day houses are decorated with floral designs on floors known as “Rangoli” and
sweets are prepares to be sent to neighbourhood and relatives.
The third day is the paramount day of
celebration also known as Diwali which marks the homecoming of Lord Ram. It is
believed that on this day, Goddess Laxmi come on earth to fill the houses of
people with prosperity and happiness and people also perform Laxmi Puja on this
day to thank the goddess for the all the things they possess and asks the
Goddess to remove all the hindrances in their path to success. Afterwards
people go out, light lamps and burn crackers to celebrate this great day.
The fourth day is Padwa which is a
special day for the married couples. On this day husbands give gifts to their
respective spouses and this day is considered very pious for the married
couples.
On this day Govardhan Pooja is also done
to mark the event when Lord Krishan rose up the whole of Govardhan Mountain on
his little finger to save the people of his homeland Gokul from excessive
downpour.
The fifth and the last day is one of the most
important days of Diwali which marks the loving and wonderful relationship
between brother and sister involving gifts sharing, food sharing etc. to mark
the humongous significance of this important day.
In this way Diwali, the festival of
lights, is celebrated in India. This year, go out and celebrate Diwali with
your friends, family and relatives and make a new beginning and also take a vow
that you would never look back and would move on to do something large, to do
something great.
JAI HIND, JAI BHARAT
JAI MA BHARTI
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