Diwali, or Deepavali, is the Hindu festival of lights. One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, Diwali symbolizes the spiritual 'victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance'.
Dipavali meaning 'row or series of lights'. The conjugated term is derived from the Sanskrit words dipa, 'lamp, light, lantern, candle, that which glows, shines, illuminates or knowledge'. The five day celebration is observed every year in early autumn after the conclusion of the summer harvest and coincides with the new moon, known as the amasvasya, and the darkest night of the Hindu lunisolar calendar. The festivities begin two days before the night of the new moon, on Dhanteras, and extends two days after, the second day of the first fortnight of the month of Kartik.
Hindus, in particular, have a ritual oil bath at dawn on each day of the festival. Diwali is also marked with fireworks and the decoration of floors with rangoli designs. Food is a major focus with families partaking in feasts and sharing mithai. The festival is an annual homecoming and bonding period not only for families, but also for communities and associations, particularly those in urban areas, which will organise activities, events and gatherings.
Diwali season hosts rural and town melas (fairs). A mela in the countryside is where farmers buy and sell produce, artisans offer handicrafts and other products, entertainers offer joy rides and performances in exchange for donations, rural families shop for clothes, utensils and other products. Girls and women dress attractively during the festival. They wear colourful clothing and new jewelry, and their hands are decorated with henna designs.
In contemporary times, Indian diasporas in many countries and college campuses organize community cultural events open to everyone and some call these as Diwali mela. These feature music, dance and arts performances, food, crafts and cultural celebrations.
It is traditionally a time when households purchase new clothing, home refurbishments, gifts, gold and other large purchases. The festival celebrates Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, and investment, spending and purchases are considered auspicious.Diwali is one of the major festivals where rural Indians spend a significant portion of their annual income, and is a means for them to renew their relationships and social networks.
Diwali is a peak buying season for gold and jewelry in India.It is also a major sweets, candy and fireworks buying season.
5 Days Diwali celebration
Day 1 - Dhanteras
Dhanteras, derived from Dhan meaning wealth and teras meaning thirteenth, marks the thirteenth day of the dark fortnight of Kartik and the beginning of Diwali. On this day, many Hindu's will clean their homes, and business premises, and suspend diyas, small earthen lamps that will be kept lit for the next five days, near Lakshmi and Ganesha iconography. Doorways within homes and offices are decorated with rangoli, colourful designs made from rice flour, flower petals and coloured sand by the women and children.
The term 'Dhan' for this day also alludes to the Ayurvedic icon Dhanvantari, the god of health and healing, who is believed to have emerged from the 'churning of cosmic ocean' on the same day as Lakshmi.
Day 2 - Narak Chaturdashi ( Choti Diwali)
Choti Diwali, also known as Naraka Chaturdasi, is the second day of festivities coinciding with the fourteenth day of the second fortnight of the lunar month. The term 'choti' means little, while 'Naraka' means hell and 'Chaturdasi' means 'fourteenth'. The festival is also called as 'Kali Chaudas', where Kali means dark (eternal) and Chaudas means fourteenth.
In some regions of India, Kali Chaudas is the day allotted to the worship of Mahakali or Shakti and is believed that on this day Kali killed the asura (demon) Narakasura. Hence also referred to as Naraka-Chaturdashi, Kali Chaudas is day to abolish laziness and evil which create hell in our life and shine light on life. Narak Chaturdashi, celebrated just one day before Diwali, is also known as small Diwali. A mythological interpretation of this festive day is the destruction of the asura (demon) Narakasura by Krishna, a victory that frees 16,000 imprisoned princesses kidnapped by Narakasura.
Naraka Chaturdasi is also a major day for purchasing festive foods, particularly sweets. A variety of sweets are prepared using flour, semolina, rice, chickpea flour, dry fruit pieces powders or paste, milk solids (mawa or khoya) and clarified butter (ghee). According to Goldstein, these are then shaped into various forms, such as laddus, barfis, halvah, kachoris, shrikhand and sandesh, rolled and stuffed delicacies, such as maladu, susiyam, pottukadalai. Sometimes these are wrapped with edible silver foil (vark). Confectioners and shops create Diwali-themed decorative displays, selling these in large quantities, which are stocked for home celebrations to welcome guests and as gifts. Families also prepare homemade delicacies for the main Diwali day.
Day 3 - Lakshmi Pujan ( Diwali )
The third day is the height of the festival and coincides with the last day of the dark fortnight of the lunar month. This is the day when Hindu, Jain and Sikh temples and homes are aglow with lights, thereby making it the 'festival of lights'.
On the evening of Diwali, people open their doors and windows to welcome Lakshmi, and place diya lights on their windowsills and balcony ledges to invite her in.It is popularly believed that Lakshmi likes cleanliness and will visit the cleanest house first. Hence, the broom is worshiped with offerings of haldi (turmeric) and sindoor (vermilion) on this day.Lakshmi symbolises wealth and prosperity, and her blessings are invoked for a good year ahead.
As the evening approaches, celebrants will wear new clothes or their best outfits, teenage girls and women in particular wear saris and jewelry. Family members gather for the Lakshmi puja, On the night of Diwali, rituals across much of India are dedicated to Lakshmi to welcome her into their cleaned homes and bring prosperity and happiness for the coming year. The lamps from the puja ceremony are then used to light more earthenware lamps, which are placed in rows along the parapets of temples and houses. After the puja, people go outside and celebrate by lighting up patakhe (fireworks) together, and then share a family feast and mithai (sweets, desserts).
Day 4 - Padwa ( Balipratipada )
The day after Diwali is the first day of the bright fortnight of the luni-solar calendar. It is regionally called as Annakut (heap of grain), Padwa, Goverdhan puja, Bali Pratipada, Bali Padyani, Kartik Shukla Pratipada and other names.According to one tradition, the day is associated with the story of Bali's defeat at the hands of Vishnu.
This day ritually celebrates the bond between the wife and husband. In some Hindu communities, husbands will celebrate this with gifts to their wives. In other regions, parents invite a newly married daughter, or son, together with their spouses to a festive meal and give them gifts.
The agricultural symbolism is also observed on this day by many Hindus as Annakut, literally 'mountain of food'. Communities prepare over one hundred dishes from a variety of ingredients, which is then dedicated to Krishna before shared among the community.
Day 5 - Bhai Duj or Bhaiya Dooj ( Bhau Beej)
The last day of the festival is called Bhai duj (literally 'brother's day'. In the southern part of the country, the day is celebrated as Yama Dwitiya.
It celebrates the sister-brother bond, similar in spirit to Raksha Bandhan but it is the brother that travels to meet the sister and her family. This festive day is interpreted by some to symbolize Yama's sister Yamuna welcoming Yama with a tilaka, while others interpret it as the arrival of Krishna at his sister's, Subhadra, place after defeating Narakasura. Subhadra welcomes him with a tilaka on his forehead.
The day symbolises the sibling bond between brother and sister. On this day the womenfolk of the family gather, perform a puja with prayers for the well being of their brothers, then return to a ritual of feeding their brothers with their hands and receiving gifts.
The artisan Hindu and Sikh community celebrates the fourth day as the Vishwakarma puja day. Vishwakarma is the presiding Hindu deity for those in architecture, building, manufacturing, textile work and crafts trades.
History of Diwali
Sanskrit inscriptions in stone and copper mentioning Diwali, occasionally alongside terms such as Dipotsava, Dipavali, Divali and Divalige, have been discovered at numerous sites across India.
One tradition links the festival to legends in the Hindu epic Ramayana, where Diwali is the day Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman reached Ayodhya after a period in exile and Rama's army of good defeated demon king Ravana's army of evil.
The height of Diwali is an official holiday in about a dozen countries.