Diwali

Diwali, also called Deepawali or Divali, is a festival which marks the victory of good over evil. This is a major Hindu festival and is celebrated with jubiliation and enthusiasm within Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. Deepavali is also known as 'Festival of Lights'. It is celebrated for five continuous days. This day or festival is associated with lights, diyas (divas) and candles all around the house of the people.

It is celebrated for five continuous days. The first day of Diwali is called DHANTERAS or DHANTRAYODASHI - "Dhana" means wealth which is associated with Laxmi and "Trayodashi" means 13th day. So Dhanateras is the festival which falls on 13th day of the month of Ashwin.

This day has a great importance for the Hindu community as this day is celebreated to welcome the Goddess of wealth and prosperity. This day there is tradition among the Hindu community to purchase some gold or silver or at least one or two new utensils. Lakshmi-Puja is performed in the evenings when tiny diyas of clay are lighted to drive away the shadows of evil spirits.

The SECOND day is called NARKA-CHATURDASHI or CHOTI DIWALI which falls on the fourteenth day of the month of Ashwin.There are many legends which are attached to this day. There goes the story that Naraksur-demon king Narakasur ruler of Pragjyotishpur ( a province to the South of Nepal) after defeating Lord Indra had snatched away the magnificent earrings of Aditi, the Mother Goddess and imprisoned sixteen thousand daughters of the gods and saints in his harem. On the day previous to Narakachaturdashi, Lord Krishna killed the demon and liberated the imprisoned damsels and also recovered those precious earrings of Aditi. As a symbol of that victory Lord Krishna smeared his forehead with the demon king's blood. Krishna returned home in the very early morning of the Narakachaturdashi day. The womenfolk massaged scented oil to his body and gave him a good bath to wash away the filth from his body. Since then the custom of taking bath before sunrise on this day has become a traditional practice specially in Maharashtra.

Another legend is about King Bali of the nether world mighty power had become a threat to the gods. In order to curb his powers Lord Vishnu in the guise of a Batu Waman- a small boy- visited him and begged him to give him only that much land which he could cover with his three steps. Known for his philanthropy King Bali proudly granted him his wish. That very moment that small boy transformed himself into the all-powerful Lord Vishnu. With his first step Lord Vishnu covered the entire heaven and with the second step the earth and asked Bali where to keep his third step. Bali offered his head. Putting his foot on his head Vishnu pushed him down to the underworld. At the same time for his generosity Lord Vishnu gave him the lamp of knowledge and allowed him to return to earth once a year to light millions of lamps to dispel the darkness and ignorance and spread the radiance of love and wisdom.

The Third Day of Diwali is the day when actual Diwali is celebrated. This is considered to be the most important day out of these 5 days and is celebrated with great enthisiasm and jubiliation among various communities . This day falls on "Amavasya" and is considered to be very asupicious day. Amavasya is that day of the lunar month when the moon completely wanes and is one day before the new moon day. Despite being on Amavasya, this day is considered to be very auspcious.

The fourth day of Deepwali is also known as Varsha Pratipada or Padwa. This day falls on the new mooon day and signifies the beginning of new year in Gujarat . Gvardhan pooja is performed in the North on this day.

The fifth and final day of Diwali Festival is known as "Bhayya-Duj" in the north India,"Bhai-BIJ" in Gujarat and Maharashtra and bhai-tika in Nepal. This day is being observed as a symbol of love between sisters and brothers. It became also imperative for the brother to go to his sister's house to celebrate Bhayyaduj.