Diwali

Diwali is the Hindu, Jain, and Sikh five-day festival of lights that celebrates new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and lightness over darkness.

Why is it important?

The festival usually lasts five days and is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika (between mid-October and mid-November). It symbolizes the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance".

Diwali gets its name from the row (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) that Indians light outside their homes to symbolize the inner light that protects from spiritual darkness.

Significance

A fusion of harvest festivals in ancient India

The five-day long festival originated in the Indian subcontinent and is mentioned in early Sanskrit texts. The festival is widely associated with Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity and Ganesha, god of wisdom and the remover of obstacles

Northern India

In Northern India, it is a celebration of the day Rama returned to his kingdom with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana after defeating the demon Ravana and serving 14 years of exile.

Southern India

Southern India celebrates it as the day that Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura.

Western India

In western India the festival marks the day that Lord Vishnu, the Preserver (one of the main gods of the Hindu trinity) sent the demon King Bali to rule the nether world.

Other communities

Diwali has become a national festival that's also enjoyed by non-Hindu communities. For instance, in Jainism, Diwali marks the nirvana, or spiritual awakening, of Lord Mahavira on October 15, 527 B.C.; in Sikhism, it honors the day that Guru Hargobind Ji, the Sixth Sikh Guru, was freed from imprisonment. Buddhists in India celebrate Diwali as well.

source: National Geographic

d─½p─üvali means a "row or series of lights".

During Diwali, people wear their finest clothes, illuminate the interior and exterior of their homes with diyas (oil lamp) and rangoli (a floor or tabletop pattern), perform worship ceremonies of Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and wealth,light fireworks, and partake in family feasts.

Five days of celebration

Day one: People clean their homes and shop for gold or kitchen utensils to help bring good fortune.

Day two: People decorate their homes with clay lamps and create design patterns called rangoli on the floor using colored powders or sand.

Day three: On the main day of the festival, families gather together for Lakshmi puja, a prayer to Goddess Lakshmi, followed by mouth-watering feasts and firework festivities.

Day four: This is the first day of the new year, when friends and relatives visit with gifts and best wishes for the season.

Day five: Brothers visit their married sisters, who welcome them with love and a lavish meal.

The conclusion of the summer harvest

Diwali is a post-harvest festival celebrating the bounty following the arrival of the monsoon in the subcontinent. It coincides with the new moon (am─üvasy─ü) and is deemed the darkest night of the Hindu lunisolar calendar. The darkest night is the apex of the celebration and coincides with the second half of October or early November.

Lakshmi Puja

is the third day of Diwali and is considered as the main festive day. Depending on the region, celebrations include prayers before one or more Hindu deities, the most common being Lakshmi. Lakshmi symbolizes three virtues: wealth and prosperity, fertility and abundant crops, as well as good fortune.

Merchants seek Lakshmi's blessings in their ventures and will ritually close their accounting year during Diwali.

Fertility motifs appear in agricultural offerings brought before Lakshmi by farming families, who give thanks for the recent harvests and seek her blessings for prosperous future crops.

Another aspect of the festival is remembering the ancestors.

The female player always wins!

Diwali is generally a time for visiting, exchanging gifts, wearing new clothes, feasting, feeding the poor, and setting off fireworks (though such displays have been restricted to limit noise and other environmental pollution). Gambling, especially in the form of card games, is encouraged as a way of ensuring good luck in the coming year and in remembrance of the games of dice played by Shiva and Parvati on Mount Kailasa or similar contests between Radha and Krishna. Ritually, in honor of Lakshmi, the female player always wins.

Rangoli as art and ritual

Rangoli is a form of ancient Indian folk art, characterized by geometric patterns, religious symbols and floral designs that are drawn on the floor of one's home, often using chalk and colorful powders, as a way to ward off evil spirits and welcome the good faith of gods and goddesses.

The word "rangoli" is derived from the Sanskrit word "rangavalli" and roughly translates to "rows of colors," a fitting image for Diwali's message of light conquering darkness.

While making rangoli can be celebratory, it is also a daily ritual for many women in India and throughout the diaspora — a tradition that grounds them in challenging times.

source: The New York Times