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| Hindu Festivals - DIWALI |
DIWALI
Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is the most popular of all the festivals from South Asia, and is also the occasion for celebrations by Jains and Sikhs as well as Hindus.
The festival of Diwali extends over five days. Because of the lights, fireworks, and sweets involved, it's a great favourite with children.
The festival celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance, although the actual legends that go with the festival are different in different parts of India.
One such legend is that of Ravana, who had ten arms and ten heads, was the wicked king of the island of Sri Lanka, who kidnapped the wife of Ram. Ram had been in exile for 14 years because of a disagreement as to whether he or his brother should be the next king in Ayodhya. After a great battle Ram killed the demon and recovered his wife. Ram's return with his wife Sita to Ayodhya and his subsequent coronation as king is celebrated at Diwali. When Ram and Sita first returned to Ayodhya it was a dark moonless night and they couldn't see where they were going. Their people put little lamps outside their houses so that the new king and queen could find their way, thus beginning the tradition of the festival of lights.
In a recent editorial, the Times of India summed up the modern meaning of Diwali:
"Regardless of the mythological explanation one prefers, what the festival of lights really stands for today is a reaffirmation of hope, a renewed commitment to friendship and goodwill, and a religiously sanctioned celebration of the simple — and some not so simple — joys of life."
The name of the festival comes from the Sanskrit word dipavali, meaning row of lights.Diwali is known as the 'festival of lights' because houses, shops, and public places are decorated with small earthenware oil lamps called Diyas. These lamps, which are traditionally fueled by mustard oil, are placed in rows in windows, doors and outside buildings to decorate them.
The lamps are lit to help the goddess Lakshmi find her way into people's homes. They also celebrate the return of Rama and Sita to Rama's kingdom of Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile.
Hindus will leave the windows and doors of their houses open so that Lakshmi can come in. Rangoli are drawn on the floors - rangoli are patterns and the most popular subject is the lotus flower. This because images of Lakshmi traditionally show her either holding a lotus or sitting on one. There is much feasting and celebration, and the Diwali lamps are regarded as making it easy for Lakshmi to find her way to favoured houses. |
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