Wednesday 2 November 2016

Deepawali a festival of Lights

Deepawali, a festival of lights,is the biggest and the brightest of all Hindu festivals. This is a festival of four days which illuminates our India with the lights of deep and joy.Diwali beholds lot of excitement and enjoyment in the bag.Especially for kids these four days are filled with laughter and enjoyment.


Diwali is believed to have originated to celebrate the return of Lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshman from his fourteen-year long exile after defeating the demon-king Ravana. To celebrate the return of Lord Rama the people of Ayodhya illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas (oil lamps) and burst crackers.

Celebration of Diwali starts a month prior with the cleaning and painting of the house.Little kids starts painting Diyas. Ladies start making toran,clothes and jewellery for Ganeshji and Lakshmiji.

Diwali is basically a five days celebrated festival which begins from Dhanteras, Naraka Chaturdasi, Padva and ends on Chitragupt pooja day. Diwali festival signifies the victory of light over darkness.

Diwali is celebrated, primarily to herald the coming of the goddess Lakshmi. Prayers are offered to her, asking for her blessings in the form of wealth. As such, a rangoli design and toran is created at the entrance of the house, not only to welcome the guests that visit, but also the goddess herself. Rangoli patterns are usually made using coloured chalk, rice powder.

Dhanteras means wealth.On this day people pray to the Goddess Lakshmi to get prosperous life and well being. They worship Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha together. There is a custom of purchasing new things and bring it at home which makes the meaning that Lakshmi came home. And the whole year Lakshmi will come to the home like today.

Choti Diwali remarks the beginning of Deepawali celebrations.Lighting the house with Diyas and removing the darkness or evil thought.

Diwali a a festival of celebrations such as lightnings, crackers, cleanliness, colourful rangoli making, social gatherings to exchange greetings and sharing sweets with your loved ones. Bursting of crackers is also an important event on Diwali.According to one belief, the sound of fire-crackers are an indication of the joy of the people living on earth, making the gods aware of their happy state. Still another possible reason has a more scientific basis: the fumes produced by the crackers kill a lot of insects and mosquitoes, found in plenty after the rains.

Govardan Puja falls next day after Diwali Puja and it is celebrated as the day when Lord Krishna defeated God Indra. People celebrate the day by preparing a mountain of food, which is called the Govardhan mountain or Annakoot. Around 56 dishes are prepared on this day.

Last day is Chitragupt puja or dawaat puja. This puja is performed for literacy and knowledge.In this puja book and pen is worshipped symbolising the importance of study in life.Kids love this puja a lot as they don't need to study on this day.

These rituals give immense peace and happiness and also give a strong foundation of culture and historical believes to our future generation.They remember the enjoyments and get enthusiastic to celebrate it with more enthusiasm.

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