Diwali is celebrated in the month of October/ November according to English calendar which is the second day of bright half of the Kartik month in the Hindu calendar. This is celebrated in order to celebrate the victory of good over evil and the diminishing the spiritual darkness. When lord Ram came back to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile with a victory over Ravana, the people of Ayodhya welcomed him by lighting rows of lamps that is why the name Deepavali which means ‘Rows of Lamps’(deep means lamps and avali means rows).
A week before Diwali the house is spring cleaned. All the old clothes which are not used any more are given away to people in need. All the utensils and many other stuff stored in the attic is removed washed and arranged back neatly. Every curtain in the house washed, all the windows cleaned and are rid of any kind of dust. The whole house is washed with soap water. In totality everything you can think of which is there in any corner of the house is removed and cleaned.
Two days before Diwali is the day called Dhanteras or dhan triodashi. It is an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar, marked to bring eternal good fortune and occurs on the thirteenth day of the dark fortnight in the month of Kartik. It is celebrated in honor of Dhanavantri, the physician of the gods and an incarnation of Vishnu. It is the first day of the five day celebration of Diwali. On this day we buy gold, silver, platinum in the form of jewellery, utensils for home etc for good luck as a tradition.
The day of Diwali at begins with decorating the house with lights, lamps and the ‘SHUBH LABH’ symbol which emphasizes that good is what is profitable so do good. The main entrance is decorated with beautiful rangoli (colors). Then at a set time in the first half of the day a praying is arranged at father’s office and sweets are distributed to all the employees and friends. Bonus is given to everyone at the office with a box of sweets. Prior to this in the morning a box of sweets, dry fruits and a gift is sent to the entire client’s residence. After returning from the office the preparations for pooja at home starts. All the clay lamps are filled with oil and cotton sticks to be lit in the evening. Once done with all the preparations the prayer starts and everybody in the house becomes a part of it. For the pooja special seven lamps filled with ghee is kept in front of the image of Goddess Lakshmi, the cotton sticks in this are suppose to be a pair. It is to represent seven janmas of married people wishing to be together for all the seven janmas. Once the pooja is over all the lamps, lights are lit and every nook and corner of the house is illuminated with diyas. There is one big clay diya which is lit and covered half with another diya- the sooth of this diya is applied as kajal at night to everybody at home.
Another diya is kept at the corner of main entrance which is thrown away after it burns out. It is called the Yama Diya it represents Lord yama- the lord of death, it is offered to him to keep death away from the ones we love as far as possible. Once all the diyas are lit then comes the turn of eating and distributing sweets which is my favorite part of the occasion. Last but not the least is the crackers. The whole sky is filled with the light, noise and smoke of the crackers which is not every environment friendly and I personally is against it.
So this is Diwali for me – the festival of lights which means not only lighting lamps to illuminate your house but also illuminate your heart and soul with the light of truth and honesty spreading the sparkle of peace and happiness to the whole world.
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