Celebration of Diwali (Deepavali) – Festival of Lights

August 12, 2015  Diwali

Celebration of Diwali

Diwali (or) Deepavali as the name indicates, it is the “festival of lights” celebrated all over India. Basically, it is a Hindu festival celebrated during autumn every year. Diwali glorifies the victory of lights. Diwali is celebrated for five solid days. It is celebrated even by other religion people with joy all over India.
HOW CELEBRATION TAKES PLACE?
During Diwali, people show their unity by having all their family members grouped together in one place. People who celebrate this festival will make sweets of different varieties. Then they wear new clothes and worship Goddess by presenting all the sweets before it. Even some people present crackers before God and do pray. The only difference is that they will worship different gods each day. All these are done to attain wealth and prosperity.
Diwali is celebrated for five days and each day has its own importance. Let us now discuss the traditions followed on each day.

Celebration of Diwali: 1st day (Dhanteras)
The first day of a Diwali festival is called Dhanatrayodadashi or Dhanavantare Trayodasi. ‘Dhan’ means wealth and ‘tera’ means the 13th day of the month Karthikai which is the lunar day of the dark fortnight.
On the day of Dhanteras, people worship Goddess Lakshmi for providing all the wealth and well-being. As a custom, people buy precious metals like gold that day. Lord Kubera who is the god of assets is also worshipped for their prosperity.
People believe in God and they lit lamp to worship Goddess Lakshmi. By doing so, they invite DhanaLakshmi that is wealth into their houses. Prayers are done by singing devotional songs. After all the prayers, people will share the sweets which were made and presented to God, with their neighbors, friends and family. In this way, all the happiness begins.
Celebration of Diwali: 2nd day (Naraka Chaturdasi)
Also called as Roop Chaturdashi is a festival celebrated by Hindus on the second day of Diwali. The history of Diwali says that the demon Narakasura was killed by Lord Krishna and kali on those days which ultimately lead to the victory of lights.
On this day, god is prayed with flowers and delicacies. In Tamilnadu, the second day is celebrated as actual Diwali whereas in other states of India, it is on the new moon night. On that day, people will get up early in the morning, take oil baths, do poojas and burst crackers.
Celebration of Diwali: 3rd day (Diwali)
Except for Tamilnadu, all the other states celebrate this day as actual Diwali. People will get up early, take oil baths and fill all their pathways with rangoli. All the people wear new clothes and worship Goddess Lakshmi. The delicacies they offer to God are made up of rice which is taken from the recent harvest. In Tamilnadu, they celebrate Diwali for 3 days or maximum up to 4 days.

Celebration of Diwali: 4th day
This day is dedicated to the relationship between the family members especially between a wife and a husband. They make and break the family. Mutual understanding, care and sharing are the important aspects between the husband and wife. Such beautiful values are given respect and the bond between them is shown off on that day.
Celebration of Diwali: 5th day (BHAU – BEEJ)
Bhau-Beej is a festival celebrated on this day by Hindus in the northern part of India and also in Nepal. The celebrations on this day are like Raksha Bandhan which is celebrated to show the bonding between a brother and a sister. Girls, whether they are having the brother or not, will tie the band to the boys they think as brothers. The contrast to Raksha Bandhan here is that sisters will present gifts to their brothers. This festival is celebrated because according to Hindu Mythology after the demon was assassinated by Lord Krishna, he visited his sister Subhadra. She applied tilak on Krishna’s forehead. Following this, girls celebrating this day also apply tilak on their brother’s forehead.
In this manner, Diwali is celebrated all over India. Not only the Indians in India alone celebrate it but also the Indians all the parts of the world celebrate it with joy.

Happy Diwali, Read the post Safety Rules to Follow on Diwali to have a safe Diwali.

Diwali in Various Parts of India

August 12, 2015 Diwali

Diwali in Various Parts of India

Diwali is basically an ancient Hindu festival celebrated for five days all over India. But the way in which it is celebrated differs from one state to another. Also, according to the type of religion it varies. So, let us now see how this festival of lights is celebrated at different states of India.
TAMILNADU
In Tamilnadu, people use to enjoy Diwali with pleasure and happiness. Here they celebrate this festival for three days. On the first day, they celebrate Dhanteras through which they invite goddess Lakshmi into their homes. On the second day, the day when demon Narakasura was killed by Lord Krishna was celebrated as actual Diwali. People buy crackers, new clothes and make sweets which they present before God to praise them. Also sharing of the sweets they made to their neighbours, friends and family. Then during night everybody burst bonkers in order to express their happiness. The third day is also followed by continuity the same celebration. Everything is done to attain wealth and prosperity.

KARNATAKA
Kannada people have special importance to Diwali. They usually celebrate the festival on the first and third days of the function. They call this festival as Ashwin Krishna Chaturdashi. It was named so because this marks the celebration of the death of the cruel demon. It was believed that lord Krishna took oil bath after he killed the asura(demon). So, people also follow the same by taking oil bath and they will worship the goddess, Lakshmi. This celebration denotes the change of darkness to light.
The third day is called as Bali padyami for kannadigas. On that day, women will put rangoli all over the pathways as like in the previous two days. They clean their houses, mop it and fill the entire house with spiritual fragrance by using agarbathis. This day is dedicated for the remembrance of king Bali. Then followed by thulasi pooja.
MAHARASTRA
When we come to Maharastra Hindu and Jain people celebrate Diwali for all the five days with lots of fun and love. In their custom and traditions, they start with the first festival called Vasubaras. On this day, they will wash and decorate their cows and take aarthi to them as well as its calf followed by applying tilaks on the forehead of them. This is done in regards to symbolise the mother and baby relationship. Then as in the case with actual Diwali they will make sweets, worship goddess Lakshmi and distribute sweets among everyone they please. Diwali is empty without illuminating the dark night with different colours of fireworks. Enjoyment continues on the last day.
The customs followed in Maharastra is mostly followed in many other parts of North India like Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and few other states of North India.

WEST BENGAL
People of the West Bengal celebrate Diwali for all the five days. They too celebrate Diwali for the denouement of demon Narakasura by Mahakali. They all believe more in goddess kali. So, they make sweets and offers it to kalidevi in accordance to enjoy the victory. The five-day function covers the dark skies into colourful skies with beautiful lights of crackers.
ORISSA
In Orissa, they celebrate Diwali by worshipping goddess Lakshmi in a different way. Here they show their love and gratitude towards their ancestors who they believe to be in heaven by doing tarpan for them. Tarpan means to do poojas to them for their souls to attain peace (Shanthi). These tarpans are made up of rice, jaggery, water, etc. The tarpans are also offered to goddess Lakshmi in some areas. Whereas in some areas of Orissa, tarpans are presented to god kali. The celebration happens in this way.
ANDHRA PRADESH
There is a similar type of  celebration taking place as in other states, but the here narration of the story of Lord Krishna who killed a demon was done musically through songs. Hence to enhance the beauty of Diwali, idols of Sathya Bama are kept and offered prayers. Sathyabama was lord Krishna’s consort. Apart from the above happenings, all the other customs are same.
GUJARAT
A celebration of Diwali starts first in Gujarat before commencing in all other states. They also celebrate this function for five days. Diwali falls at the beginning of Gujarati new year. Since it falls on that auspicious day, there is a double enlightenment for Gujarati people. The celebration starts with Dhanteras followed by Naraka Chaturdashi and ends with Bhai beej.
Mannerism in which Diwali celebration takes place may differ, but the main theme is an enjoyment of festival with lights. Diwali not only take people to the happiness like in heaven but also make our mother nature very beautiful and glorious.