Diwali – Festival of Lights
Well no doubt Diwali is for sure one of the biggest and the brightest Hindu festivals; it is the festival of lights, the word Deepavali literally means lights arranged in a row, it is a four day celebration, and it actually illuminates the country with brilliance of light arrangements and offers the joy and passion all with its joy. All the four days at the time of the festival offers different rituals and traditions, however the thing which remain unchanged is the celebration of life, the days of enjoyment and goodness.
Every day of diwali has its own tale to celebrate, and a legends and myths to tell, the first day of the festival is called Naraka Chaturdasi, which means destroying the demon Naraka, by lord Krishna, along with his wife Sathya Bhanu. The second day of diwali is Amavasya, which marks the worship of Goddess Lakshmi, who is considered to be the goddess of wealth, in most of her benevolent mood, and it is believed that she fulfils the wishes of her devotees at the time of festival. Well in another story at the time of Amavasya, lord Vishnu, defeated Maha Bali, and sent him to the hell. However king Bali was allowed to come back to the Earth, once in every year, to light up millions of lamps and to kill the darkness and the ignorance, and also in order to spread the radiance of love and wisdom. On the day three of Diwali, which is called Kartika Shudda Padyami, according to this day King Bali, gets out of the hell and once again rules the world, according to the advantage which was given by lord Vishnu. The last day of diwali, which is the fourth day is also known as the Yama dvitiya, the uniqueness about this day is that the sisters invite their brothers at their homes.
Well the importance of the lights and the fire crackers and all the rituals have different stories to tell, the illumination of the entire house and the skies adorned with fire crackers is actually an expression of seeking the blessings from the heavens for good health, knowledge, prosperity, wealth and peace. As per a person’s belief, the sounds of the colorful firecrackers is the display of happiness among the people who are on earth, and letting the gods known that they are having a good time and thanking him for the joy. Another reason as per the scientists is that the fumes which are produced by the fire crackers kill the insects and mosquitoes, which increase in their numbers after the rainy season.
Well many people gamble at the time of diwalu, even this has a legend to it. It is said that at this particular time, Goddess Parvathi, played dice with her husband Lord Shiva, and announced that on this particular day who ever gambles will be prosperous for the complete year. Diwali is a festival which is a lot associated with the prosperity and wealth in a lot of ways, and the celebration of festival of dhanteras, which is celebrated two days earlier to diwali.
As explained earlier why we celebrate diwali, it is basically not just the festival atmosphere in that makes this festival happy, it is possible a very good time to celebrate the welcoming of winter. Well there are many reasons, which are not just for the Hindus, but also for the other religions to have a wonderful time during the festival of lights.
Well Goddess Lakshmi’s Birthday the goddess of wealth Lakshmi incarnated on the new moon day ammavasyaa at the time of Kartik Month, during the stir up of the ocean, therefore the association of the festival is with Lakshmi.
On the same day, god Vishnu in his fifth day of incarnation in the avatar of Vaman, rescued goddess lakshmi from the prison of the King Bali, and this is also another reason of praying Goddess Lakshmi, at the time of Diwali.
On the day which heads Diwali, God Krishna destroyed the demon King Narakaasur and rescued sixteen thousand women from his captivity. The festival of this victory over Narakasura, went on for couple of days as a victory festival.
Diwali is also celebrated for the return of pandavas from the 12 years of banishment as a result of defeat in gambling in the hands of Pandavas, it was on the day of Kartik Amavasya. The citizens who admired the pandavas, celebrated the day with lights for welcoming them back home.
The history of Diwali festival could be traced back all the way to ancient India, at the time when it was the harvesting season; however there are quiet a few legends about the origin of festival of lights. Some cultures believe that at this time of the year lord Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi got married. In the eastern part of the country mainly in West Bengal, the festival is dedicated to the worship pf Mother Kali, who is the goddess of strength. God Ganesha, the elephant headed God, who is the symbol of wisdom and the god of auspiciousness, is worshipped in certain cultures during the festival. According to the culture of Jainism, diwali, is dedicated with extra significance to Lord Mahavirr achieve the external blessing of nirvana. Diwali according to some cultures dedicates to the return of lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshman from fourteen years of exile and for terminating demon king Ravana. For being happy celebration of the return of the king, the residents of Ayodhya, which was the capital of Lord Rama, illuminated the complete kingdom with oil lamps and firing of crackers.One of the best kings Vikramaditya was crowned on this day, even this is one of the main reasons to enjoy the event in the best way.