Diwali Festival

Posted on August 13, 2007 in Latest News

How is Diwali Celebrated?

If Diwali’s in the air, there is bound to be so much to do, so much to buy and so many friends to invite.

Diwali-the festival of lights:

Diwali is celebrated by people of Indian origin not just in India and its neighboring countries, but in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia too. Wherever it is celebrated, its essence is never lost. In fact, all over the world, Diwali means Lakshmi pooja, sweets, crackers, diyas, rangoli and gifts.

The night before Diwali, it is believed, must be spent in playing cards and gambling, as this brings on your money luck in the coming year. In addition, everyone exchanges gifts and wears new clothes.

Celebrating Diwali

These days, Diwali is celebrated as a social occasion where the family prays together, meets friends and relatives and distributes sweets. In the northern part of India, Diwali festival is celebrated over four days. Dhanteras is the day when people buy gold or silver ornaments as a sign of prosperity in the coming year. It also means a lot to the business community.

While decorating one’s home for Diwali, the first place to decorate is the threshold of the house. Here’s where the womenfolk of the house design and decorate with vivid colors of rangoli or intricate patterns, sometimes floral, geometrical or scenes from mythology. They are usually circular in shape, and sometimes have geometric patterns in the shape of a lotus. Materials used are conch shell, footprints, swastik and birds, and more traditionally, white powder or rice flour.

At the entrance of the house diyas are kept burning to welcome Goddess Lakshmi and garlands of marigold are strung across the doorway. Diyas or lamps are kept burning all night, often replenishing with oil.

In the evening, Lakshmi Puja is performed to worship the Goddess. But in south India, Diwali begins in the early hours of the morning with a bath with scented sandalwood paste. People wear new clothes and burst crackers at dawn. Later, they appease cattle who are considered an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi.

For children, it is a day of great celebration and receiving of gifts, apart from the delicious Diwali goodies to eat and firecrackers to burst.

At night, Diwali diyas cast a beautiful spell on homes all over cities and villages-it seems like endless queues of fireflies! The night is rife with firecrackers painting pretty and colorful pictures in the sky -indeed these pyrotechnics never fail to amaze anyone at any age.

These days, the mud diyas have given place to artistically designed diyas, often embellished with mirrors and zari and filled with colored wax.

Comments

4 Responses to “Diwali Festival”

  1. -M[ii]$s BrOwN $uGaR BaB[ii]3 Says:
    April 6th, 2008 at 11:26 pm

    hi i like ur things u have to say about ur culture thats hectic

  2. AlexM Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 9:40 pm

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  3. AlexM Says:
    August 14th, 2008 at 1:17 pm

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