FACTS & FIGURES

Time of the year	:	October/November
Duration	:	Two days
Diwali Date	:	November 12, 2004

The festival of Diwali has been celebrated for ages and grows in fascination by the year. Everyone enjoys the goodies, the glitter, glamour, and the endless zest for living that suddenly grips people around this time. But there is much more to Diwali than feasting and merrymaking. Diwali is a hallowed tradition, not to be put in the shade by the lights. Diwali symbolizes the victory of light over darkness. Celebrated joyously all over the country, it is a festival of wealth and prosperity. Diwali is essentially a festival for householders. The preparations, the rituals, the entire celebration focuses on the home and family, spanning out to cover the community as a natural extension.

TIME OF THE YEAR

The time of this festival is the most comfortable period of the year as it falls in the autumn season. This festival generally falls in the month of October or November and the date in the English calendar varies as the Indian festivals are celebrated according to the Indian calendar. The festival for the year 2000 falls in the month of October and November.

LEGENDS

The legends behind the festival are as varied as the manner of its celebration, but common to all of them is the theme of the triumph of good over evil. One such legend, the most popular one, is about a demon named Narakasura who managed to acquire such awesome powers that he began to terrorize the three worlds; his languishment and death at the hands of Krishna is celebrated as Diwali, and the day preceding the new moon in the months of Ashwin-Kartik in the Hindu calendar is known as Naraka Chaturdasi (Chaturdasi meaning the fourteenth).

Another legend followed in Kamataka is that of an emperor named Bali who, likewise, had become all powerful and a threat to the peace of the universe. God is said to have come to earth in the form of a diminutive Brahmin, Vamana, and presenting himself before the mighty Bali asked for “as much land as three of my footsteps would cover.” No king could refuse a Brahmin’s appeal for charity, and Bali readily granted what seemed to him a trifling request. Whereupon the diminutive Brahmin resumed his all-pervasive, omnipresent form and, covering the heavens with one foot and the world below with another, asked where he should place his foot for the third step. Bali bowed before him and offered his own head for him to place his foot on, and was pressed underfoot. This victory is observed as Bali Padya on the day of the new moon (amavasya) when the month of Ashwin (October-November) makes way for Kartik.

For the people in north India, the festival commemorates the joyous return of Rama to his kingdom of Ayodhya, after 14 years exile in the forests. For the business community, particularly in the western regions of Gujarat and upper India, Diwali is a festival devoted to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. For the merchant community, in fact, the new accounting year begins with Diwali and the tradition is still followed by opening new accounting ledgers on this festive day.

DEEWALI RITUALS

Traditionally on Diwali night, Ganesh shares the altar with Lakshmi. Ganesh is the god of good beginnings and the fabled remover of obstacles. In the Hindu pantheon the two are unrelated, Ganesh being the son of Shiva and Parvati. But between them, placed side by side, Lakshmi and Ganesh hold out promise of a year of fulfillment, free from want. Since cow’s milk is food for the gods, Lakshmi is said to be partial to laddoos made from thickened cow’s milk, rock sugar and powdered cardamom. On the night of Diwali, these form an offering choice

DIVALI CELEBRATIONS

The lights signify a welcome to prosperity in the form of Lakshmi, and the fireworks are supposed to scare away evil spirits.

Diwali, more than any other festival, is an occasion for children, from the youngest toddler looking on with fascination while older siblings hold sparklers in their hands, to the daredevil adolescents who get a thrill out of lighting the fuse of ear-splitting “atom bombs” with their bare hands, or letting off “aero planes” on broomsticks, just as their fuses ignite to lift them into the sky like space rockets leaving a trail of flame behind. Whoosh! They go, in a shower of sparks sometimes straight and sometimes spiralling, at once beautiful and frightening. Then there are the Vishnu charkas (named after the celestial wheel of lord Vishnu).

As dusk sets in and the women of the household put out these lamps, even the dingiest slum hut acquires a glow and a festive air of celebration. Diwali is a time for the annual splurge, whether for gift shopping, or for adding durable items to one’s own household. The market soars-for everything from saffron to silver and spices to silks. Symbolic purchases are made as part of tradition, depending on the size of one’s wallet and bank balance, and employees get their annual bonus at this time, to help them with their budgets. Diwali sales are announced all over with offers of attractive “discounts” luring buyers at every turn.

REGIONAL CELEBRATIONS

Winter crops are sown and, in Punjab, the day following Diwali is known as tikka when sisters make a paste with saffron and rice and place an auspicious mark on their brother’s foreheads as a symbolic gesture to ward off all harm. Likewise, on the second day of the month of Kartik, the Maharashtrians celebration thus exchanges gifts. The celebrations thus actually stretch over nearly five days. For that matter, Diwali begins to herald itself 10 days earlier, with the deafening sounds of crackers burst as “appetizers” by impatient youngsters unable to wait till the actual day! Here in Maharashtra, it is the thirteenth day of Ashwin, the trayodasi, that is observed as a festival commemorating a young prince whom Yama, the God of Death, had claimed four days after his marriage. Filled, however, with compassion for the luckless youth, the legend goes, Yama promised that those who observed the day would be spared untimely death-and so the lamps that are lit to mark the festival are placed facing south, unlike on other festive days, because south is the direction mythologically assigned to Yama.

For the Bengali and Oriya communities in the east, Diwali means Kali puja (worship of Kali, the aggressive manifestation of Shakti or the all-powerful female force). There are in fact legends that trace Diwali observances to the entire Asian belt including Thailand and China.

In north India people celebrated choti Diwali and bari Diwali (literally, small Diwali and big Diwali) on successive days, and exchange trays of sweets, tasting from each to see which family had the most exotic preparations.

For the adult groups, there is also a custom of indulging in gambling during Diwali, as an omen of the luck that one is going to have in the coming year. It is all in fun, though, in a spirit of light-hearted revelry, and merry making….

Diwali is supposed to be a corruption of the more correct word Dipavali, the literal meaning of which in Sanskrit is ‘a row of lamps. Filling little clay lamps with oil and wick, and lighting them in rows all over the house, is a tradition that is popular in most regions of the country, in the south where the festival is known as Dipavali, the custom of lighting such baked earthen lamps is not so much part of this festival as it is of the Karthikai celebrations a fort night later; and in the north, where Diwali is the word used, most communities observe the custom of lighting lamps.

PLACES TO VISIT

As diwali is the festival celebrated nationwide in India, one can witness the splendid festivities anywhere in the country. But off course the metro cities and the places of northern India celebrate this festival as the coming of the New Year. The display of firecrackers, diya and the preparation of traditional eatables are some of the things one should experience in a lifetime.