HindiLearner News

Festival of Lights

Diwali (also called Deepawali) is a Hindu festival of lights and is being celebrated on 15-19 Oct 2009.

It’s significance lies in removal of darkness(ignorance) through the means of lights (knowledge). Read more about Diwali.

Deepawali 15-19 Oct 2009

Durga Puja and Dussehra just got over but it’s time to look forward to Diwali (also called Deepavali) festivities.

Deepavali is a festival where people from all age groups participate. They give expression to their happiness by lighting earthen ‘diyas’ (lamps), decorating the houses, bursting firecrackers and inviting near and dear ones to their households for partaking in a sumptuous feast. The lighting of lamps is a way of paying obeisance to god for attainment of health, wealth, knowledge, peace, valor and fame.

It is one time in the whole year that children volunteer to leave their beds long before the day begins. In fact, the traditional oil bath at 3 a.m, is the only chore that stands between them and the pre-dawn adventures. They emerge, scrubbed clean to get into their festive attire, and light up little oil lamps, candles and scented sticks(agarbathis), the wherewithal for setting alight crackers and sparklers.

Who shall set off the first chain of crackers that go boom, bang and vroom? and who is the owner of the 10-minute ‘banger’ that steals the thunder from your little chain of needle-sized crackers? Does the boy next door have more crackers than me?

Competition is stiff, and even the little girl in silk frocks and their finery are watching out for the best sparklers and flowerpots, the rockets and Vishnuchakras, which light-up the night sky like a thousand stars.

Grown-ups are the soul of generosity. Gifts are procured and distributed in abundance to all friends, relatives, and other close acquaintances. Sweets, confectionery, garments, trinkets & jewelry are the preferred gift items. Festive bonhomie abounds.

More information about Diwali – History, Significance, How to celebrate etc. can be found at : http://www.hindilearner.com/diwali.html

Diwali falls just after monsoons are over in Indian region. It is a opportune time to clean up our houses and surroundings. This is a major task undertaken by all.

As in case of all festivals, wearing traditional outfits adds to the festival spirit. Such outfits can be purchased from most Indian stores.

Sweets and confectioneries of different varieties are next important item to be purchased. It’s a tradition to gift sweets-packets to near and dear ones during this festival.

Diwali – the festival of lights – can not be complete without elaborate arrangements for lighting our places. So we shop for kandeels, earthen diyas, wax candles and fireworks of various kinds – rockets, sprinklers, chakras etc.

Kandeels – lantern made of wooden framework covered with color papers or colored glossy papers – are kept afloat high in front of the houses from the first day of month of Diwali. Kandeels are traditionally built in a crystal shape with tails at the bottom (as in the card sketch above). In recent times, creativity has given way to different shapes such as stars, globes and airplanes. Opaque papers cut into a complex design give more beauty to Kandeels by blocking the light emerging out.

Hindus in earlier days set Kandeels afloat high, a gesture to invite the spirits of their ancestors moving around to come back home and be with them during the festival time. Hence the name AkashaDeepa (lantern of the sky).

A tradition of placing bets (or call it a minor form of gambling) is also followed apparently for fun but indirectly to instill a sense of temporary nature of all our material possessions. This cultural tradition enables one to cope up with financial setbacks with calm and courage.

After fun and festivities, it’s time to get back to work with renewed vigor and a resolve to perform better which gets manifested in cleaning, maintenance and repair of tools of profession by most Indians.