Diwali or Divali, also known as Deepavali is a famous festival of India.  It is a festival of light. It is one of the major festivals celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists. It is also celebrated in the form of Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai and Bandna.

Diwali is usually celebrated for five days. It falls in the Hindu lunisolar month of Kartik. It is one of the most popular festivals of Hinduism. Diwali symbolizes the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance”.

Diwali is widely associated with Lakshmi Pujan. Lakshmi is the goddess of prosperity. In different regional traditions, it is connected to Sita and Rama, Vishnu, Krishna, Yama, Yami, Durga, Kali, Hanuman, Ganesha, Kubera, Dhanvantari, or Vishvakarman.

In some regions, it is a celebration of the day on which Lord Rama returned to his kingdom Ayodhya with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana after defeating Ravana in Lanka after serving 14 years of exile.

When is Diwali/Deepavali celebrated?

Diwali/Deepavali is celebrated on Amavasya of the Hindu lunisolar month of Kartik.  It comes after twenty days of Dussehra, after the end of Sharadiya Navaratri. This festival is usually celebrated for five days.

On Thrayodashi; two days before the Diwali; Dhanteras/Yama Deepam is celebrated. A deep filled with pure ghee, desi ghee, is lighted

On Chaturdashi, one day before Diwali, Naraka Chaturdashi/Kali Chaudas/Hanuman Puja is celebrated. Five deeps, lamps, filled with vegetable oil are lighted.

On Amavasya of Kartik Month, Diwali or Deepavali is celebrated. On this day, Lakshmi Puja, Kali Puja, Sharda Puja, Kedar Gauri Vrat etc are performed.

On the very next day of Diwali, Govardhan Puja or Balipratipada is celebrated. It is also celebrated as a Gujarati New Year.

On the second day of Diwali, Bhai Dooj or Vishwakarma Puja is celebrated. Bhai Dooj is dedicated to the bond between sister and brother.  Some Hindu and Sikh craftsmen communities mark this day as Vishwakarma Puja. They perform maintenance in their work spaces and offer prayers.

How is Diwali celebrated?

On Diwali, people do home decoration, Diya lighting, puja, shopping, fasting, gifts, fireworks, feast and sweets etc.

celebrants prepare by cleaning, renovating and decorating their homes and workplaces. People wear their finest clothes. They illuminate the interior and exterior of their homes and workplaces with deeps, lamps, filled with vegetable oil and with rangolis, colourful art circle patterns.

People perform worship ceremonies. They do puja of Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and wealth. They partake in family feasts, where sweets and gifts are shared. Some people light fireworks.

Celebration of Diwali in other faiths

In Some other faiths in India, people also celebrate their respective festivals along with Diwali. As-

• The Jains celebrate their own Diwali which marks the final liberation of Mahavira.
• The Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas to mark the release of Guru Har Gobind from a Mughal Empire prison.
• The Newar Buddhists, celebrate Diwali by worshipping Lakshmi.
• The Hindus of Eastern India and Bangladesh mostly celebrate Diwali, by worshipping goddess Kali.

Importance of Diwali

Diwali is one of the most popular festivals of Hinduism and it has much importance. As –

• It symbolizes the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.
• This festival is generally associated with Lakshmi Puja. Lakshmi is the goddess of prosperity.
• In many other regional traditions, it is connected to Sita and Rama, Vishnu, Krishna, Yama, Yami, Durga, Kali, Hanuman, Ganesha, Kubera, Dhanvantari, or Vishvakarman.
• Moreover, in some regions, it is a celebration of the day on which Lord Rama returned to his home-city Ayodhya. After serving 14 years of exile, defeating Ravana in Lanka, he had returned with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana to Ayodhya.
• Diwali or Deepavali is also a main cultural event for the Hindus, Sikhs and Jain diaspora.

History of Diwali

There are many logics behind the celebration of Diwali Festival.

A. Diwali is mentioned in various Sanskrit-texts

1.  According to the Padma Purana and the Skanda Purana, It is a fusion of harvest festivals in ancient India.  . Both of the Puranas were completed in the second half of the 1st millennium CE.

 

2.  According to the Skanda Kishore Purana, the deeps (lamps) are symbolized as the parts of the sun which is the cosmic giver of light and energy to all life. It is seasonally transitions in the Hindu Month of Kartik.

 

3.  King Harsha refers to Deepavali, in the 7th century Sanskrit play Naganandam, as Deepa-pratipadotsavam where lamps were lit and recently engaged brides and grooms received gifts. Deeīpapratipadotsavam is made of three words; Deepa = lamp, Pratipadā = the first day, Utsavam = festival).
4.  Rajasekhara referred to Deepavali as Deepa-malika in his 9th century Kavyamimamsa. In this text, he    mentions the tradition in which homes were whitewashed and deeps, oil lamps, were decorated in homes, streets and markets at the night.

     B.  Diwali was also described by several foreign travelers

1. The Persian traveller and historian Al Baroni wrote about Diwali in his 11th century memoir on India. He wrote that Deepavali was being celebrated by Hindus on the day of the New Moon in the month of Kartika.
2. The Venetian merchant and traveller Niccolò de’ Conti visited India in the early 15th-century. He wrote in his memoir, “they fix up within their temples, and on the outside of the roofs, an innumerable number of oil lamps… which are kept burning day and night”. He also mentions that the families would gather, “clothe themselves in new garments”, sing, dance and feast.
3. Domingo Paes, the 16th-century Portuguese traveller, wrote of his visit to the Hindu Vijayanagar Empire. According to him, there, Deepavali was celebrated in October with householders illuminating their homes, and their temples, with lamps.
4. Islamic historians of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire era also wrote about Diwali and other Hindu festivals.
5. A few the Mughal emperors, particularly Akbar, welcomed and participated in the festivities, whereas other emperors banned Indian festivals as Diwali and Holi. For example, in 1665, Aurangzeb did so.
6. Publications from the British colonial era also mentioned Diwali. Sir William Jones, a philologist who is known for his early observations on Sanskrit and Indo-European languages published, in 1799, the note on Hindu festivals.
7. Jones, who based in Bengal, noted four of the five days of Diwali in his paper on The Lunar Year of the Hindus. According to him, four of the five days of Diwali in the autumn months of Aswina-Cartica [sic] are as thefollowing: –
   • Bhutachaturdasi Yamaterpanam (2nd day),
   • Lacshmipuja dipanwita (the day of Diwali),
   • Dyuta pratipat Belipuja (4th day), and
   • Bhratri dwitiya (5th day).

   Jones remarked “The Lacshmipuja dipanwita” as “great festival at night, in honor of Lakshmi, with illuminations on trees and houses”.

   C  Epigraphy Mentioning Diwali

1. William Simpson, an artist, characterized his chromolithograph of 1867 CE as “Dewali, feast of lamps”. This art showed streets lit up at dusk, with a girl and her mother lighting a street corner lamp.
2. Some Sanskrit inscriptions in stone and copper mentioning Diwali have been discovered at numerous sites across India. They, occasionally alongside, terms such as Deepotsava, Deepavali, Diwali and Divalige. For examples-

• A 10th-century Rashtrakuta empire copper plate inscription of Krsna III (939–967 CE) mentions Dipotsava.
• A 12th-century mixed Sanskrit-Kannada Sinda inscription was discovered in the Ishvara temple of Dharwad in Karnataka. This inscription refers to the festival as a “sacred occasion”.

3. Lorenz Franz Kielhorn was a German Indologist known for translating many Indic inscriptions. According to him, this festival is mentioned as Deepotsavam in verses 6 and 7 of the Ranganatha temple Sanskrit inscription of the 13th-century Kerala Hindu king Ravivarman Samgramadhira.
4. Part of the inscription was translated by Kielhorn. He describes it as “the auspicious festival of lights which disperses the most profound darkness, which in former days was celebrated by the kings Ila, Kartavirya and Sagara, (…) as Sakra (Indra) is of the gods, the universal monarch who knows the duties by the three Vedas, afterwards celebrated here at Ranga for Vishnu, resplendent with Lakshmi resting on his radiant lap.”
5. Jain inscriptions tell about Diwali. For example, in the 10th century Saundatti inscription about a donation of oil to Jinendra worship for the Diwali rituals is mentioned.
6. Another early 13th-century Sanskrit stone inscription, written in the Devanagari script has been found. It has been found in the north end of a mosque pillar in Jalore, Rajasthan. It was evidently built using materials from a demolished Jain temple. The inscription states that Ramachandracharya built and dedicated a drama performance hall, with a golden cupola, on Diwali.

Religious significance of Diwali

Diwali is celebrated by almost all Indian religions like Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Newar Buddhists.  Their point of view of celebration may be different. For each faith it may symbol different historical events and stories. But this festival represents the same symbolic victory for all; victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil.

Significance of Diwali in Hinduism

In Hinduism, the religious significance of Diwali varies regionally within India.

1. One tradition links Diwali to the legends in the Hindu epic Ramayana. According to it, Diwali is the day when Rama, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman reached Ayodhya after a period of 14 years in exile. They came to Ayodhya after defeating demon king Ravana’s army of evil. Hence it is a symbol of victory of goodness over evilness.
2. According to another popular tradition, Krishna killed the demon Narakasur on this day in the Dvapara Yuga period.  Narakasur was an evil king of Pragjyotishapura, near modern Assam. He held captive 16000 girls. Krishna who was an avatar of Vishnu killed the demon Narakasura and released 16000 girls. After Krishna’s Victory over Narakasura, Diwali was celebrated as a significance of success of good over evil. The day before Diwali is recalled as Naraka Chaturdasi. It is the day on which Narakasura was killed by Krishna.
3.  Many Hindus consider Diwali associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. They believe that goddess Lakshmi, wife of Lord Vishnu, was born from Samudra Manthon, ocean-churning.  A Vedic legend, also found Puranas like Padma Purana, is famous in the folk that Devatas and Asuras, gods and demons, churned the cosmic ocean of milk. On the night of Diwali, Lakshmi chose and married Vishnu.
4. Along with Lakshmi Lord Ganesh is also worshipped.  It is believed that Lord Ganesh symbolizes the ethical beginnings and the remover of obstacles.
5. Hindus in eastern India associate Diwali with Maa Kali.  Maa Kali symbolizes the victory of good over evil.
6. Some Hindus of the Brij region,  Assam and also of some Tamil and Telugu communities consider Diwali as the day on which Lord Krishna overcame and destroyed the demon Narakasura.
7. Families of traders and merchants offer prayers to Maa Saraswati and Kubera. Maa Saraswati embodies music, literature and learning.  Kubera symbolizes the treasury, book-keeping and wealth management.
8. Some Hindus in western India like Gujaratis and also certain Hindu communities in northern of India, signify Diwali as the start of a new year.

Significance of Diwali in Jainism

According to Jain tradition, Diwali is celebrated as “Mahavira Nirvana Divas”. People of Jain community consider that it was the day on which Lord Mahavir gave up his physical body and attained final nirvana, salvation. Their practices of celebration are similar to the Hindu Diwali, such as the cleaning of home and workplace, the lighting of Deeps and the offering of prayers to Lakshmi.

However, the focus of people in Jainism remains on the dedication to Mahavira.

As per the Jain traditions, the practice of lighting deeps started from the day of Mahavira’s nirvana in 527 BCE. It is believed that 18 kings had gathered for Mahavira’s final teachings. They issued a proclamation that deeps be lit in remembrance of the “great light, Mahavira”.  They consider it as the origin of Diwali.

Significance of Diwali in Sikhism

People in Sikhism celebrate Diwali as Bandi Chhor Divas in remembrance of the release of Guru Hargobind from the Gwalior Fort prison. Guru Hargobind was the sixth guru of Sikh religion. He was arrested by the Mughal emperor, Jahangir and kept in the Gwalior Fort prison. On this day, he was released and arrived at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

J.S. Grewal who is a scholar of Sikhism and Sikh history, says that Diwali in the Sikh tradition is older than the legend of the Har Gobind.

He adds, Guru Amar Das, the third Guru of the Sikhs, constructed a well in Goindwal with eighty-four steps and invited Sikhs to bathe in its sacred waters on Baisakhi and Diwali as a form of community bonding.

These spring and autumn festivals became the most vital of Sikh festivals and holy sites like Amritsar became focal points for annual pilgrimages.

According to Ray Colledge, Diwali highlights three events in Sikh history:

• the founding of the city of Amritsar in 1577,
• the release of Guru Har Gobind from the Mughal prison
• the day of Bhai Mani Singh’s martyrdom in 1738 as a result of his failure to pay a fine for trying to celebrate Diwali and thereafter refusing to convert to Islam.

Significance of Diwali in Buddhism

Most of Buddhists don not celebrate Diwali. Newar Buddhist of Nepal are the exception. They revere various deities in the Vajrayana Buddhism and celebrate Diwali. They offer prayer to Lakshmi too. They also celebrate the Diwali festival over five days, on the same days and much in the same way, as the Nepalese Hindu celebrate Diwali-Tihar festival.

According to some observers, this traditional celebration by Newar Buddhists in Nepal, through the worship of Lakshmi and Vishnu during Diwali, is not syncretism but rather a reflection of the freedom within Mahayana Buddhist tradition to worship any deity for their worldly betterment.

Other significance and traditions of Diwali

During the Diwali festival, fairs are organised by numerous rural villages and townships. Local artisans and producers trade their products. Entertainment arrangements are made for the people of local community.  The women beautify themselves in colourful attire and decorate their hands with henna.

Now a days, Diwali mela are organised at college or university campuses as community events. At such events a variety of music, dance and arts performances are performed. Food, crafts and cultural celebrations are other  features of these fairs.

Economic significance of Diwali

Diwali is a major shopping period in India. It may be compared to the Christmas period in terms of consumer purchases and economic activity.

It is a tradition to purchase new clothes, gold, jewelry, home refurbishments, gifts and large appliances.  Since Diwali is dedicated to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, so such purchases are considered auspicious.

Diwali is one of the major festivals when Indians, mostly dwelling in rural areas, spend a significant portion of their annual income. This time is an occasion for them to renew their relationships and social networks.

Significant quantities of confectionery and fireworks are bought during Diwali Festival.

 

Note: The facts have been taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali .