Diwali, the festival of lights is today. The time of the year when Indians dress up in fine clothes and light up their homes with diyas (traditiona clay lamps) or candles. But did you know that there is more than one reason why Indians celebrate Diwali? Here are some amazing facts that you might not have known before.
1. Festival of Prosperity
Indian businesses worked around the lunar calendar and Diwali was the end of finanicial year. The businesses tallied thir fianances at the end of the fiscal year and they had a reason to ceebrate the gains of the past year amd look up to the coming year with hope.
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| Ganesh and Laxmi Puja |
The "Bania" or the businessman of Indian society worship two deities during Diwali:
- Laxmi or the Goddess of Prosperity is worshipped for celebrating the financial gains made in the fiscal year.
- Ganesha is worshipped as the “Lord of Beginnings” to mark the start of the new fiscal year and for the removal of all obstacles.
Diversity of Diwali
So that was the financial reasons why the "Bania" or the traditional Indian businessman celebrated Diwali. After this the discussion gets unambiguous and confusing for the reasons why people celebrate the festival of lights. The spiritual would say that Diwali symbolizes the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance".
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| Deepawali - Series of Lighst |
In fact the term Diwali is a generic term and does not belong to a particular religion. Diwali (English: /dɪˈwɑːliː/) originated from the Sanskrit dīpāvali meaning "row or series of lights". The term is derived from the Sanskrit words dīpa, "lamp, light, lantern, candle, that which glows, shines, illuminates or knowledge" and āvali, "a row, range, continuous line, series".
Indians light up the clay lamps or candles in series to celebrate Diwali and their reason for doing so may not be the same. It appears as if different region, or religions in India decided to celebrate this festival for their own reasons Let's take a deeper look.
2. Diwali for Rama
According to ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, Prince Rama, his wife Sita and brother Laxman finally returned to thier North Indian kingdom Ayodhya after spending 14 years in exile and defeating Ravana, the king of Southern India.
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| Rama, Sita, and Laxman Returning Home |
To mark their return, the citizens of Ayodhya in North India lighted up lamps in the entire ctty in celebration. This version is believed by Lord Rama's followers in North India for Diwali celebration.
3. Diwali for Krishna
Now if yoou are followers of Hindu God Krishna from Western or Southern India, you have your own reason for celebrating Diwali. According to this theory, Diwali marks the day when Krishna slayed Narakasura. He was an evil King of East Indian state Assam (known as Kamrup in ancient India) who is named as the "Demon of Hell" . Narak means hell and Asura is the demon.
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| Krishna Slays Narakasur |
Narakasura's hell raising was brought to an end by Krishna, so people celebrated it by lighting lamps in every house. That is why on Naraka Chaturdashi, from around four o’clock in the morning, all over the country, crackers are burst, so everyone wakes up, comes alive.
4. Diwali for Kali
Eastern India, especially West Bengal, celebrates Diwali as Kali Puja, in the honour of Goddess Kali, who is known to have gone on a destructive rampage to cleanse the earth of all demons.
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| Godess Kali as Demon Slayer |
5. Diwali for Mahavira
Now if you are Jain, your reason for celebrating Diwali on the same day is different. Diwali marks the anniversary of Nirvana (final release) or liberation of Mahavira, the twenty fourth and last Jain Tirthankara. In fact, the oldest reference to Diwali anywhere occurs in Harivamsa Purana, written by Acharya Jinasena in the year 705.
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| Nirvana of Mahavira |
Translation: The gods illuminated Pavanagari by lamps to mark the occasion. Since that time, the people of Bharat celebrate the famous festival of "Dipalika" to worship the Jinendra (i.e. Lord Mahavira) on the occasion of his nirvana.
6. Diwali for Buddha
Buddhists celebrate Diwali as
Deep Daan festival as the day marked the completion of 84,000 stupas by Emperor Ashoka. Some Buddhists also celebrate the festival to honour their Emperor Ashoka’s decision to convert to Buddhism and follow a path of peace and enlightenment.
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| Diksha of Emperor Asoka by Buddhist Monks |
7. Diwali for the Guru
Sikhs celebrate Diwali as Bandi Chhor Divas, or the release day for prisoners. The sixth Guru, Hargobind Rai wa s imprisoned at the Gwalior Fort along with 52 Indian princes by the Mughal emperor Jahangir. The old tradition of imprisoning the firstborn of the defeated king who submitted to the conquerer. This tradition was practiced from Egypt to Persia to India. Mughal Emperor kept these firstborn princes in the Gwalior fort as ransom against the defeated king.
The young Guru Hargobind Rai was imprisoned in the Gwalior fort after the execution of Guru Arjan Dev at the orders of Jahangir. Later, Jahangir realized his mistake and decidied to relaease the Guru on the day of Diwali. The Guru insisted that all captive princes be released with him. The emperor relented and 52 Indian princes from across the country were released along with the Guru.
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| Guru Hargobind rescueing Indian Princes from Gwalior Fort |
Guru Hargobind reached the holy city of Amritsar on the day of Diwali. The Sikhs lit lamps in the holy city to mark the return of the Guru.
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| Sikh Boys Celebrating Bandi Chhir Diwas |
Conclusion
Looking at how various regions, religions, and group of peole adopted Diwali as their own festival, it seems as if the festival probably existed before the creation of these religions. Diwali is conveniently placed at the onset of winter. This period is celebrated globally from pagans to druids to native americans. Diwali marks the end of autum and begining of winter - a pious period.
Many of us stopped celebrating Diwali for years after 1984 as the wounds of Sikh genocide were fresh in our minds and we did not feel like celebrating the years. But all of us must have fond memories of our childhood how it used to be celebrated, in Gurdwaras, at home, and in the neighborhood.
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| Childhood Memories of Diwali |
What's your reason for celebrating Diwali?
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