Gourav Sabharwal
The victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and wisdom over ignorance is symbolised by the ‘festival of lights.’ Deepa Pratipada Utsava, often known as Diwali, heralds the start of festivals honouring light. Deepa denotes a torch, Pratipada denotes an initiation and Utsava denotes a celebration. It is seen throughout a number of days. Diwali is celebrated against a variety of historical backdrops that come from diverse civilizations and religions. Although largely recognised as a Hindu holiday for adherents of ancient Vedic culture and tradition, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists also participate in celebrations of the event around the globe. Hindus commemorate the day that Lord Krishna killed the vicious monster Narakasura. After 14 years, it’s thought that Lord Ram, Sita, and Laxman made their way home. The people of Ayodhya welcomed the holy three by lighting diyas in the city’s streets. On the days of the celebration, this tradition of burning lamps has persisted to this day. Jains and Buddhists might back their celebration with their own historical occurrences. It is observed by Jains as the anniversary of Mahavira’s enlightenment, their 24th Guru. Like they did when they welcomed Lord Gautam Buddha back to Kapilavastu after 18 years, Buddhists celebrate by lighting lamps. Sikhs commemorate it as Guru Hargobind’s release from prison and return home.
Hindus have celebrated Diwali/Deepawali since ancient times. The word ‘Diwali’ is made from the Sanskrit words ‘deep’ and ‘aawali.’ The word ‘Diwali’ denotes a string of Diyas. The Diwali holiday is also known as the Diyas festival or Dipotsav. It is particularly lauded for cleanliness and illumination.
For the Lakshmi Puja Vidhi festival, the homes and the areas around them are also cleaned. This event also helps us recognise the strength of our inner spirit by reconnecting us with our heritage. It serves as a reminder that goodness and truth win out in the end. Diwali has a major significance for a number of mythical causes. This ceremony might teach us all something to keep walking the path of truth. People start preparing for the event months in advance. We do Diwali Lakshmi Puja on this auspicious day because diya lights have illuminated the entire area. Similar to how diyas remove the night and spread light, it is thought that Diwali rituals would remove the darkness from our lives and replace it with the light of the new dawn. This occasion brings us a lot of joy and instructs us on how to live a good life. On the day of Diwali, we distribute gifts and sweets to our friends, relatives, and neighbours. Send them a lot of well wishes as well. Because of this, little arguments between us dissolve and are replaced with sweetness in our relationships.
- Diwali marks change of Temperatures: Diwali festival often falls in October or November, and that is the time the temperatures start to drop in the tropical region. With these many lifestyle changes taking place, Diwali is the perfect time to reset your home items so that you can easily access necessary items. Such as heating devices like water heaters, room heaters, covering all the open areas.
- Reshuffle Wardrobe: As the winters start approaching one needs to pack all the summer clothes and make way for the winter clothes. Though summer clothing takes less space we need to make space for winter clothes as they are bulky, and one may need layered clothing to keep oneself warm and comfortable enough. The dust accumulated in the wardrobe gets cleaned in this process and the moistness that the rainy season sets in the wardrobe is brushed off.
- Preparing for winter season: As we brace ourselves for the chill weather, we also all need to pack the thin blankets and make a place for the rugs and thick blankets that keep us warm in the winter season. Skin and hair care are also required for the winter season. By this, one is making sure that all the blankets are washed and then pulled up in the bag to store for the next few months.
4.Get rid of bacteria and fungus: In the deep cleaning of the house, we not only get rid of the dust particles but also the bacteria that gets collected on the items. Few household items are vulnerable to fungus formation on the surface also can be taken care and cleaned thoroughly. The bacteria and fungus are responsible for many lung diseases and allergies therefore, deep cleaning ensures healthy environment at home. - Welcome Visitors: Diwali is the time when we host extended family and innumerable guests and spread happiness and joy on this occasion. Everyone likes the place clean and upkeep, so this is also one of the reasons your house needs an extra shine and the glitter all over the house and of-course the spark beaming in the family’s smile too. Deep-cleaning is a manganous task and maybe a tiresome job, so one must do it step by step and with the help of the family and helpers. You can read the post, Festive Mantras for Glowing Diwali with family. Also, one must keep the emotions at bay while collecting the items which are no longer required.
Each religion marks a different Diwali story and historical event. In one of the main stories in Hindu mythology, Diwali is the day Lord Rama, his wife Sita Devi and brother Lakshmana return to their homeland after 14 years in exile. The villagers lit a path for Rama, who had defeated the demon king Ravana. Reenactments of this story are part of celebrations in some regions. Another Diwali story in Hindu mythology is that Diwali marks the day Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura and freed the people of his kingdom. After he slayed the demon, Lord Krishna declared it a day of festivities. In some parts of India, people burn effigies of the demon kings in both stories as part of the celebration. People also celebrate the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi during Diwali. As the goddess of prosperity, wealth and fertility, the romantic Diwali story says that she chose Lord Vishnu, one of Hinduism’s most important deities, to be her husband on the night of Diwali. In other cultures, Diwali coincides with harvest and New Year celebrations. No matter which Diwali story you celebrate, it’s always a day of new beginnings and light over darkness.
Many consider Diwali to be a fresh start, similar to the Lunar New Year in January. Many people clean, renovate, decorate their homes and buy new clothes in preparation for the upcoming year. Diwali is also a time to settle debts and make peace. It’s common for people to reach out to loved ones who may have lost touch and organise family reunions. In the past, Indian and Pakistani soldiers have exchanged sweets along the disputed border, as a gesture of Diwali goodwill. The dates for Diwali change each year, as they are based on the Hindu lunisolar calendar. The festival usually falls between mid-October and mid-November. Rangoli is a timeless tradition that is followed all over India. Rangoli is also known as Alpana, Aripoma, or Kolam. It is an ancient art, practiced by almost all households. In many cases, designs are passed down through generations with some of them being hundreds of years old. The word ‘Rangoli’ is said to have been derived from the words ‘Rang’ and ‘Aavalli’ which refers to a row of colours. Rangoli designs and colours vary between different regions but they all follow some basic patterns. A Rangoli usually has a geometrical structure that is also symmetrical. The design patterns often consist of natural elements like animals, flowers, etc. After successful initiatives such as water-free Holi and Eco-friendly Gansesh Chaturthi, majority is going for Green Diwali. This Green Diwali is way to celebrate the festival with minimum consequences to the environment. With the bursting of loud firecrackers, the pollution in the country rises to the dangerous level causing discomfort to the elderly people, children and pets. More number of asthma cases gets reported with this increase in the pollution.Let’s come together and a do a bit for the society on this diwali. It’s our basic and most important faithfulness to understand the importance and essence of the traditional diwali celebration. Let’s take some steps ahead to make this diwali an eco-friendly one:
Use locally made, earthenware Diyas for decoration: Eschew the cheap plastic lights for home decoration and go for the artisan handmade earthen ware and diyas for the decoration. This will not only help the environment but will also help the poor artisan families.
Shun burning fire crackers: We all get mesmerized and entertained by the lights of the crackers. But the sad fact is that we don’t pay any attention towards the bad effect of the loud noise and pollution on the environment. Due to bursting of crackers huge quantity of toxic gases release in the atmosphere, which is one of the major health concerns for everyone in the world. Birds and animals suffer the most due to the high level of noise generated. Majority of teenage children are involved in the making of firecrackers. We roughly look over the fact that these young children are exposed to these toxic substances, which put their life and health in great danger.
Noise pollution due to the use of fire crackers should be avoided: There is no logic in burning those firecrackers which produces more than 65 decibels of noise. Even the law has banned the burning of noisy crackers but it seems that many of us are not interested in following these rules and regulations. Various hazardous health problems are caused by the burning of noisy firecrackers, include problem in hearing ability, high blood pressure, heart attacks, sleeping disorders, provisional or even eternal deafness. Circumvent the use of chemical based rangoli colors. Make maximum use natural colors and dyes like rice flour, turmeric power, kumkum, lime, petal, coal and leaves.
