History Of Diwali As Told By A Kashmiri Pandit

Diwali, the festival of lights, symbolises the `victory of light over darkness’, `knowledge over ignorance’ and ‘good over evil’. It also has many legends and lore associated with it. Diwali, or Deepavali, is a major Hindu festival celebrated across the country by Indians of all faiths. Also called the ‘festival of lights’, Diwali comes in the Hindu lunisolar months of Ashwin and Kartik (late October or early November in the Gregorian calendar). A postharvest festival, it has several myths associated with it as well. The festival symbolises the `victory of light over darkness’, `knowledge over ignorance’ and `good over evil’. The lore that is most commonly associated with the celebration of this festival, especially in north and west India, is from the Hindu epic Ramayana: commemorating the return of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana` and Hanuman to rule Ayodhya, in modern Uttar Pradesh. In south India, it marks the victory of the god Krishna over the demon Narakasura. In Jainism, it is the day Mahavira attained Nirvana. The Newars of Nepal offer prayers to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity; the Newars include followers of Hinduism, of Vaj.rayana Buddhism, and of traditions related to both. For some communities, especially those in business and trade, Diwali marks the beginning of the Hindu financial year, samvat, and the Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped in the evening. Many shopkeepers and owners of small businesses change their account books, or bahikhaata, on this day. The Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange are closed on the day, which is generally a national holiday, but they conduct trading, or the first auspicious trading, for a short while in the evening. At many homes, playing cards for money on Diwali, or formal gambling, is an auspicious ritual that is considered to bring wealth and prosperity to the players. This comes from the legend that once Goddess Parvati won a game of dice against God Shiva on this day. Elated, she announced that whoever gambled on the night of Diwali would accumulate wealth throughout the year. A five-day festival, Diwali is celebrated across households by lighting diyas (oil lamps) or candles, making rangolis (intricate designs on the floor) to welcome the goddess, distributing sweets and gifts, and bursting crackers. The bursting of crackers is increasingly limited in many regions to control environmental and sound pollution.
Diwali Etymology and Day: Deepavali literally means ‘row of lights’ (Photo Source: Dinesh Korgaokar/Wikimedia Commons). Diwali comes from the Sanskrit word, Deepavali, which means a `row of lights’. The word is derived`from deepa (lamp, light or illumination; or symbolically, knowledge) and avali (row or series). Ancient Indian texts like the Padma Purana, Vishnu Purana and Kalika Purana and Harsha’s play Nagananda, as well as stone and copper inscriptions have references to the festival as Deepotsava, Deepotsavam, Deepavali, Divali and Divalige. The duration of the celebrations includes the last two days of the month of Ashwin, before the new moon (amavasya), starting with Dhanteras, the 13th day of the fortnight ending in amavasya, and continuing into the month of Kartik to end on Bhai Dooj, the festival dedicated to celebrating brothers.
Diwali in Different Religions and Mythologies: The return of Rama to Ayodhya is the most popular lore associated with Diwali celebrations (Photo Source: British Library courtesy Wikimedia Commons). The celebration of Diwali has greatly evolved, with various cross-cultural and -religious influences and stories of origin that we explore in this segment
(The author is incharge District Record Room DC Office Anantnag. The views, opinions, facts, figures, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are author’s own and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon).