Diwali is one of the most important Festivals
Diwali the day Ram came back victorious
Diwali is one of the most famous and important of Indian festivals that give you a clear message about fight against darkness. “Tamso ma jyotir gamaya” that says it all ‘march towards lights from darkness’ or ‘take me where the knowledge belongs’. The tiny lamps giving a tough fight to darkness of night on moonless night on Diwali night is the symbol of Indian culture to the world. Diwali is not limited to India only but celebrated in most parts of the world.
This day has many reasons for celebrations and one of the important reasons is that Raja Ram came back victorious to Ayodhya after killing demon king of Lanka the Ravana and crowned by sage Vasistha on this day. The people of Ayodhya had every reason to celebrations this very day. They lit every corner of the kingdom to express their happiness. The tradition goes on ever since with more people joining every year.
Lakshmi and other gods freed from the grip of demon Bali
Vishnu rescued Lakshmi and other gods from the evil grip of demon king Bali at the request of gods as Bali wanted to rule over the universe. Vishnu in disguise of a dwarf took the whole universe in three steps and allowing Bali to come to earth just once every year. Lakshmi in turn helped gods regaining all their wealth and glory became eligible to worship on the day of Diwali as goddess of wealth. Indra the king of gods praised Lakshmi as the one who gave wealth, wisdom, the all conquering and helping in getting all kind of spiritual help. Lakshmi is the only goddess worshiped every day everywhere without Lakshmi, the money there is nothing in this world.
Lakshmi is symbol of money, wisdom, knowledge and the one with money achieves seven main comforts of life therefore we can count on Lakshmi for the whole pleasure of life. Lakshmi commands total respect of not only the human beings but also gods including Indra and Vishnu as well because they too are dependent on her for their comforts and pleasures. Therefore, the goddess of wealth Lakshmi holds the key place in Diwali celebrations and rightly so as without her blessings even Diwali is not possible. Where there is Lakshmi, there is no darkness.
The importance of Lakshmi- the money
Vedvyas the writer of Mahabharat has quoted ‘Purusha Dhanan Vadha’ that means that man is as good as dead without money. Man is never complete without money because if his wishes not fulfilled he never gets the moksha ‘the release’ from the worldly desires. As per the saying, that Lakshmi walks through the homes of people during the night of Diwali to see the needs, ways people worshiped her, and when he finds some one worshipped her well she blesses him with her entry into that particular house to stay there forever. Therefore, people keep their ready for her visit with extra cleanliness.
Diwali has significance that the dark night of Diwali marks the way for ancestors who come to visit their relatives therefore the skylight the kandeels kept lighted to show them the way. The business community changes their ledger from the Diwali day, the Indian government approves this, and such accounts considered legal starting from Diwali in place of routine April to March as the official financial year for taxation purposes.
Preparations for worshipping goddess Lakshmi
Generally the preparations begin from days before with overall cleaning, painting and giving new looks to the entire house and disposing the useless items well before the main functions, which begin three days before with Dhanteras. People generally go out for shopping especially utensils, gifts and ornaments are the main items along with material for functions, firecrackers and tiny earthen lamps for lighting. Although, the earthen lamps no more in practice since replaced by electrical bulbs and candles.
Lakshmi Pooja is a family function with much joy and devotion, every member of the house becomes involved in the evening for the Pooja ceremony. Every one wears new clothes and prepares for the function at predetermined time as per the schedule fixed every year according to Pundits. The main function starts with worshipping the gods Ganesha and Lakshmi with all the system as per different households take place and lighting the tiny lamps and candles along with firecrackers goes on simultaneously. People keep distributing the sweets among the neighbors in the meantime.
Most people exchange gifts in the noontime but some people in some particular areas find it more appropriate to distribute sweets after the Pooja as Prasad, meanwhile the fire works goes on, as that is one of the most attractive parts of the festival for children and young people. I would like to add at this particular point that I have not purchased any firecrackers for last decade or so at the request of my daughter. We donate that money among the orphaned children going to orphanage since the big earthquake hit back in 2001. Now my daughter is away from us but we still do go to orphanage every year on Diwali day to make a few children smile with our small contribution.
Although the main Pooja is related to, Ganesha and Lakshmi but most people make sure that all gods whom they worship are included in the Pooja night to keep all of them happy. The business communities start their ledgers this night and include them in Pooja ceremony. The firecracker session goes on until late night while some people go out to watch the lighting of the city and visit their friends to wish them a happy Diwali.
A word of caution
Diwali is associated with fire in a big way, firecrackers worth Rupees thousands of millions are used this night alone not counting the use of firecrackers beginning days or weeks before. The major problem that firecrackers bring is the pollution and illness related to breathing. The weeks following Diwali the number of patients suffering from such diseases increase drastically; therefore, the use of firecrackers should be limited to save the environment. The other problem that becomes a major problem for life and property is the incidents of major fire due to careless use of firecrackers.
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