What is diwali celebration
What is diwali celebration
What is Diwali and how is it celebrated?
Learn all about Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, including how it’s celebrated and what delicious treats you can make for a fabulous feast with family and friends.
Once the Indian summer season and monsoon rains give way to cooler evenings, thoughts turn to the festival season, of which Diwali is the highlight. It’s the most important date in the Hindu calendar, and everyone is invited to join in the celebrations.
Often referred to as the festival of lights, (or Deepavali in south India), Diwali is a time for religious rituals and sharing traditional stories. It’s also an opportunity to spruce up the home, buy new clothes, and, of course, enjoy parties, feasting and an exchange of gifts.
Try our best ever Indian-inspired recipes to create your own flavoursome feast.
What is Diwali?
Every region in India has distinctive traditions for commemorating this festival, but whatever the customs, there is agreement that Diwali represents the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness and wisdom over ignorance. This is linked to the ancient legend of Lord Rama, who was deprived of his kingdom and sent into exile for 14 years. Diwali celebrates Rama’s eventual defeat of the evil spirit Ravana, and his triumphant return to his home.
The business community considers it an auspicious time to start new ventures, as the festival coincides with the Hindu New Year. It also holds special significance for married couples and babies celebrating their first Diwali, as both sides of the family can come together.
In India, it’s a five-day festival featuring different ceremonies each day, with the third day being the main event.
On Diwali night, most Hindus offer prayers to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and Ganesh, the god representing good fortune and wisdom for the coming year.
As the religious ceremony comes to a close, sweetmeat offerings are placed in front of the deities, and small clay lamps known as diyas are arranged inside homes and outdoors, too. The aim is to attract Lakshmi’s attention and guide her towards these twinkling lamps to bestow blessings and prosperity for the year ahead.
When is Diwali?
Diwali follows the Hindu lunar calendar and its date changes annually – it’s celebrated on a moonless night in October or November.
How is Diwali celebrated?
The weeks leading up to Diwali are traditionally a time for redecorating the home, buying new clothes and jewellery, and exchanging gifts such as sweetmeats, dried fruits and nuts. This is the season for dinner parties, outdoor food festivals and craft fairs, all of which help build up excitement ahead of the main Diwali celebration.
Gambling, especially in north India, is part of traditional celebrations, and card games are played late into the night in the weeks before Diwali. Expect drinks and and plenty of finger food at these parties, which will usually include platters of kebabs, fried savoury snacks, tandoori grills and spiced sweetmeats.
The five days of Diwali
Two days before the main festival day, it’s considered good luck to buy a metallic kitchen implement, such as a steel ladle, or, if budget allows, a more extravagant kitchen appliance.
The day before Diwali is known as ‘chotti Diwali’ (or ‘little Diwali’). Traditionally, it was a day for getting on with preparations for the big day, but now it’s also an opportunity for last-minute errands and gift exchanges. It’s also a time when intricate floral and geometrical designs, known as ‘rangoli’, are created on floors using coloured powders, rice flour and flower petals.
The third day is the main Diwali celebration. As the sun sets, prayers are said to Lakshmi and Ganesh, then dozens of clay lamps are arranged around the house. Firework displays follow, but in recent years these have been scaled back due to noise and air pollution concerns. This doesn’t dampen the party spirit, though – especially as there’s a lavish dinner to enjoy.
Activities on the day after Diwali will vary across different regions. In north India, for example, the morning is dedicated to worshipping the tools of work. Chefs will pay homage to their kitchen implements, businessmen will venerate their ledgers, and artists will offer gratitude for their paints and palettes.
On the fifth and final day of Diwali celebrations, sisters pray for the well-being of their brothers, and receive sweetmeats and gifts in return.
What food is eaten during Diwali?
Each region has its favourite dishes. No one fasts on Diwali and there’s no set evening menu. In some homes, meals aren’t even vegetarian.
Savoury snacks could include samosas, bhajis, aloo tikki (griddle-cooked potato patties) and channa bhatura (spiced chickpeas and puffed bread). Gujarat in west India is famed for its crunchy snacks, known as ‘farssan’.
But, save space for the main meal, which may feature meaty curries, such as our next level tikka masala, or a feast of vegetarian Indian dishes, including dhals and pulses.
But it’s sweetmeats (‘mithai’) that are the stars of Diwali. They’re made with dairy produce, which has religious significance, and offered to both gods and guests.
Halwai shops are dedicated to making sweet and savoury snacks, although home cooks will also make family favourites, such as fudgy blocks of barfi and fried and sweetened gram flour balls known as ladoos. Try our spiced gram flour ladoo with fragrant saffron and chopped cashews. Then there’s gulab jamun (syrupy dumplings) and cardamom-spiced kheer (rice pudding). Halwas, such as those made with carrots, wholewheat flour and semolina, are enjoyed throughout the day as well as for dessert. This Punjabi semolina halwa has a deliciously buttery flavour. And, to fill any gaps, nankhatai (a shortbread-like biscuit) makes a marvellous match with masala chai.
What Is and How Do You Celebrate Diwali?
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What is Diwali? And how to best celebrate? You’ll certainly hear a lot about India’s Festival of Lights if traveling through Asia in the fall.
The Diwali Festival — also known as the «Festival of Lights» — is an important Hindu holiday celebrated throughout India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, and other places with large Indian or Hindu populations. The tradition dates back to ancient times and is both jovial and festive.
Diwali is celebrated throughout India, however, it’s especially prevalent in bigger cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Jaipur in Rajasthan. Although the Jainism version of Diwali is celebrated on the same night as the Hindu Diwali, the reasons for celebrating are different.
It is an important festival in India. It’s also one of the biggest fall festivals in Asia. Similar to the Lunar New Year in January or February, Diwali is celebrated with family gatherings, new clothes, special treats, and meals. Many consider Diwali as a fresh start. Devotees make offerings to Lakshmi and Ganesha with hope for upcoming wealth and prosperity.
Fireworks shoot continuously, creating a spectacle of noise, chaos, and delight in some places. Cities glow with colorful lights, lanterns, string lights, and ghee lanterns. These are left on throughout the night as a celebration of good over evil and the triumph of inner light over ignorance. Loud firecrackers frighten evil spirits and unsuspecting tourists alike for days before and after Diwali.
The Diwali festival lasts for five days, but traditions vary. Preparations begin well in advance; fireworks go on for days afterward. The peak is usually on the third day, which is considered a sort of New Year’s Eve. The last day is set aside for brothers and sisters to spend time together.
Temples are especially busy with rituals and religious rites during Diwali. Be respectful and cover yourself if you happen inside; don’t take photos of worshipers.
Pronunciation
Diwali is often spelled with many variations depending on place and language, but what is the difference between Diwali and Deepavali?
Because the word is transliterated from Hindi, Tamil, and other alphabets, we end up with different pronunciations, just as the festival is celebrated in many different ways between the numerous ethnic groups and religions.
The pronunciation for the three most common occurrences is as follows:
How to Celebrate
Just as in the days leading up to Lunar New Year, homes are cleaned, renovated, and decorated in preparation for good fortune in the upcoming year. New clothes, along with sweets and small gifts for friends and family, are purchased.
Diwali is ancient. As with all ancient traditions, different regions take different approaches. Although the official reasons for celebrating Diwali differ, the event is observed by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and even Nuwar Buddhists. All contribute to the festive atmosphere with lamps and colorful decorations. The quickest and easiest way to show that you acknowledge Diwali is to light lanterns and candles in front of your house.
Still a relatively new concept, the Diwali Festival is becoming more widely observed throughout the West. Many large cities in the U.S., Europe, and Australia now sponsor celebrations. Occasionally, one of the days of Diwali overlaps with the Guy Fawkes Night (Bonfire Night) — observed on November 5 in the UK — giving two good reasons to celebrate with fire and fireworks.
Diwali is a time to make peace, settle debts, and start anew. In the past, Indian and Pakistani soldiers even exchanged sweets along the disputed border. Diwali is also a time for reunions. Look up and reach out to remote family members or loved ones with whom you have lost touch.
In 2009, President Obama was the first U.S. president to celebrate Diwali at the White House. San Antonio, Texas, was the first city in the U.S. to hold an official Diwali celebration.
How to Say Happy Diwali
The simplest way to spread some Diwali cheer is by saying «Happy Diwali»:
Diwali / Deepavalee mubarak ho (pronounced: «dee-wall-ee moo-bar-ak ho»)
Traveling During the Festival
Although Diwali is a fun, festive, beautiful time to be in India, it could affect your plans.
With such widespread celebrations and many people off work to return to their home villages, the already busy public transportation system will be clogged. Trains during the festival become booked up weeks ahead. Hotels in popular cities also fill up quickly; you should book budget hotels in advance.
The abundance of fireworks during Diwali actually contributes enough smoke to make the already apocalyptic air quality in New Delhi even worse.
When Is the Diwali Festival?
The dates for Diwali are based on the Hindu lunisolar calendar and change each year, but the festival typically falls between mid-October and mid-November on the Gregorian calendar.
Diwali 2021: What Is Diwali?
Diwali Traditions and Date
Diwali is the Indian “festival of lights”—a holiday that celebrates the triumph of good over evil. This year, Diwali will be celebrated on November 4. Though technically religious, it’s also become a cultural event in North America that’s celebrated with sweets and special foods. Learn about Diwali, when it occurs, and common traditions!
What Is Diwali?
Diwali (also called Divali or Deepavali) is a “festival of lights” that celebrates the triumph of light over dark and good over evil, and the blessings of victory, freedom, and enlightenment. The name comes from Sanksrit dipavali, meaning “row of lights.” On the night of Diwali, celebrants light dozens of candles and clay lamps (called diyas), placing them throughout their homes and in the streets to light up the dark night.
In most of India, Diwali consists of a five-day celebration that peaks on the third day with the main celebration of Diwali. In other places where Diwali occurs, usually only the main day is celebrated.
A specially-made clay lamp, called a diya, lit for Diwali.
Who Celebrates Diwali?
Diwali is primarily celebrated by followers of the Hindu, Sikh, and Jain faiths. However, the holiday is celebrated throughout India, Singapore, and several other South Asian countries as a national holiday, meaning that people outside these religions may participate in Diwali celebrations, too. Hindu, Sikh, and Jain communities in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, and elsewhere around the globe also regularly celebrate Diwali.
When Is Diwali?
Diwali occurs annually in autumn (or spring, in the southern hemisphere), during the Hindu month of Kartik. (To put it in Western terms, Kartik begins around mid-October and ends in mid-November.) Specifically, Diwali occurs on the darkest day of the lunar month, which is the day of the new Moon.
Diwali Dates
Diwali Traditions and Customs
Because Diwali is celebrated by so many people worldwide, traditions are diverse, though there are a few common themes, including the lighting of candles and the gathering of families.
The main celebration of Diwali takes place on the day of the new Moon, when the sky is at its darkest, so a big part of the celebration revolves around light. Candles, clay lamps, and oil lanterns are lit and placed throughout the home, in the streets, in areas of worship, and floated on lakes and rivers. Fireworks are also set off on the night of Diwali—said by some to ward off evil spirits.
Another central theme of Diwali is family. Wearing their best new clothes, families gather together to eat sweets and other special foods, light diyas (decorative oil lamps), and pray for their ancestors. Businesses are generally closed (or close early) on Diwali to allow workers to celebrate with their families, too.
The feast can be quite extravagant, with the table filled with special dishes and sweets. In honor of Dwali, here are a few Indian-style recipes from our own website.
Diwali in India
In much of India, Diwali consists of five days of celebrations rather than just one.
Do you celebrate Diwali? What traditions do you follow for the holiday? Let us know in the comments below—and Happy Diwali to those who celebrate!
Why Is Deepavali or Diwali Celebrated and What Is Its Significance?
See Diwali in a completely new light as Sadhguru reveals the spiritual significance of one of the most exuberant festivals in the world.
What Is Diwali and Why Is Diwali Called the Festival of Lights?
You may be born as a human being, but to become a good human being, you have to do so many things. And even then, you still will not know where you stand. In comparison, you may think you are better than someone else. But by yourself, you do not know where you stand. Human intelligence is such that if you do not organize it properly, it causes more confusion and misery than those creatures that have a millionth of your brain will ever experience – they seem to be crystal clear. An earthworm or insect simply knows what to do and what not to do – a human being does not. It takes a certain intelligence to be confused. Human struggle is due to our own cerebral capability.
Instead of being a tremendous possibility, intelligence has become a problem for a whole lot of people. They may give their suffering different names, calling it stress, anxiety, depression, madness, or misery. But essentially, it means their intelligence has turned against them. If you are suffering by yourself, without anyone poking you, it means your intelligence is working against you. This being the nature of human existence, clarity is of supreme importance. That is why light is important. Light means clarity. Diwali is important because it is a festival dedicated to clarity, to bringing down the murkiness in you.
Why Is Diwali Celebrated?
Historically, it marks the day when Krishna was supposed to have slain Narakasura. Narakasura was not his original name, but he gave everyone hell, so they called him Narakasura. Narak means hell – one who is causing hell to everyone is a Narakasura. When this “causing of hell” was brought to an end by Krishna, people celebrated by lighting lamps in every house. The Narakasura event supposedly happened much later, but the culture and tradition of lighting lamps around this time goes back twelve to fifteen thousand years. People realized that life hits a point of inertia at this time of the year. The idea is that if you yourself are not living like a cracker, fully alive and on, at least crackers around you could wake you up a little bit. 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.
This is about the nature of the festival, but the important aspect is to beat the inertia. Life is a play of time and energy. You have a certain amount of time and a certain amount of energy. Time passes whether you are busy or lazy, whether you are healthy or sick. For all of us, time is rolling at the same pace. No one can slow it down; no one can hasten it. But your experience of time differs depending on whether you are joyful or miserable. If you are ecstatic, twenty-four hours will seem to pass like a moment. If you are depressed, twenty-four hours will seem like an eon for you.
If you are joyful, it is a very brief life. For the potential that a human being carries, even if you live a hundred years, they will pass in no time. But if inertia has set into you and you are miserable, it feels like time is not rolling. When people are miserable, the need for entertainment increases tremendously. When people are joyful, they do not have time for entertainment. Joy will take up all your time. You wake up in the morning, and before you even notice, it is already night. When you are joyful, you will do everything you can. When you are miserable, you will always see how to avoid everything.
The culture of “Thank God it’s Friday” is catching up. That means five days of misery – two days, not of joy but generally of intoxication. If you want to make people laugh, sing, dance, or do something joyful, you have to drug them, or at least give them a glass of wine – otherwise it is not possible. This has happened because in a variety of ways, people are creating inertia within themselves. When inertia sets in, life will seem too long. Diwali is a symbol of beating inertia, because inertia is the source of narak, or hell. Once inertia sets in, you will not go to hell – you will be hell. In anger, jealousy, hate, and fear, you create narak and become a Narakasura. If these are taken away, a new light shines.
The Significance of Diwali
On Diwali, you will see every town, city and village is lit up with thousands of lamps everywhere. But the celebration is not just about lighting lamps outside – an inner light has to come. Light means clarity. Without clarity, every other quality that you possess will only become a detriment, not a gift, because confidence without clarity is a disaster. And today, too much action in the world is performed without clarity.
On a certain day, a rookie policeman was driving for the first time through a town with his experienced partner. They got a message on the radio, which said that there was a group of people loitering on a certain street, and were asked to disperse them. They drove into the street and saw a group of people standing at one of the corners. As the car came close by, the new policeman rolled his window down with great enthusiasm and said, “Hey, all of you. Get off that corner!” The group looked at each other in confusion. Then he yelled louder, “Didn’t you hear me? I told you to get off that damn corner!” They all dispersed. Then, pleased with the effect that he had on people when performing his first official task, he looked at his experienced partner and asked, “Did I do well?” His partner said, “Not bad at all, considering that it was a bus stop.”
Without the necessary clarity, whatever you try to do will be a disaster. Light brings clarity to your vision – not just in a physical sense. How clearly you see life and perceive everything around you decides how sensibly you conduct your life. Diwali is the day when the dark forces were put to death and light happened. This is also the predicament of human life. Like the dark clouds which brood in the gloomy atmosphere, not realizing that they are blocking the sun, a human being does not have to bring any light from anywhere. If he just dispels the dark clouds that he has allowed to gather within himself, light will happen. The Festival of Lights is just a reminder of that.
Life as a Celebration
In the Indian culture, there was a time when there used to be a festival every day of the year – 365 festivals in a year. The idea behind this was to make our whole life into a celebration. Today, maybe only thirty or forty festivals remain. We are not able to celebrate even those now because we have to go to office or do something else daily. So, people usually celebrate only around eight or ten festivals annually. If we leave it like this, the next generation will not have any festival. They will not know what a festival is. They will just earn and eat, earn and eat – they will go on and on with just this. It has already become like this for many people. A festival means they give you a holiday, and you wake up only at noon. Then you just eat more, go for a movie or watch television at home. And only if they take some external stimulants, will these people dance a little. Otherwise they will not sing or dance. It was not like that before. A festival meant that the whole town would gather in a place, and there would be a big celebration. A festival meant we got up at four in the morning, and very actively, lots of things happened all over the house. To bring back this culture in people, Isha celebrates four important festivals: Pongal or Makar Sankranti, Mahashivratri, Dussehra and Diwali.
Non-serious but Absolutely Involved
If you approach everything in a celebratory way, you learn to be non-serious about life but absolutely involved. The problem with most human beings right now is, if they think something is important, they will become dead serious about it. If they think it is not so important they will become lax about it – they do not show the necessary involvement. When someone says, “He is in a very serious condition,” that means his next step is you know where. A lot of people are in a serious condition. There is only one thing that is going to happen to them which is of any significance. The rest will bypass them because with anything that they think is not serious, they are unable to show involvement and dedication. That is the whole problem. The secret of life is in just this – seeing everything with a non-serious eye, but absolutely involved – like a game. That is the reason the most profound aspects of life are approached in a celebratory way so that you do not miss the point. The idea of Diwali is to bring that aspect of celebration into your life.
Why Is Deepavali or Diwali Celebrated and What Is Its Significance?
See Diwali in a completely new light as Sadhguru reveals the spiritual significance of one of the most exuberant festivals in the world.
What Is Diwali and Why Is Diwali Called the Festival of Lights?
You may be born as a human being, but to become a good human being, you have to do so many things. And even then, you still will not know where you stand. In comparison, you may think you are better than someone else. But by yourself, you do not know where you stand. Human intelligence is such that if you do not organize it properly, it causes more confusion and misery than those creatures that have a millionth of your brain will ever experience – they seem to be crystal clear. An earthworm or insect simply knows what to do and what not to do – a human being does not. It takes a certain intelligence to be confused. Human struggle is due to our own cerebral capability.
Instead of being a tremendous possibility, intelligence has become a problem for a whole lot of people. They may give their suffering different names, calling it stress, anxiety, depression, madness, or misery. But essentially, it means their intelligence has turned against them. If you are suffering by yourself, without anyone poking you, it means your intelligence is working against you. This being the nature of human existence, clarity is of supreme importance. That is why light is important. Light means clarity. Diwali is important because it is a festival dedicated to clarity, to bringing down the murkiness in you.
Why Is Diwali Celebrated?
Historically, it marks the day when Krishna was supposed to have slain Narakasura. Narakasura was not his original name, but he gave everyone hell, so they called him Narakasura. Narak means hell – one who is causing hell to everyone is a Narakasura. When this “causing of hell” was brought to an end by Krishna, people celebrated by lighting lamps in every house. The Narakasura event supposedly happened much later, but the culture and tradition of lighting lamps around this time goes back twelve to fifteen thousand years. People realized that life hits a point of inertia at this time of the year. The idea is that if you yourself are not living like a cracker, fully alive and on, at least crackers around you could wake you up a little bit. 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.
This is about the nature of the festival, but the important aspect is to beat the inertia. Life is a play of time and energy. You have a certain amount of time and a certain amount of energy. Time passes whether you are busy or lazy, whether you are healthy or sick. For all of us, time is rolling at the same pace. No one can slow it down; no one can hasten it. But your experience of time differs depending on whether you are joyful or miserable. If you are ecstatic, twenty-four hours will seem to pass like a moment. If you are depressed, twenty-four hours will seem like an eon for you.
If you are joyful, it is a very brief life. For the potential that a human being carries, even if you live a hundred years, they will pass in no time. But if inertia has set into you and you are miserable, it feels like time is not rolling. When people are miserable, the need for entertainment increases tremendously. When people are joyful, they do not have time for entertainment. Joy will take up all your time. You wake up in the morning, and before you even notice, it is already night. When you are joyful, you will do everything you can. When you are miserable, you will always see how to avoid everything.
The culture of “Thank God it’s Friday” is catching up. That means five days of misery – two days, not of joy but generally of intoxication. If you want to make people laugh, sing, dance, or do something joyful, you have to drug them, or at least give them a glass of wine – otherwise it is not possible. This has happened because in a variety of ways, people are creating inertia within themselves. When inertia sets in, life will seem too long. Diwali is a symbol of beating inertia, because inertia is the source of narak, or hell. Once inertia sets in, you will not go to hell – you will be hell. In anger, jealousy, hate, and fear, you create narak and become a Narakasura. If these are taken away, a new light shines.
The Significance of Diwali
On Diwali, you will see every town, city and village is lit up with thousands of lamps everywhere. But the celebration is not just about lighting lamps outside – an inner light has to come. Light means clarity. Without clarity, every other quality that you possess will only become a detriment, not a gift, because confidence without clarity is a disaster. And today, too much action in the world is performed without clarity.
On a certain day, a rookie policeman was driving for the first time through a town with his experienced partner. They got a message on the radio, which said that there was a group of people loitering on a certain street, and were asked to disperse them. They drove into the street and saw a group of people standing at one of the corners. As the car came close by, the new policeman rolled his window down with great enthusiasm and said, “Hey, all of you. Get off that corner!” The group looked at each other in confusion. Then he yelled louder, “Didn’t you hear me? I told you to get off that damn corner!” They all dispersed. Then, pleased with the effect that he had on people when performing his first official task, he looked at his experienced partner and asked, “Did I do well?” His partner said, “Not bad at all, considering that it was a bus stop.”
Without the necessary clarity, whatever you try to do will be a disaster. Light brings clarity to your vision – not just in a physical sense. How clearly you see life and perceive everything around you decides how sensibly you conduct your life. Diwali is the day when the dark forces were put to death and light happened. This is also the predicament of human life. Like the dark clouds which brood in the gloomy atmosphere, not realizing that they are blocking the sun, a human being does not have to bring any light from anywhere. If he just dispels the dark clouds that he has allowed to gather within himself, light will happen. The Festival of Lights is just a reminder of that.
Life as a Celebration
In the Indian culture, there was a time when there used to be a festival every day of the year – 365 festivals in a year. The idea behind this was to make our whole life into a celebration. Today, maybe only thirty or forty festivals remain. We are not able to celebrate even those now because we have to go to office or do something else daily. So, people usually celebrate only around eight or ten festivals annually. If we leave it like this, the next generation will not have any festival. They will not know what a festival is. They will just earn and eat, earn and eat – they will go on and on with just this. It has already become like this for many people. A festival means they give you a holiday, and you wake up only at noon. Then you just eat more, go for a movie or watch television at home. And only if they take some external stimulants, will these people dance a little. Otherwise they will not sing or dance. It was not like that before. A festival meant that the whole town would gather in a place, and there would be a big celebration. A festival meant we got up at four in the morning, and very actively, lots of things happened all over the house. To bring back this culture in people, Isha celebrates four important festivals: Pongal or Makar Sankranti, Mahashivratri, Dussehra and Diwali.
Non-serious but Absolutely Involved
If you approach everything in a celebratory way, you learn to be non-serious about life but absolutely involved. The problem with most human beings right now is, if they think something is important, they will become dead serious about it. If they think it is not so important they will become lax about it – they do not show the necessary involvement. When someone says, “He is in a very serious condition,” that means his next step is you know where. A lot of people are in a serious condition. There is only one thing that is going to happen to them which is of any significance. The rest will bypass them because with anything that they think is not serious, they are unable to show involvement and dedication. That is the whole problem. The secret of life is in just this – seeing everything with a non-serious eye, but absolutely involved – like a game. That is the reason the most profound aspects of life are approached in a celebratory way so that you do not miss the point. The idea of Diwali is to bring that aspect of celebration into your life.