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Deepavali (Diwali), the Festival of Lights: India's National Festival Is Today!

By VJ
Deepavali (Diwali) National Festival of IndiaToday, India will be lit with oil lamps all over. Today is Deepavali. Though it is generally a Hindu festival, we don’t make a religious distinction here, and Deepavali is to us, a National festival.

Deepavali’s legend dates back to the Indian epic, Ramayana. It is the day on which the human incarnation of God Vishnu, Rama, comes home after an exile of fourteen years in the jungle, during when he slayed the rakshasa (demon), Ravana. The people of Ayodhya, the country of Rama, celebrated the homecoming of the prince with lamps lit all over the country. Deepavali takes it name thus:

Deepa: Lamp
Avali: A collection of lamps

However, in only certain areas here, we still celebrate it with lamps. Most of the people celebrate it by blasting firecrackers (there is no legend of that). My recommendation is to celebrate Deepavali by lighting lamps and not using firecrackers. At least the noise pollution will be reduced! Sadly, the firecracker tradition is so deep-rooted that now rarely do people light lamps for Deepavali.

The festival falls during October or November, dependent on the Indian Lunar calendar.

We wish all readers a Happy Deepavali!

Copyright © Lenin Nair 2008

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  1. Book CalendarOctober 26, 2008 at 6:41 PM

    I hope you have a beautiful time. It must be beautiful to see lights everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  2. VJOctober 26, 2008 at 9:45 PM

    Yes, but here most of the people celebrate with firecrackers and not lamps!

    ReplyDelete
  3. dokka srinivasuOctober 18, 2013 at 5:16 AM

    Dear Sir

    Very good and detailed information on Diwali festival. Thanks for sharing very valuable information on Diwali festival.

    Sir please see my Lamps of India message relating to Diwali festival which i shared in my Heritage of India blog.

    http://indian-heritage-and-culture.blogspot.in/2013/09/lamps-of-india.html

    Sir alongwith sharing my collections relating to Indian Heritage and Culture in my blog i am also giving seminars to school and college children and so far i gave 2 seminars on Indian Heritage and Culture.

    Sir these are my 2 seminars links.

    http://indian-heritage-and-culture.blogspot.in/2013/02/my-first-seminar-on-indian-heritage-and.html

    http://indian-heritage-and-culture.blogspot.in/2013/07/my-second-seminar-on-indian-heritage.html

    Sir please look into my Heritage of India blog and share your comments.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Diwali DecorationsOctober 21, 2013 at 5:24 AM

    It's nice to find out about the story of diwali, such rich culture and very meaningful festival, so amazing!

    ReplyDelete

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