India is the land of rich culture, tradition and customs. In India, a number of festivals come every year and fill up our lives with extreme joy and happiness. Every festival has a different message for all with the utmost level of inspiration to live a happy and healthy life. Over the years, the ways of celebrating all these festivals might have changed a bit, however, the respect for our culture and rich civilization is still the same or even have grown.
Among all the festivals we celebrate, nothing showcases our distinctive culture more beautifully than Diwali.
Also known as the festival of lights, Diwali or Deepawali is the emblem of selflessness, happiness and glory. There are many facts we know about it, but there are some that are not so common. We are here to share those with you through this blog. Let us check out those interesting facts about Diwali one by one.
It Much More Than The Return Of Lord Rama To Ayodhya
It is said that Diwali is connected with the victory of Lord Rama against the evil Ravana. According to a legend, when Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya from 14 years of exile, the natives welcome him and his company by lighting the lamps all around. This is the main reason why we all fill our homes with bright and attractive lights on Diwali.
However, there are some other facts, as well. On this day, the twenty-fourth pilgrimage of Jainism, Lord Mahaveer adopted the concept of peace, truth and non-violence for life.
It is also associated with the founder of Arya Samaj, Swami Dayanand as he ended his career on this day with a simple wish. Also, the sixth guru in Sikhism, Shree Guru Hargobind came out of the prison along with 52 kings.
Just like these, there are many other regional stories linked to this auspicious festival. Thus, it provides excellent spirit and energy to all the Indians for the celebration.
All People From Different Religions celebrate Diwali
Diwali is a story of happiness. This festival of lights is not only dear to Hindus but also all other religions in India. Everybody celebrates it with great spirit, joy, and enthusiasm. The best part is, we all are proud of our marvelous history, culture and rituals. Diwali, being one of the highly celebrated festivals, pour more joy and smile into our lives. We light aromatic candles, Diwali Diyas everywhere and lit up the whole surrounding. It is one of the reasons that people have started searching for diwali candles and diyas online. We also cook some fantastic Diwali cuisine and welcome guests. We buy new clothes and clean the interior of our homes. We believe that the deity of wealth, Goddess Laxmi loves cleanliness, and this is why we decorate our homes in the most beautiful ways possible. We exchange gifts with our family members, friends, colleagues, and all other near and dear ones.
Diwali Is Not Just Limited To India
Indians are spread all across the world. Be it the United States of America, Canada, The United Kingdom, France, Dubai, or Japan, finding Indians in these countries is not a difficult task.
As Diwali is an indispensable part of the lives of all the Indians, all of them celebrate this prosperous festival with the utmost joy, enthusiasm and love. It is common for Indians living abroad to send gifts to India when such a big festival is just around the corner.
Cracker Are Considered Good
As a child, nothing attracted us more than firecrackers on Diwali. For us, Diwali was incomplete without the great lights and sounds of firecrackers. It is said that we burn firecrackers on Diwali to show the heavenly bodies that we are in excellent health and prosperity.
There is one belief associated with this. Diwali comes after the long rainy season. As we all know, the rainy season is the ideal for insects, and you can see them all around during and post the rainy season. It is said that burning firecrackers kills such harmful insects.
It’s Not A Single Day Celebration
Many of the people out there do not know that Diwali is a 5-day festival. The Diwali celebration begins with Dhanteras and goes till Bhai Dooj. We will look at this fact in a bit of detail. The very first day of Diwali is Dhamteras. It is celebrated to worship the deity of wealth, Goddess Laxmi and the God of intelligence, Lord Ganesha. It is said that buying gold or silver on this day brings more wealth and happiness to our homes. Dhanteras falls on the 13th day of the second half of the lunar month. This day is also celebrated to cherish the birth of God Dhanvantari, who is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
Then the second day, we celebrate Narak Chaturdasi to mark the victory of Lord Krishna over the demon Naraka. Then, the third day is Diwali, followed by Kartik Shudhh Padyami on day 4. Lastly, Bhai Dooj is celebrated on the 5th day where brothers and sisters come together and cherish their beautiful relationships. With so many important occasions lined up in a week, it gets tedious to do all the work. That is one of the reasons that people are now more interested in buying online Diwali gifts to save time and energy.