Diwali or
more aptly Deepavali is very enthusiastically celebrated for five continuous
days and each day has its significance with a number of myths, legends and
beliefs.
First Day : DHANTERAS or DHANTRAYODASHI.
It is the thirteenth day of the month of Ashwin. The word "Dhan" means
wealth. As such this day of the five-day Diwali festival has a great
importance for the rich mercantile community of Western India. Houses and
Business premises are renovated and decorated. Entrances are made colourful
with lovely traditional motifs of Rangoli designs to welcome the Goddess of
wealth and prosperity. To indicate her long-awaited arrival, small
footprints are drawn with rice flour and vermilion powder all over the
houses. Lamps are kept burning all through the nights. Believing this day to
be auspicious women purchase some gold or silver or at least one or two new
utensils. "Lakshmi-Puja" is performed in the evenings when tiny diyas of
clay are lighted to drive away the shadows of evil spirits. "Bhajans"-devotional
songs- in praise of Goddess Laxmi are sung and "Naivedya" of traditional
sweets is offered to the Goddess. There is a peculiar custom in Maharashtra
to lightly pound dry coriander seeds with jaggery and offer as Naivedya. In
villages cattles are adorned and worshipped by farmers as they form the main
source of their income. In south cows are offered special veneration as they
are supposed to be the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi and therefore they are
adorned and worshipped on this day.
A very interesting story about this day is of the sixteen year old son of
King Hima. As per his horoscope he was doomed to die by a snake-bite on the
fourth day of his marriage. On that particular fourth day of his marriage
his young wife did not allow him to sleep. She laid all the ornaments and
lots of gold and silver coins in a big heap at the entrance of her husband's
boudoir and lighted innumerable lamps all over the place. And she went on
telling stories and singing songs. When Yam, the god of Death arrived there
in the guise of a Serpent his eyes got blinded by that dazzle of those
brilliant lights and he could not enter the Prince's chamber. So he climbed
on top of the heap of the ornaments and coins and sat there whole night
listening to the melodious songs. In the morning he quietly went away. Thus
the young wife saved her husband from the clutches of death. Since then this
day of Dhanteras came to be known as the day of "YAMADEEPDAAN" and lamps are
kept burning throughout the night in reverential adoration to Yam, the god
of Death.
The SECOND day is called NARAK-CHATURDASHI or CHOTI DIWALI. IT is about 'Narakasur
Vadh' (killing of the demon Narakasur), and is held on the fourteenth day of
the month of Aashwin. The story goes that the demon king Narakasur ruler of
Pragjyotishpur ( a province to the South of Nepal) after defeating Lord
Indra had snatched away the magnificent earrings of Aditi, the Mother
Goddess and imprisoned sixteen thousand daughters of the gods and saints in
his harem. On the day previous to Narakachaturdashi, Lord Krishna killed the
demon and liberated the imprisoned damsels and also recovered those precious
earrings of Aditi. As a symbol of that victory Lord Krishna smeared his
forehead with the demon king's blood. Krishna returned home in the very
early morning of the Narakachaturdashi day. The womenfolk massaged scented
oil to his body and gave him a good bath to wash away the filth from his
body. Since then the custom of taking bath before sunrise on this day has
become a traditional practice specially in Maharashtra. In South India that
victory of the divine over the mundane is celebrated in a very peculiar way.
People wake up before sunrise prepare blood by mixing Kumkum in oil and
after breaking a bitter fruit that represents the head of the demon King
that was smashed by Krishna, apply that mixture on their foreheads. Then
they have an oil bath using sandalwood paste.
In Maharashtra also, traditional early baths with oil and "Uptan" (paste) of
gram flour and fragrant powders are a `must'. All through the ritual of
baths, deafening sounds of crackers and fireworks are there in order that
the children enjoy bathing. Afterwards steamed vermiceli with milk and sugar
or puffed rice with curd is served.
The THIRD day : Diwali On the dark new moon night, the entrances to all
homes are lit up and decorated with rangoli patterns to welcome Lakshmi, the
radiant consort of Vishnu and the goddess of wealth and lustre. Lakshmi Puja
is performed on this day. Diwali is the last day of financial year in
traditional Hindu business and businessmen perform Chopda Pujan on this day
on the new books of accounts. The day ends with a mega cracker bursting
sessions. For 5-6 hours, every family burns fire crackers worth thousands of
ruppees. Poplular fire crackers are sparkling pots, bombs, rockets etc.
The FOURTH day : New Year day or Bestavarsh The day after the Lakshmi Puja,
most families celebrate the new year by dressing in new clothes, wearing
jewellery and visiting family members and business colleagues to give them
sweets, dry fruits and gifts. Among the business communities of Gujarat,
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, Diwali is the festival when the
new business year begins. All business establishments and families perform
muharat pujan or veneration of their books. Stock brokers do mahurat trading
or symbolic auspicious business deals to i iwali : Time to shop or start new
ventures } Diwali, one of the longest festivals in the Hindu year, is a time
when everything in India comes to a standstill except family life, feasting
and shopping. Diwali is considered auspicious for shopping, inaugurations of
new homes, business deals or for starting any new ventures and projects.
The Fifth day of Diwali : Bhai DhoojThe second day of the bright forthnight
(Shukla Paksh) of Kartik is called "Bhaiya-Duj". It comes once a year -
after Diwali. The name itself denotes the day of the festival i.e.Diwali
falls on the absolutely dark night of Amavasya (new moon), Dooj comes two
days after Diwali. Many years ago, in the Vedic era, Yama (Yamraj, the Lord
of death) visited His sister Yamuna(Yami) and she put the auspicious tilak
on his forehead, they ate talked and enjoyed together and exchanged special
gifts as a token of their love for each other and Yamraj announced that
anyone who receives tilak from his sister on this day will never be thrown.
Since then it became imperative for the brother to go to his sister's house
to celebrate Bhaiyaduj.On Bhai Dooj, the teeka is applied on the brother's
forehead. It is a day dedicated to sisters. We have heard about Raksha
Bandhan (brothers day). Well this is sisters day. The sister usually goes in
the morning and does the puja in the mother's house, before the brothers
leave for their places of study or work.
