MY THOUGHTS ON DEEPAVALI

DEEPAVALI 

The Hindu festival of lights. 

According to Wikipedia, Deepavali symbolises the spiritual victory of Dharma over Adharma, light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.

Diwali is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar months of Ashvin (according to the amanta tradition) and Kārtika – between around mid-September and mid-November. The celebrations generally last five or six days.

During the festival, the celebrants illuminate their homes, temples and workspaces with diyas (oil lamps), candles and lanterns. Hindus, in particular, have a ritual oil bath at dawn on each day of the festival. 

Diwali is also marked with fireworks as well as the decoration of floors with rangoli designs and other parts of the house with jhalars. Food is a major focus with families partaking in feasts and sharing mithai. 

The festival is an annual homecoming and bonding period not only for families, but also for communities and associations, particularly those in urban areas, which will organise activities, events, and gatherings. Many towns organise community parades and fairs with parades or music and dance performances in parks.

Another aspect of the festival is remembering the ancestors.

HISTORY 

One tradition links the festival to legends in the Hindu epic Ramayana, where Diwali is the day Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman reached Ayodhya after a period of 14 years in exile after Rama's army of good, defeated demon king Ravana's army of evil. Throughout the epic, Rama's decisions were always in line with dharma (duty) and the Diwali festival serves as a reminder for followers of Hinduism to maintain their dharma in day-to-day life.

SITA HELD HOSTAGE BY RAVANA

TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO ADODHYA WITH SITA 

According to another popular tradition, Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, killed the demon Narakasura, who was the evil king of Pragjyotishapura, near present-day Assam, and released 16000 girls held captive by Narakasura. 

Diwali was celebrated as a signifier of triumph of good over evil after Krishna's victory over Narakasura. The day before Diwali is remembered as Naraka Chaturdashi, the day on which Narakasura was killed by Krishna.

LAKSHMI PUJA 

Many Hindus associate the festival with Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, and wife of Vishnu.  The start of the 5-day Diwali festival is stated in some popular contemporary sources as the day goddess Lakshmi was born from Samudra Manthana, the churning of the cosmic ocean of milk by the Devas (gods) and the Asuras (demons) – a Vedic legend that is also found in several Puranas such as the Padma Purana, while the night of Diwali is when Lakshmi chose and wed Vishnu. 

Vishnu weds Lakshmi 

(You can check Wikipedia for more interesting details. Just type DEEPAVALI)

ON A PERSONAL NOTE:

When I lived in Mumbai, a cosmopolitan city of India, we had people from various religious and ethnic backgrounds living in our neighborhood.

We would celebrate every festival with great joy as if it were our own. I remember lighting diyas, designing rangoli patterns, lighting sparklers and fountains, chakras, etc. for Diwali. Although we did not believe in their gods, it didn't stop us from enjoying the cultural aspects of their festival. The same was for Id and, even today, I send greetings to my Muslim friends for their festivals as do I my Hindu friends.

Where we lived, there was a Hindu temple and almost everyday we could hear the bhajans and chanted prayers. I used to enter the temple, receive the holy water and prasad at that time because I didn't know better.

Each religion has something to teach us. God is the same and He transmits his message to all in some way or another. Satan however, with the active cooperation of man, contorts these messages and redirects worship to himself via worship of things created by God.

So, according to me, to participate in the cultural aspects of a festival doesn't make us apostatize against our faith. I do not worship idols so I cannot worship Hindu dieties. The God of the Muslims, is the same God of the Old Testament, but other beliefs like jihaad were introduced by the prophet Muhammad who is unlike the God of the Old Testament. So, I explain this to my non-Christian friends whenever they ask me why I do not participate in the aarti or eat the prasadam. Just as Hindus cannot eat beef because they worship the cow (a creature) and Muslims consider pork as haram, I do not eat food offered to idols (things or persons that take the place of God). Thankfully , they are not offended.

In our churches, we do not allow our non Christian brethren to consume the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus because they do not have sanctifying grace through the Sacraments. Many misunderstand this thinking we want people to convert. That is not so. Jesus Christ is God's Son. Both of them, alongwith the Holy Spirit, form one God. I have heard people say we worship three Gods. That is wrong. Christians worship one God in three persons.

Coming back to how I would love Deepavali to be celebrated, here goes my tuppence worth.

As it is the festival of lights, it would be beautiful to see diyas in the compound, on walls, in balconies. I am rather old fashioned I guess but I don't like strobes or blinking lights.

The Akash kandil is a creation that families enjoyed bonding over. Nowadays, they are just bought from shops. Similarly, sweets were made by all the ladies of the household while they sang religious songs. That too has sadly disappeared.

Instead of sparklers and fountains, we only hear crackers and bombs going off. And the worst thing that I simply cannot condone is the use of trance music and Bollywood songs instead of bhajans and other pious music. The evil one has infiltrated every section of religion and perverted it.

I like the burning of Nakarasura, symbolic of victory of good over evil. We need to remember this when we are persecuted and when we are duped. God will give us victory. We need to be still and depend totally on Him. And offer our suffering for salvation of souls.

This year, I requested my building group to come together for bonding on the occasion of Deepavali. I do hope and pray that God may have his way.

To all my Hindu brothers and sisters reading this post, Shubh Deepavali 

🪔 🪔 🪔 🪔 🪔 🎇 🪔 🪔 🪔 🪔 🪔