This tuesday , 28th october , was "diwali" .... the festival of lights ... being majority populated by hindus , diwali is major festival of india and is celebrated all over it with joy ... well , like almost all festival, this festival too has ancient roots joined with religion ...
But for me , its just festival of lights and i simply love its celebration ... not as hindu or as an indian ... i bet , if anyone around the world has ever visited india at diwali , surely they would have loved it ... and perhaps its true for all festivals , like ... holi or navaratri for example ... when i was kid, we used to say , we indians don't feel good if we don't have anything to celebrated at least once in a week ... and its almost true that we always have celebrations ...( ah .. old days ... i miss them ... :( ) ...
We follow lunar calander , and hence all festivals are calculated based on moon phase ... we celebrated diwali for 5 days ... the first day is "dhan teras" ... its 13 phase of moon, on that day we pray deity of "dhan" .. Money ... thats goddess lakhami ... we pray her to not to leave us !! ( ha.. it sounds funny ... but in real life , i guess we all do that every day .. right ?? ) and to drive away evil spirits.
The next day is "kali chaudas" , 14th phase day of moon... the day of evil spirits ... when i was kid , my mom used to force me to stay at home at night at that day , because it is believed that on this day evil spirits are on their maximum power. People who pray goddess of black magic and evil spirit "kali" , do special religious ceremony on this day ...
Diwali is the third day , and its no moon day , that we call "amavasya" ... this is also last day of one of the old indian calander , "vikram samvat" ... ( btw, vikram was name of the king who was said to be one of his kind .. ahh ... its another story to tell you guys ) ... so this is very special day for us ... we lit "diyas" everywhere ... actually "diyas" are symbolic presentation of light , which represents meaning that by lighting "diyas" we are trying to drive away darkness that is surrounding us in our life !!!
Next , fourth day is ... any guess ????? ........ ya .. its "new year" ..... my most fav. day of the year perhaps .... this is the day when celebration is at peak i guess ... families go out to meet relatives , and that relatives too come again to meet them !!! , we have already made special snacks and sweets for this days ... actually these snacks are not made other then for diwali so .. when i was kid .. i used to eat them lots because, we never get chance to eat them again till next year !!! ( sometimes .. i hate traditions ... ) ... another good thing was , as a sign of good blessings elders give $$$ to younger ones .. ( now you know why i liked this day ?? ) ...
The last and fifth day is "Bhai beej" ... well this day is also celebrated in special way ... actually this day is for brothers and sisters ... at this day , sisters invite their brother/s for special meal ... and in return brother give gifts to sister !!
Overall , it is perhaps the best time of my life .. i enjoy typical indian traditions for 5 days at every moment ... we make traditional dishes of celebration ( though some are now available though out the year ) ... at india some people make a colored design "rangoli" near their entrance of their home , which is basically a free hand design made from color powder and chalk .. to keep evil spirits away ... we lit our house with lights and diyas ... visit temple on new year day ... but as said by someone ... when you're in rome , do as romans do ... so living at usa , its never so fun to celebrate that i had at india ... but still i try to "feel" that i used to feel at india ....
always love your traditions ...
But for me , its just festival of lights and i simply love its celebration ... not as hindu or as an indian ... i bet , if anyone around the world has ever visited india at diwali , surely they would have loved it ... and perhaps its true for all festivals , like ... holi or navaratri for example ... when i was kid, we used to say , we indians don't feel good if we don't have anything to celebrated at least once in a week ... and its almost true that we always have celebrations ...( ah .. old days ... i miss them ... :( ) ...
We follow lunar calander , and hence all festivals are calculated based on moon phase ... we celebrated diwali for 5 days ... the first day is "dhan teras" ... its 13 phase of moon, on that day we pray deity of "dhan" .. Money ... thats goddess lakhami ... we pray her to not to leave us !! ( ha.. it sounds funny ... but in real life , i guess we all do that every day .. right ?? ) and to drive away evil spirits.
The next day is "kali chaudas" , 14th phase day of moon... the day of evil spirits ... when i was kid , my mom used to force me to stay at home at night at that day , because it is believed that on this day evil spirits are on their maximum power. People who pray goddess of black magic and evil spirit "kali" , do special religious ceremony on this day ...
Diwali is the third day , and its no moon day , that we call "amavasya" ... this is also last day of one of the old indian calander , "vikram samvat" ... ( btw, vikram was name of the king who was said to be one of his kind .. ahh ... its another story to tell you guys ) ... so this is very special day for us ... we lit "diyas" everywhere ... actually "diyas" are symbolic presentation of light , which represents meaning that by lighting "diyas" we are trying to drive away darkness that is surrounding us in our life !!!
Next , fourth day is ... any guess ????? ........ ya .. its "new year" ..... my most fav. day of the year perhaps .... this is the day when celebration is at peak i guess ... families go out to meet relatives , and that relatives too come again to meet them !!! , we have already made special snacks and sweets for this days ... actually these snacks are not made other then for diwali so .. when i was kid .. i used to eat them lots because, we never get chance to eat them again till next year !!! ( sometimes .. i hate traditions ... ) ... another good thing was , as a sign of good blessings elders give $$$ to younger ones .. ( now you know why i liked this day ?? ) ...
The last and fifth day is "Bhai beej" ... well this day is also celebrated in special way ... actually this day is for brothers and sisters ... at this day , sisters invite their brother/s for special meal ... and in return brother give gifts to sister !!
Overall , it is perhaps the best time of my life .. i enjoy typical indian traditions for 5 days at every moment ... we make traditional dishes of celebration ( though some are now available though out the year ) ... at india some people make a colored design "rangoli" near their entrance of their home , which is basically a free hand design made from color powder and chalk .. to keep evil spirits away ... we lit our house with lights and diyas ... visit temple on new year day ... but as said by someone ... when you're in rome , do as romans do ... so living at usa , its never so fun to celebrate that i had at india ... but still i try to "feel" that i used to feel at india ....
always love your traditions ...
