What Is Divali

Divali is the festival of light. Hindus offer prayers to Mother Lakshmi the goddess of wealth.
Divali project
History of Divali

What is Divali?

Divali is the Hindu festival of light. It is the celebration of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance and goodness over evil. Divali is the most important Hindu festival and is celebrated in the Hindu month of Kartik.

Who celebrates Divali?

Divali is celebrated throughout the world mainly by Hindus. However even non-Hindus can partake in the celebration.

How they celebrate Divali?

Hindus celebrate Divali by preparing vegetarian dishes and sweets. In the afternoon or as darkness approach, prayers are done to Mother Lakshmi. After this lots of deya’s are lit.

Why do they celebrate Divali and who do they pray to? 1. Goddess Lakshmi’s Birthday: The Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi incarnated on the new moon day (amaavasyaa) of the Kartik month during the churning of the ocean (samudra-manthan), hence the association of Diwali with Lakshmi.

2. Vishnu Rescued Lakshmi: On this very day (Diwali day), Lord Vishnu in his fifth incarnation as Vaman-avtaara rescued Lakshmi from the prison of King Bali and this is another reason of worshipping Ma Larkshmi on Diwali.

3. Krishna Killed Narakaasur: On the day preceding Diwali, Lord Krishna killed the demon king Narakaasur and rescued 16,000 women from his captivity. The celebration of this freedom went on for two days including the Diwali day as a victory festival.
Hindus pray to Mother Lakshmi the goddess of wealth.

What are the preparations done before Divali?

In the week coming up to Divali, Hindus begin fasting. Fasting is keeping away from meats and all meat products. Hindus also stays away from alcohol. Hindus clean in and around their homes. They paint and put up new decorations. During this time Hindus also perform puja or prayers in their home.

A complete description of what is done on Divali day, morning and night.

On Divali morning in every Hindu home, everyone wakes up, have a bath and prayer. Vegetarian dishes like Roti, Channa and Alloo, Pumpkin, Mango and Chataigne are prepared. Sweets such as Parsad, Kurma, Barfi, Gulab, Jamon and Laddoo are also prepared. Friends are invited and everyone enjoys the delicious meals that are prepared. In the afternoon deyas are soaked in water, while bamboo is bent to create designs called arches. In the evening at about 6pm Hindus dress in Indian wear, perform Mother Lakshmi puja and sing bhajans. After which the deyas are lit. This time is enjoyed the most.

The five days of Divali two days before and two days after.

The festival starts its first day with Dhanteras on which most Indian business communities begin their financial year. The second day of the festival, Naraka Chaturdasi, marks the vanquishing of the demon Naraka by Lord Krishna and his wife Satyabhama. Amavasya, the third day of Diwali, marks the worship of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth in her most benevolent mood, fulfilling the wishes of her devotees. Amavasya also tells the story of Lord Vishnu, who in his dwarfs incarnation, vanquished the Bali, and banished him to Patala. It is on the fourth day of Diwali, Kartika Shudda Padyami that Bali went to patala and took the reins of his new kingdom in there. The fifth day is referred to as Yama Dvitiya (also called Bhai Dooj), and on this day sisters invite their brothers to their homes.

How do non-Indians celebrate Divali?

Those who are non-Hindus c celebrate Divali by visiting homes of friends and neighbours. They can dress up in Indian wear and partake in celebrations. They enjoy the delicious meals and sweets that are made and can also assist in lighting of deyas.

Special activities in Trinidad done for Divali

* Ramleela * Divali Nagar

How I spent my Divali day.

As always I enjoyed my Divali. I usually go to my grandparents’ home on Divali day. They always have lots of celebrations. In the morning my grandma, mummy and aunt does all the cooking. They cook lots of food like Buss-up-shot, Channa, Pumpkin, Saheena, Phulorie and many other things. They also make tasty sweets like parsad, kurma, gulab jamon and barfi. I enjoyed watching them do all this. As they were finished we were able to enjoy all these tasty meals.
In the evening I helped my uncle and my dad with the deyas. We soaked it for a while then cut the wicks into pieces. I dressed up in my Kurta and my grandma and grandpa performed prayers to Mother Lakshmi, we did Arti and then it was time for my favourite part of the day, lighting the deyas. My brother and I were also allowed to light star light, this was lots of fun. After we lit all the deyas and decorated our home, we went for a drive through the village. We saw lots of deyas. We had a great time, I always look forward to this day of year.