Diwali - Festival of light

"The night is black
Kindle the lamp of love
With thy life and devotion."

On the Heaven and Earth show last week, there was a feature on the preparations for Diwali, which is celebrated this weekend, Diwali being the festival of light and life, but also it seems the celebration of wealth, It showed jewellery shops in India and in the UK getting geared up for bumper sales in jewellery. One jeweller they spoke to said that the average indian family would buy members of their family jewellery worth 3000 pounds, for those with not so much money they would traditionnally buy something in the region of 40 to 50 pounds. I didn't know about this more commercial side of the festival and that wealth played such a large role in the celebrations. This must put a lot of financial pressure on those within the community who do not have as much money - as Christmas does I suppose!

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights comes from the Sanskrit word dipavali, meaning row of lights, it is also the occasion for celebrations by Jains and Sikhs as well as Hindus.The festival extends over five days..The festival celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance, although the actual legends that go with the festival are different in different parts of India.

In Britain, as in India, the festival is a time for thoroughly spring-cleaning the home and for wearing new clothes. Diwali is known as the 'festival of lights' because houses, shops, and public places are decorated with small earthenware oil lamps called Diyas. These lamps, which are traditionally fueled by mustard oil, are placed in rows in windows, doors and outside buildings to decorate them. The lamps are lit to help the goddess Lakshmi find her way into people's homes.

Two Goddesses in particular are celebrated at Diwali: Lakshmi and Kali.For many Indians the festival honours Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. People start the new business year at Diwali, and some Hindus will say prayers to the goddess for a successful year. Some people build a small altar to the goddess and decorate it with money and with pictures of the rewards of wealth, such as cars and houses. Hindus will leave the windows and doors of their houses open so that Lakshmi can come in.

The downside of the festival is that many Indians see it as an occasion to gamble. This comes from a legend that the that goddess Parvati played dice with her husband on this day and she said that anyone who gambled on Diwali night would do well. Like Christmas in the West, Diwali is very much a time for buying and exchanging gifts.Traditionally sweets and dried fruit were very common gifts to exchange, but the festival has become a time for serious shopping, leading to anxiety that commercialism is eroding the spiritual side of the festival.

Happy Diwali!
Swanx