Happy Diwali
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Happy Diwali to everyone,
Celebrated by Hindu, Sikh, Buddhism and Jain this is a festival of light and the triumph of good over evil within each and every one of us.
The celebrations cover six days corresponding to the Hindu calendar.
Vasu
(Cow - a symbol of God) and Baras (meaning 12th day) this begins the celebration with the worshiping of a cow and calf.
Dhanatrayodashi
(Dhan meaning wealth and Trayodashi meaning 13th day) apparently a good day for shopping! especially gold.
Naraka Chaturdashi
(Chaturdashi meaning 14th day and Naraka refereeing to the killing of Narakasura)
Narakasura was the son of the Earth goddesss Bhumi and Vishnu(in his third form Varaha the avatar of a boar)
Bhumi sought an agreement from Vishnu that her son would have a long life and be all powerful - this was granted. However Narakasura became evil, in association with another power seeking deity namedBana and brought all the kingdoms of heaven and earth under his control and began a reign of oppression.
All other deities petitioned Vishnu to save them from the might of Naraka when he was incarnated as Krishna.
When at last Vishnu was born as Krishna he waged a war on Naraka but such was his might that he slew all enemies and armies sent against him.
Eventually Naraka launched his greatest weapon - Sataghini (a thunderbolt) against Krishna who retaliated with a Sudarshana Chakra (a discus) beheading Naraka. The day of his death is celebrated as Narak Chaturdashi - the first day of Diwali.
Lakshmi Puja
Celebrates Lakshmi (the godess of wealth) and Ganesh - the god of auspicious beginnings.
Govardhan Puja
Celebrates Krishna's defeat of Indra and Krishna's message to worship and take care of nature.
Bhaiduj
Celebrates brothers and sisters meeting to express their affection for each other bringing families together.
Comments (9)
I feel uplifted already! (And, let me tell you, my Diwali was not particularly happy until now...)
sweet. i'll do whatever it takes to maintain the favor of Lakshmi these days! ;)
As I've said before, America is sorely lacking in interesting holidays.
And, of course, most Americans know about Diwali via this:
Ha! I'm always up for a curry! Lots of celebrations and decorations up in BT buildings in the UK plus I don't live far away from the biggest Hindu Temple outside India: The Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden...
http://www.mandir.org/
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Pictures; http://amitkulkarni.info/pics/diwali-2005/diwali/P1010025.shtml
Diwali gets celebrated with a lot of fireworks in London and driving home on the M4 takes you through Southall, which is so Indian that the street signs are in Hindu first and English second. Òn a good Diwali night you drive thtough the middle of the biggest fireworks display ever for a good 10 minutes or more. Last night it was snowing and sleeting and there were still as many fireworks as normal. Just mad. With all the water on the windscreen it looked very psychedelic.
Happy Diwali! CF, where on Earth, or out of, have you been? ah well, it's nice to find a post from you. mental note: India this time next year.
Ah hi Poebegone
I've been AWAL for ages I know - and life has got in the way of me living it as usual.
Quite a hectic schedule, setting up new business and carrying out some arts council research into the Bhangra industry here in the UK has meant I barely had time to sleep - let alone enjoy and write about music. Or even read up on everyone else's.
Good to be back and my brain is now working again.
CF, last i remembered, you had a new baby. is s/he in college now? :} don't even try to catch up on posts, that's crazy insane. Bhangra, seriously? i'd stop Mogging, too, if it were me, but it's good to see you back.
oooh, i'd like to travel through Southall during Diwali. sounds exciting!