Diwali, also called Deepavali or Deepawali, is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It 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 and Kārtika—between around mid-September and mid-November. The celebrations generally last five or six days.
It is a Festival of Lights, and Hindus celebrate it with joy. During this festival, people light up their houses and shops with small cup-shaped oil lamps made of baked clay. They worship the Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi for welfare and prosperity. It marks the beginning of a new year. People clean and decorate their houses before the festival. They make colorful rangoli art on floors with colourful rice and flowers.
Intricate Rangoli art decorated with Diyas.
Deepawali is celebrated and is a public holiday in India. Shops, school, offices and temples are thoroughly cleaned, whitewashed and decorated with lights, flowers and oil lamps. On the day of Deepawali, people wear new clothes and exchange greetings, gifts and sweets with their loved ones. At night, buildings are illuminated with earthen lamps, candles and lights. People buy sweets for their families and also send them as presents to their friends and relatives. The Goddess Lakshmi is also worshiped in the form of silver coins. Hindus believe that, on this day, Lakshmi enters houses which are neat and tidy. People offer prayers for their own health, wealth and prosperity. They leave the lights on in their homes to welcome Lakshmi with happiness. Diwali is one of the most important festivals of Hindus. It comes on Amavasya in the month of Kartik. People prepare lots of sweets with their oil. People light diyas and burn crackers. They exchange greetings and sweets.
Religious Significance
Diwali is connected to various religious events, deities and personalities, such as being the day Rama returned to his kingdom in Ayodhya with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana after defeating the demon king Ravana. It is also widely associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, and Ganesha, the god of wisdom and the remover of obstacles. Other regional traditions connect the holiday to Vishnu, Krishna, Durga, Shiva, Kali, Hanuman, Kubera, Yama, Yami, Dhanvantari, or Vishvakarman. Primarily a Hindu festival, variations of Diwali are also celebrated by adherents of other faiths. The Jains observe their own Diwali which marks the final liberation of Mahavira. The Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas to mark the release of Guru Hargobind from a Mughal prison. Newar Buddhists, unlike other Buddhists, celebrate Diwali by worshipping Lakshmi, while the Hindus of Eastern India and Bangladesh generally, celebrate Diwali by worshipping the goddess Kali.
Illuminating the streets with earthen lamps.
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. Some Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs will send Diwali greeting cards to family near and far during the festive season, occasionally with boxes of Indian confectionery. Another aspect of the festival is remembering the ancestors. Diwali is also a major cultural event for the Hindu, Sikh, and Jain diaspora. The main day of the festival of Diwali (the day of Lakshmi Puja) is an official holiday in Fiji, Guyana, India, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and in some US states.
History
Artwork depicting an ancient celebration of Diwali.
The five-day long festival originated in the Indian subcontinent and is likely a fusion of harvest festivals in ancient India. It is mentioned in early Sanskrit texts, such as the Padma Purana and the Skanda Purana, both of which were composed between the 7th and 10th centuries. The diyas (lamps) are mentioned in Skanda Kishore Purana as symbolising parts of the sun, describing it as the cosmic giver of light and energy to all life and which seasonally transitions in the Hindu calendar month of Kartik. Emperor Harsha refers to Deepavali, in the 7th-century Sanskrit play Nagananda, as Dīpapratipadotsava (dīpa = light, pratipadā = first day, utsava = festival), where lamps were lit and newly engaged brides and grooms received gifts. Rajasekhara referred to Deepavali as Dipamalika in his 9th-century Kavyamimamsa, wherein he mentions the tradition of homes being whitewashed and oil lamps decorated homes, streets, and markets in the night.Diwali was also described by numerous travellers from outside India. In his 11th-century memoir on India, the Persian traveller and historian Al Biruni wrote of Deepavali being celebrated by Hindus on the day of the New Moon in the month of Kartika. The Venetian merchant and traveller Niccolò de' Conti visited India in the early 15th century and wrote in his memoir, "on another of these festivals they fix up within their temples, and on the outside of the roofs, an innumerable number of oil lamps... which are kept burning day and night" and that the families would gather, "clothe themselves in new garments", sing, dance, and feast. The 16th-century Portuguese traveller Domingo Paes wrote of his visit to the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire, where Dipavali was celebrated in October with householders illuminating their homes, and their temples, with lamps. It is mentioned in the Ramayana that Diwali was celebrated for only 2 years in Ayodhya. Islamic historians of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire era also mentioned Diwali and other Hindu festivals. A few, notably the Mughal emperor Akbar, welcomed and participated in the festivities, whereas others banned such festivals as Diwali and Holi, as Aurangzeb did in 1665. Publications from the time of the British Raj also made mention of Diwali, such as the note on Hindu festivals published in 1799 by Sir William Jones, a philologist known for his early observations on Sanskrit and Indo-European languages. In his paper on The Lunar Year of the Hindus, Jones, then based in Bengal, noted four of the five days of Diwali in the autumn months of Aswina-Cartica as the following: Bhutachaturdasi Yamaterpanam (2nd day), Lacshmipuja dipanwita (the day of Diwali), Dyuta pratipat Belipuja (4th day), and Bhratri dwitiya (5th day). The Lacshmipuja dipanwita, remarked Jones, was a "great festival at night, in honour of Lakshmi, with illuminations on trees and houses".
Deities and Faiths
Goddess Lakshmi, revered for prosperity.
The religious significance of Diwali varies regionally within India. 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. Per another popular tradition, in the Dvapara Yuga period, 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. Many Hindus associate the festival with Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, and wife of Vishnu. According to Pintchman, 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 and the Asuras – 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. Along with Lakshmi, who is representative of Vaishnavism, Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Parvati and Shiva of Shaivism tradition, is remembered as one who symbolises ethical beginnings and the remover of obstacles. Hindus of eastern India associate the festival with the Goddess Kali, who symbolises the victory of good over evil. Hindus from the Braj region in northern India, parts of Assam, as well as southern Tamil and Telugu communities view Diwali as the day the god Krishna overcame and destroyed the evil demon king Narakasura, in yet another symbolic victory of knowledge and good over ignorance and evil. Trade and merchant families and others also offer prayers to Saraswati, who embodies music, literature and learning and Kubera, who symbolises book-keeping, treasury and wealth management. In western states such as Gujarat, and certain northern Hindu communities of India, the festival of Diwali signifies the start of a new year. Mythical tales shared on Diwali vary widely depending on region and even within Hindu tradition, yet all share a common focus on righteousness, self-inquiry and the importance of knowledge, which, according to Lindsey Harlan, is the path to overcoming the "darkness of ignorance". The telling of these myths is reminiscent of the Hindu belief that good ultimately triumphs over evil.
Mahavira Nirvana Divas, celebrated during Jain Diwali.
Originally a Hindu festival, Diwali has transcended religious lines. Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Newar Buddhists, although for each faith it marks different historical events and stories, but nonetheless the festival represents the same symbolic victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil.
In Jain religion, Diwali is celebrated in observance of "Mahavira Nirvana Divas," the physical death and final nirvana of Mahavira.
The Jain Diwali celebrated in many parts of India has similar practices to the Hindu Diwali, such as the lighting of lamps. However, the focus of the Jain Diwali remains the dedication to Mahavira. According to the Jain tradition, this practice of lighting lamps first began on the day of Mahavira's nirvana in 527 BCE, when 18 kings who had gathered for Mahavira's final teachings issued a proclamation that lamps be lit in remembrance of the "great light, Mahavira". This traditional belief of the origin of Diwali, and its significance to Jains, is reflected in their historic artworks such as paintings.
In Sikhism Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas in remembrance of the release of Guru Hargobind from the Gwalior Fort prison by the Mughal emperor Jahangir.
According to J.S. Grewal, Diwali in the Sikh tradition is older than the sixth Guru Hargobind legend. Guru Amar Das, the third Guru of the Sikhs, built a well in Goindwal with eighty-four steps and invited Sikhs to bathe in its sacred waters on Baisakhi and Diwali as a form of community bonding. Over time, these spring and autumn festivals became the most important of Sikh festivals and holy sites such as Amritsar became focal points for annual pilgrimages. The festival of Diwali, according to Ray Colledge, highlights three events in Sikh history: the founding of the city of Amritsar in 1577, the release of Guru Hargobind from the Mughal prison, and the day of Bhai Mani Singh's martyrdom in 1738 as a result of his failure to pay a fine for trying to celebrate Diwali and thereafter refusing to convert to Islam. Diwali is not a festival for most Buddhists, with the exception of the Newar people of Nepal who revere various deities in Vajrayana Buddhism and celebrate Diwali by offering prayers to Lakshmi. Newar Buddhists in Nepalese valleys also celebrate the Diwali festival over five days, in much the same way, and on the same days, as the Nepalese Hindu Diwali-Tihar festival. According to some observers, this traditional celebration by Newar Buddhists in Nepal, through the worship of Lakshmi and Vishnu during Diwali, is not syncretism but rather a reflection of the freedom within Mahayana Buddhist tradition to worship any deity for their worldly betterment.
Celebrations: The Five Days
In the lead-up to Diwali, celebrants prepare by cleaning, renovating, and decorating their homes and workplaces with diyas (oil lamps) and rangolis. During Diwali, people wear their finest clothes, illuminate the interior and exterior of their homes with saaki (earthen lamp), diyas and rangoli, perform worship ceremonies of Lakshmi, light fireworks, and partake in family feasts, where mithai (sweets) and gifts are shared. The height of Diwali is celebrated on the third day coinciding with the darkest night of Ashvin or Kartika.
A general view of Diwali celebrations.
The common celebratory practices are known as the festival of light, however there are minor differences from state to state in India. Diwali is usually celebrated twenty days after the Vijayadashami festival, with Dhanteras, or the regional equivalent, marking the first day of the festival when celebrants prepare by cleaning their homes and making decorations on the floor, such as rangolis. Some regions of India start Diwali festivities the day before Dhanteras with Govatsa Dwadashi. The second day is Naraka Chaturdashi. The third day is the day of Lakshmi Puja and the darkest night of the traditional month. In some parts of India, the day after Lakshmi Puja is marked with the Govardhan Puja and Balipratipada (Padwa). Some Hindu communities mark the last day as Bhai Dooj or the regional equivalent, which is dedicated to the bond between sister and brother, while other Hindu and Sikh craftsmen communities mark this day as Vishvakarma Puja and observe it by performing maintenance in their work spaces and offering prayers. Rituals and preparations for Diwali begin days or weeks in advance, typically after the festival of Dusshera that precedes Diwali by about 20 days. The festival formally begins two days before the night of Diwali and ends two days thereafter. Each day has the following rituals and significance:Diwali has become more popular in other countries. In New York City lawmakers have passed legislation to make holidays in school. But debates over the holiday push back. In the future Diwali will be a holiday.
Diwali celebrations in Sri Lanka.
Dhanteras, also known as Dhanatrayodashi, is derived from Dhan meaning wealth and teras meaning thirteenth, marks the thirteenth day of the dark fortnight of Ashwin or Kartik and the beginning of Diwali in most parts of India. On this day, many Hindus clean their homes and business premises. They install diyas, small earthen oil-filled lamps that they light up for the next five days, near Lakshmi and Ganesha iconography. Women and children decorate doorways within homes and offices with rangolis, while the boys and men decorate the roofs and walls of family homes, markets, and temples and string up lights and lanterns. The day also marks a major shopping day for buying new utensils, home equipment, gold jewellery, firecrackers, and other items. On the evening of Dhanteras, families offer prayers (puja) to Lakshmi and Ganesha, and lay offerings of puffed rice, candy toys, rice cakes and batashas. According to Tracy Pintchman, Dhanteras is a symbol of annual renewal, cleansing and an auspicious beginning for the next year. The term Dhan for this day also alludes to the Ayurvedic icon Dhanvantari, the god of health and healing, who is believed to have emerged from the "churning of cosmic ocean" on the same day as Lakshmi. Some communities, particularly those active in Ayurvedic and health-related professions, pray or perform havan rituals to Dhanvantari on Dhanteras.
On Yama Deepam, Hindus light a diya that faces south in the back of their homes. This is believed to please Yama, the god of death, and to ward off untimely death.
Naraka Chaturdashi, also known as Chhoti Diwali, is the second day of festivities. The term "chhoti" means little, while "Naraka" means hell and "Chaturdashi" means "fourteenth". The day and its rituals are interpreted as ways to liberate any soul from suffering in "Naraka", or hell, as well as a reminder of spiritual auspiciousness. For some Hindus, it is a day to pray for the peace to the manes. A mythological interpretation of this festive day is the destruction of the asura (demon) Narakasura by Krishna. It is also celebrated as Roop Chaudas in some North Indian households, where women bathe before sunrise, while lighting a diya (lamp) in the bath area, they believe it helps enhance their beauty. Ubtan is applied by the women which is made up of special gram flour mixed with herbs for cleansing and beautifying themselves.
A variety of festive sweets and savouries.
Naraka Chaturdashi is also a major day for purchasing festive foods, particularly sweets. A variety of sweets are prepared using flour, semolina, rice, chickpea flour, dry fruit pieces powders or paste, milk solids and clarified butter. These are then shaped into various forms, such as laddus, barfis, halwa, kachoris, shrikhand, and sandesh, rolled and stuffed delicacies. Confectioners and shops create Diwali-themed decorative displays, selling these in large quantities, which are stocked for home celebrations to welcome guests and as gifts. Chhoti Diwali is also a day for visiting friends, business associates and relatives, and exchanging gifts.
On the second day of Diwali, Hanuman Puja is performed in some parts of India especially in Gujarat to seek protection from spirits.
This day is commonly celebrated as Diwali in Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Karnataka. Traditionally, Marathi Hindus and South Indian Hindus receive an oil massage from the elders in the family on the day and then take a ritual bath, all before sunrise. Many visit their favourite Hindu temple. Some Hindus observe Yama Deepam on the second day of Diwali, instead of the first day. A diya that is filled with sesame oil is lit at back of their homes facing in the southern direction. This is believed to please Yama, the god of death, and to ward off untimely death. The third day is the height of the festival and coincides with the last day of the dark fortnight of Ashwin or Kartik. This is the day when Hindu, Jain and Sikh temples and homes are aglow with lights, thereby making it the "festival of lights". The word Deepawali comes from the Sanskrit word दीप (dīpa, "light") and आवलि (āvali, "row"), where dīpa means an Indian lantern or lamp.
The act of lighting lamps, central to Diwali.
The youngest members in the family visit their elders, such as grandparents and other senior members of the community, on this day. Small business owners give gifts or special bonus payments to their employees between Dhanteras and Lakshmi Pujan. Shops either do not open or close early on this day allowing employees to enjoy family time. Shopkeepers and small operations perform puja rituals in their office premises. Unlike some other festivals, the Hindus typically do not fast during the five-day long Diwali including Lakshmi Pujan, rather they feast and share the bounties of the season at their workplaces, community centres, temples, and homes.
Kali Puja is the focus of celebrations in Eastern India.
The puja and rituals in the Bengali Hindu community focus on Kali, the goddess of war, instead of Lakshmi. According to Rachel Fell McDermott, in Bengal the Kali puja is the main focus on Diwali. Textual evidence suggests that Bengali Hindus worshipped Lakshmi before the colonial era, and that the Kali puja is a more recent phenomenon. Contemporary Bengali celebrations mirror those found elsewhere, with teenage boys playing with fireworks and the sharing of festive food with family, but with the Shakti goddess Kali as the focus. On the night of Diwali, rituals across much of India are dedicated to Lakshmi to welcome her into their cleaned homes and bring prosperity and happiness for the coming year. While the cleaning, or painting, of the home is in part for goddess Lakshmi, it also signifies the ritual "reenactment of the cleansing, purifying action of the monsoon rains" that would have concluded in most of the Indian subcontinent. Vaishnava families recite Hindu legends of the victory of good over evil and the return of hope after despair on the Diwali night. At dusk, lamps placed earlier in the inside and outside of the home are lit up to welcome Lakshmi. Family members light up firecrackers, which some interpret as a way to ward off all evil spirits and the inauspicious, as well as add to the festive mood. According to Pintchman, this ritual may also be linked to the tradition in some communities of paying respect to ancestors.
Bhai Dooj celebrates the bond between sister and brother.
The day after Diwali is the first day of the bright fortnight of Kartik. It is regionally called **Annakut (heap of grain), Padwa, Goverdhan puja, Bali Pratipada, Bali Padyami, Kartik Shukla Pratipada** and other names. According to one tradition, the day is associated with the story of Bali's defeat at the hands of Vishnu. In another interpretation, it is thought to reference the legend of Parvati and her husband Shiva playing a game of dyuta (dice). This day ritually celebrates the bond between the wife and husband, and in some Hindu communities, husbands will celebrate this with gifts to their wives. In other regions, parents invite a newly married daughter, or son, together with their spouses to a festive meal and give them gifts. In some rural communities of the north, west and central regions, the fourth day is celebrated as **Govardhan puja**, honouring the legend of the Hindu god Krishna saving the cowherd and farming communities from incessant rains and floods triggered by Indra's anger. The last day of the festival, the second day of the bright fortnight of Kartik, is called **Bhai Duj**, Bhau Beej, Bhai Tilak or Bhai Phonta. It celebrates the sister-brother bond, similar in spirit to Raksha Bandhan but it is the brother that travels to meet the sister and her family. The womenfolk of the family gather, perform a puja with prayers for the well-being of their brothers, then return to a ritual of feeding their brothers with their hands and receiving gifts. In historic times, this was a day in autumn when brothers would travel to meet their sisters or invite their sister's family to their village to celebrate their sister-brother bond with the bounty of seasonal harvests.