India’s biggest and most significant festival of the year is Diwali, which is also known as Dipawali. Diwali occurs annually in autumn during the Hindu month of Kartik which begins around mid-October and ends in mid-November. Specifically, Diwali occurs on the darkest day of the lunar month, which is the day of the new Moon.
The Hindus light rows (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) outside of their homes to celebrate the triumph of light over dark and good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance, and the blessings of victory, freedom, and enlightenment. For Hindus, this event is just as significant as Christmas is for Christians.
Numerous legends are connected to the Diwali festival. According to the most widely held opinion, Diwali honours Shrikrishna’s victory against the infamous demon king of Pragyajyotishpur, Narkasura, who had imprisoned sixteen thousand women. Another mythology surrounds Mahabali, the demon king who was compelled to govern the underworld permanently by Vaman, a manifestation of Lord Vishnu. He was a kind and compassionate monarch who was said to have appeared on earth around Diwali. Another mythology describes Lord Ram returning home after 14 years of exile and killing Lanka’s 10-headed evil king Ravana.
According to a myth found in the Padma Purana, Lakshmi decided to wed Lord Vishnu on Ashwin Chaturdashi. In the 7th Sanskrit play Nagananda, King Harsha describes Deepawali as the occasion when lamps were lighted. In the 9th-century Kavyamimansa literature, which talks about cleaning homes, painting them white, and lighting oil lamps, Rajashekhara referred to Diwali as Dipamalika. Inscriptions written in Sanskrit on copper and stone refer to Diwali as Dipotsava and Deepawali date back to the Rashtrakuta state in the 10th century.
The five-day festival, which begins from Trayodashi, the 13th day of the dark half fortnight in the month of Ashwin, and ends on Yamadvitiya, the second day of the bright fortnight of Kartik. The celebrations include Dhantrayodashi, Narak Chaturdashi, Amavasya, Balipratipada or Padava and Yamadvitiya or Bhaubij. The festival is also associated with Goddess Lakshmi, the deity of prosperity and wealth, and with Lord Ganesha, the God of wisdom and the remover of obstructions in human life.
On Dhantrayodashi, people clean their homes and create intricate Rangoli—designs made of colored rice, sand, or flowers created on the floor of the home and diyas are kept burning throughout the night to welcome the Dhanlakshmi – the goddess of wealth. Laxmi Pujan was connected to business owners and traders. There is a custom of five days of public Laxmi clay idol worship in various villages, including Cazur-Quepem, Keri, and Sattari.
The agricultural communities celebrate Padvo or Bali Pratipada on the first day of the bright half of Kartika; others who observe Vikram Samvat, one of the Hindu calendar eras that marks the start of a new fiscal year, celebrate it as New Year’s Day. In the past, Padvo had special significance because it was the time of year when people would thank cattle for their services. Karit fruits affixed on four sticks that symbolise cattle are positioned within a miniature cattle barn constructed from cow manure. After performing Pooja, a delicious dessert called “Payas” made from fresh rice and milk is distributed.
The fourth day of the bright fortnight of the Hindu Kartik month known as Yamadvitiya focuses on the bond between brother and sister (‘Bhaubij’); the latter performs Aushan and offers her brother a special meal and desserts while waving lighted candles around the brothers. In return, the brother gifts his sister. The God of death, Yamaraja is said to have visited his married sister Yami after a long absence. It is assumed that the Bhaubij tradition has been followed ever since.
In Goa, Diwali is celebrated differently where the focus is also on Narkasur who is burnt down on the eve of Diwali. Goans create effigies in front of their homes, in their neighbourhoods, and at other locations. In the early morning of the 14th of the dark half of Ashwin, the seventh month of Hindu calendar, the effigy is burnt. After burning Narkasur, people return home, take a bath with ‘utne’ and men of the house stand in front of the tulsi and crush under their feet the bitter Karit, a diminutive wild cucumber in token of killing Narkasur. The men and boys are then led inside the house, where puja is done after tilak is placed on their foreheads.
Beaten rice or fov is integral to Diwali and was Lord Krishna’s favourite. A variety of fov preparations is made which includes batat fov, doodhyanche fov, rosantle fov, godanche fov and tikhat fov. For Goans, this is how ‘dhakti’ Diwali is celebrated. Fifteen days later on a full moon night, tulsiche lagna is celebrated that marks ‘vhadli’ Diwali which marks the beginning of the marriage season. Diyas are lit everyday till tulsiche lagna is held on Kartik Dwadashi till Purnima, the full-moon day of Kartik month.
(The writer is freelancer from Taleigão, who writes on scientific, social and cultural themes)
