Updates: Diwali

Today is Friday 9th December! (dunno what is wrong with this date thingy)

With firecrackers keeping me up late at night for the last two days I decided to look into what the festival which is being celebrated in noisy Indian style on my soi is all about. All the balconies are beautifully lit up, mouth watering aromas of Indian cooking wafts in through open windows potently mixed with sulphur from the fireworks erupting in the night sky. Lovely really - pure exotic colourful Indian style. Here is some information I found out about it:

Diwali, Divali, or Deepawali (Markiscarali) is a major Indian and Nepalese festive holiday. What started as a harvest festival in ancient times, became associated with many legends and became a significant festival in Hinduism and is known across the globe as the "Festival of Light," where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within every human being during a five day celebration.

The most popular legend associated with Diwali today is the homecoming of King Rama of Ayodhya after a 14-year exile in the forest. The people of Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) welcomed Rama by lighting rows (avali) of lamps (deepa), thus its name, Deepawali, or simply shortened as Diwali.

Some view it as the day Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura or in honor of the day Bali went to rule the nether-world by the order of Vishnu.
In Jainism it marks the nirvana of Lord Mahavira, which occurred on Oct. 15, 527 B.C.

The festival marks the victory of good over evil, and uplifting of spiritual darkness. Symbolically it marks the homecoming of goodwill and faith after an absence, as suggested by the story of Ramayana.

On the day of Diwali, many wear new clothes, share sweets and snacks. Some North Indian business communities start their financial year on Divali and new account books are opened on this day.

Happy Diwali to my Indian friends :-)