Diwali-the Festival of Lights

Almost every day is a festive day for Hindus, and every festive day is significant of religious sentiment and faith. On every festival day, preparation of special food items and distribution of food to the poor and the servants or workers on the paddy fields are compulsory. This shows the glorious days of prosperity through which India once passed in the days of lore. The tradition continues to the present day, whatever the economic condition.

Hindu festivals also foster communal harmony and affinity. The spiritual content of the festivals enhances the fear of committing sinful actions and stresses the benefits of treading righteous path. This decreases the extent of violence and atrocities on women. Besides, as holidays are declared on major festival days, everybody finds immense relief from the mounting working pressure, stiff targets and monotony. Most of the Indian festivals like Diwali and Holi provide an outlet for the release of mental stress and tensions in life.

Every Indian festival is connected with some mythological episode. The festival of Diwali commemorates the killing of the most dreaded and cruel demon Narakasura in the hands of Lord Vishnu and His consort Goddess Lakshmi. It is a matter of irony that Narakasura, the demon king, was born to Lord Vishnu Himself. Lord Vishnu manifested Himself on the Earth since creation in ten incarnations, known popularly as "Dasavatara" (Dasa means ten and Avatara means incarnation) to save the Earth from extinction or to save the humanity from the harassment of the most powerful demons. In Bhagavat Gita, a widely read Hindu religious text, Lord Vishnu declared that He shall manifest Himself whenever the need arises to save His creation from the hands of the wicked.

The demon Narakasura was born to Lord Vishnu and the Goddess Earth out of their wedlock, when the former took the incarnation of Varaha (the Boar) to save the Earth by lifting it from the ocean. It was also the work of another great demon, namely, Hiranyaksha, who had hidden the earth in the sea. Lord Vishnu killed the demon and rescued the earth in this incarnation. It was then that Narakasura was born to the divine couple. Despite his divine lineage, Narakasura turned out to be a demon, most probably due to the evil time of conception.

Narakasura started harassing the gods and invaded their abode. He drove away the king of heavens Indra, who appealed to Lord Vishnu to put an end to the harassment and torture caused by the invincible demon. The demon also held several pious women captive. This led to the killing of the demon by lord Vishnu.

In another mythological account, Goddess Durga, in whom all the gods had reposed their powers, killed the demon, Narakasura. The festival of Diwali has come to be celebrated since the death of Narakasura in honor of the Goddess Durga, who had freed the humanity from the torture inflicted by the demon. In West Bengal, Durga puja (that is, the festival of Goddess Durga) is celebrated to commemorate this mythological event in large scale with much pomp and traditional way. Huge pendals (temporary structures) are erected to display the idol of Durga. The preparation of Durga idol involves unique skill exhibited by the Bengali artisans. They are hired by people of other States to prepare the idols.

Diwali festival is celebrated every year all over India in the Indian month of "Kartik" which coincides with the English month of October. Indian festivals conform to lunar calendar. Accordingly, the festival of Diwali is celebrated for three days from the dark lunar 13th day to the 15^th day. On the 13^th lunar day, the festival of Dhan Teras is celebrated as part of the main festival Diwali. On 14^th day is celebrated Narak Chaturthi to commemorate the death of the evil force in the garb of Narakasura on this lunar day of Kartik month. Finally, on the 15^th day is celebrated the main festival of Diwali.

The highlights of this festival are the decoration of every house with oil lamps or candles, or with garlands of tiny lamps or LED's, preparation of various items of special recipes and sweets and most important of all the burning of crackers. Every village, town and city reverberates with the sound of crackers and glows with the effulgence emitted by different types of crackers. The neighbors and residents of different colonies vie with each other in sporting their arsenal of crackers. Despite their expensiveness, people do not hesitate to buy them in good quantity and rejoice in igniting them.

The crackers thus burnt emit much sound, smoke and twinkling starry brilliance in the sky. It is a delectable sight to watch this great spectacle of crackers in the form of rockets issuing from the terraces and rising high into the sky emitting lustrous stars and some times the brilliance culminates into thunderous sound, before another such cracker is launched. At times, a war like game of crackers follows. Residents of one colony start the game with a deafening cracker directed to the house of a neighboring flat or colony. Immediately it is responded by a rocket from the other end, both of which meet midway above in the sky. It is eagerly watched by both parties and all the people. The game continues till mid night, by which time the stock of crackers gets depleted.

The festival is enjoyed by people of all age groups. The kids, the young and the old as well burn the crackers of various forms as per their skill and talents. The kids and the aged people avoid handling harmful crackers and spend the time watching others burning the crackers. The young and the bolder among the children indulge in burning dangerous varieties of crackers like the bombs and rockets. The mass scale burning of crackers sometimes emits nauseating smoke, which is very pungent to the eyes and it also causes difficulty in breathing. Every year some fire accidents and burning of fingers and body parts do occur. Yet, the burning of crackers continues unabated every year by all people.

In olden days, crackers used to be home made. People demonstrated their skills in preparing different types of crackers like bombs of different versions, namely, small, medium and loudest types, the rockets, the mixtures in pots which, when ignited, emit with force lustrous jets of brilliance. Many varieties of crackers emit different colors of sparkling brilliance. But, due to lack of time because of the busy work schedules of present generation, and partly due to the accidents sustained in their preparation, the crackers are mostly purchased from the market, despite their cost. The home made crackers are more economical and superior in quality, as they contain quality material of sufficient quantity of powder within and burn for longer time than those obtained from the market.

As is common with every Indian festival, Diwali is also enjoyed with friends and relatives, exchanging gifts and crackers. Due to the escalating cost of the crackers, it is a common sight to find people gathering at clubs and community halls and pooling their stocks of crackers. This not only enhances the enjoyment of celebrating the festival together with many friends and neighbors but it also fosters affinity among the community.

Now the festival has turned global with Indian Diaspora celebrating it in many countries. The great message conveyed by the festival of lights is that we should dispel the darkness of our ignorance of this world of illusion with the illumination of spiritual knowledge. Another message is that God does not spare the wicked people, when the sin committed by him ripens. He did not spare His own son Narakasura.