A Very Very Happy Diwali To All Of You

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

????[/tab]On the auspicious occasion of Diwali (Hindu festival), I take the great pleasure of wishing you all a very very Happy Diwali. May all your wishes come true and happiness and prosperity always be at your doorsteps. May all of you be blessed with eternal luck and good fortune.

 

????For those who aren't in the know, Diwali or as it is commonly referred to as - Divali, Dewali or Deepavali, is the Hindu Festival of Lights. Here's a breif explanation of the festival/ceremony, whichever you term it as:

This is perhaps the most well-known of the Indian festivals: it is celebrated throughout India, as well as in Indian communities throughout the diaspora. It usually takes place eighteen days after Dusshera. It is colloquially known as the "festival of lights", for the common practice is to light small oil lamps (called diyas) and place them around the home, in courtyards, verandahs, and gardens, as well as on roof-tops and outer walls. In urban areas, especially, candles are substituted for diyas; and among the nouveau riche, neon lights are made to substitute for candles. The celebration of the festival is invariably accompanied by the exchange of sweets and the explosion of fireworks. As with other Indian festivals, Diwali signifies many different things to people across the country. In north India, Diwali celebrates Rama's homecoming, that is his return to Ayodhya after the defeat of Ravana and his coronation as king; in Gujarat, the festival honors Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth; and in Bengal, it is associated with the goddess Kali. Everywhere, it signifies the renewal of life, and accordingly it is common to wear new clothes on the day of the festival; similarly, it heralds the approach of winter and the beginning of the sowing season.

 

Source: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

 

????Since I'm a Bengali, this is the day, the Goddess KALI is worshipped in our state West Bengal, India. It is the time of the year, when we see the whole city (Calcutta) as well as all other parts of the state (or in fact the whole of India) is lit up with Diyas (oil-lamps) or candles accompanied by 2-3 days of continuous fireworks. It happens to be one of the most grand occasions on our yearly calendar. For us, this day heralds the expulsion of all evil from this planet and welcoming of the Goddess Kali into each of our individual homes - thus we welcome her with a lit up pathway from our doorstep/gateway through our entire house.

 

 

 

 

[tab]Originally, the word Diwali comes from the Sanksrit word, "Deepavali", which is formed by joining two words, "Deep" - which means oil lamps and "Vali" - which means "a vast array of". Together they stand for one of the most grandoise display of oil-lamps (or candles, as the case may be).

 

 

More on Diwali:

1. http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

2. http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

3. http://www.diwalifestival.org/

4. http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

[warbird1405241485 0]

Well since I'm not Hindu I haven't heard of this festival before, but let me wish you luck and all the best too. Maybe you could show us some pictures of the firework ??? I always enjoy them

[Killer008r 0]

Although I am not Hindu, I know about this holiday my cousin has been to the festival and though it was really beautiful. And by those pictures I now realize that some day I would really like to visit so I could have the pleasure of another culture, and so I could view the beautiful lights. Happy Diwali To you all (I didn't know it was time already for Diwali. So its Nov. 1st?)

[twitch 0]

Dappy Diwali to everyone. Although I am not Indian, but hay.At the moment, Ede is starting, so my city is preparing for that. Personally, I like the looks of Diwali better, but that is my thoughts.

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

Nope it doesn't happen according to the english calendar, but the date always falls between Oct-Nov every year. As far as I know it's on one of the New Moon (No Moon) night that comes during October-Nov. That's what the whole thing is about - since it's No Moon, it's complete darkness - and thus you light up all those candles/lamps to ward away darkness and all the evil that accompanies it. :PThanks anyways ;)Cheers,m^eP.S. - Am not in India and missing the festival sorely - or else could have put up a bunch of pictures for you.

[twitch 0]

Can I not spell, Dappy lol. I copied this thread and put it into Antilost.You'd hate it even more here m^e, not only does not appear on the calendar, no-one even celebrates it (in mass). And trust me, there is a lot of Indians compared to Pakistani's and other Muslims.I have only seen examples of Diwali (the festival of lights as it is more commonly known over here) in R.E at school (when I forced to take it ). It looked on whole, more chearful and more meaningful than Ede, and did not seam as devoubt. People from all walks of life were joining in, even when they were obviously not Hindu.

[Sarah81 0]

Wow - sweet. I've been really good friends with a guy from India for years and didn't know anything about this celebration until I read your post. Thanks for the great info.By the way ... we Americans only get fireworks two times a year (New Year's Day and the 4th of July). Do you get fireworks anytime you want them? Or are they seriously restricted like they are here? We can't even buy them unless it's right before these two holidays.Unless of course you're into pyrotechnics and do the big fireworks shows (say, at sports events) professionally. But they get the really good stuff anyway. It's almost enough to make me wish that I hadn't given up on playing with matches when I was a little one. *smirks*

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

By the way ... we Americans only get fireworks two times a year (New Year's Day and the 4th of July). Do you get fireworks anytime you want them? Or are they seriously restricted like they are here? We can't even buy them unless it's right before these two holidays.

 

Unless of course you're into pyrotechnics and do the big fireworks shows (say, at sports events) professionally. But they get the really good stuff anyway. It's almost enough to make me wish that I hadn't given up on playing with matches when I was a little one. *smirks*

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Nope - we don't have any such restrictions. We're free to purchase fireworks any time or the year and in ANY AMOUNT. We usually don't buy by packs - but by the Kilo. A normal purchase would be about 4-5Kilos of mixed fireworks. And that include the terrific pyrotechnic variety as well as the one's that just simply go off with a loud BOOM.

 

You can hear the boomers go off for 2-3 days at a stretch, almost as if the whole city's on war They come in quite a few varieties

 

1. Chain Crakers: One that looks like a series of small red pencils (about 5cm long) lined up on both sides of a string coated with gunpowder. Once lit - this would go off in a incessant chatter (almost like machine gun fire) till the whole lot is blown up. They start from small chains of 50 upto 10,000 and more. The longer ones carry on for more than 10 mins non-stop.

 

2. Then there's what we call "Chocolate bomb" - looks more like a nice foil wrapped largish candy with a string jutting out. Goes off with a massive BOOM.

 

3. And of course a third very popular variety called "Dodoma" (Do = Two, Doma = Bang), which as the name suggests, goes off twice. You can lay it down on the ground and it'll bang once and then shoot far off and bang the second time... or keep it vertical to have the second bang mid-air.. An offshoot of this is also available which bangs around 7 consecutive times.

 

Note that all of these are quite harmless (although the bangs sound almost like real bombs) - unless of course like a fool you keep holding onto them close to your ears till they bang.. he he.. happens to all of us if the wick is short. The result: A long ringing sensation in your fingers as well as your ears.. which eventually wears off leaving your skin all brown and coated with gunpowder, but not really burnt. None of these are meant to be held onto - and we learn the trick after surviving a couple of bangs. Believe me - it's not at all as bad as it sounds. Rather great fun chucking these around everywhere and sometimes between the feet of unsuspecting passers-by.

 

Recently though there's been some restrictions on these - most of these came off rather loudly and hence the govt. has fixed a rating for them. The amount of explosives in each has to be reduced so that none of the bangs go above 65 Decibels - easier on the ears and still great fun

 

Oh how I miss all this... been out of my country for so long

[evion 0]

Wow... back when i was in Singapore Deepavali was a pretty big deal in some parts of the island. Of course all i knew back then was that school's out for the day and i didn't really appreciate Hindu Culture back then. I had a Hindu swimming coach who's also sort of chinese but he celebrates chinese and india festivals. He invited me along to his house on Deepavali and it was just like Chinese New Year again, except that there are so many oil lamps. I'm not sure about How India celebrates this festival but my coach's family treats it like a friendly reunion for friends and relatives. They will dine with a HUGE indian buffet and everyone will sit and talk (Well...not exactly, what really happened was that we sat down to watch some soccer =P). That's pretty much it but i really enjoyed it because i had witnessed myself Indian culture and their food (oh Indian food is just so good!! I love Roti Prata!) and the family told me all about the other festivals and such which is pretty cool. I loved some of the many Hindu stories too and I've been to the temple. Well, in the end I'd just like to wish all of you happy Deepavali!

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

Hehe.. aaah Roti's and Parathas.. yummm.. along with some of the Thick Meat Curries aaahyummmmeeh - will leave you shamelessly licking your fingers till they're as good as being soaped clean ;)And you're right technocian - it's not just about burning fireworks.. the celebration does involve going over to your friends' and relatives' homes and greeting them, that is, if there's no big reunion taking place at any one place.. Invariably everyone's home's so well-decorated on this occasion, with not just the oil lamps, but intricate designs on the floor laid out with powder colours. It's just so vivid and brilliant all around during these months.