In my own quest, I missed my daughter's questions – Wh do we celebrate Diwali or Deepawali? What is this festival? And why is there so much hype about it?
Let's see!
Deepawali or the festival of lights has always been called Diwali in the easy linguistic terms. It is a festival to mark the return of Sri Rama in Ayodhya after completing his 14 years of exile. However, Deepawali in today's terms is a 5 day festival and each day has its own story. I will try my best to explain for each one of these.
Day 1 – Dhanteras
Dhanteras is the combination of two words – "Dhan" and "Teras". Dhan means money or wealth while Teras means thirteenth. Thus Dhanteras falls on the thirteenths day of the month of Kartik. It happens to be two days prior to Diwali and thus marks the start of the celebration. As evident from its name, the festival of Dhanteras is celebrated in the honor of Kubera – the yaksha and the symbol of wealth accumulation.
Per the legends, there are two prominent stories for this day –
Story 1 – At the end of the ocean churning or Samudramanthan, Dhanvantri appeared with a pot of Amrit or the elixir. This is what all the gods and demons came together for. It is said Dhanvantari appeared on the day which we call as Dhanteras.
Story 2 – It is said that there once was a young prince Hima who was said to die in 4 days of snake bite. His wife, upon hearing this, spread out all the gold and jewels all over the room and started to tell stories. She did not let the prince sleep and kept him engaged through the story telling and songs. At the destined time, when Yamraaj ented their chamber in form of a snake, he too got mesmerized by the princess' stories. At the same time, all the glittering gold blinded him and he couldn't see clearly. Blinded and lost Yamraaj couldn't keep track of the time and returned back silently in the morning. The princess saved the prince this way. Dhanteras, is celebrated to have the glittering gold all over to divert Yamraaj or any bad feeling coming near us.
Day 2 – NarakChaturdasi
Quite a controversial day! The northerners in India celebrate this day as Chotti Diwali. While the southerners celebrate this as the main Diwali. The stories for both the factions are similar with minor differences.
NarakChaturdasi story – Call me prejudiced, but I shall start with the Northerners story. Sri Krishna once fought with a demon named Narkasur. Narkasur was the son of famous Hiranyksha and had kidnapped 1600 women. At the end of a gruelsome fight, Sri Krishna finally beheaded Narkasur and freed all the captives. When the women pleaded as to where to go and about societal denial for their acceptance, Sri Krishna accepted them as his wives. Probably the reason for many widow ashrams in Vrindavan.
NarakChaturdasi story with the not-northern twist – It is said that Narkasur had the boon that he could only be killed by his mother. During the fight, Narkasur injured Sri Krishna. When Sri Krishna was hurt, Satyabhama – Sri Krishna's wife who accompanied him in this war, got enraged and fought Narkasur. By virtue of being the mother of the universe, Satyabhama killed Narkasur. Similar is the tory in the eastern part of India where they know this festival as Kali Chaudas or Kali Chaturdashi. The southerners celebrate this to be the main Diwali day.
While the means have been different, the end was the same – Victory of good over evil.
Day 3 – Deepawali
This is the day when Sri Rama came back to Ayodhya. In honor of his return the entire city was decorated with lights and the residents burnt crackers. This is the day very well known to all of us as well.
Some stories also tell that this is the day when the Pandavas lost their kingdom, brothers and wife in the game of dice. I am not sure, why people still consider this day auspicious for playing poker?
Day 4 – Pariva or Annakuta
Annakuta is referred to as the mixing of the grains and the all vegetation together. This is the day when Sri Krishna lifted the Mount Govardhana on his little finger to save all the residents from the wrath of Indra. The legend says that all the people used to worship Indra in order for timely rains which would be helpful for their agriculture. However, this developed pride in Indra. To curb his pride, Sri Krishna devised a plan of worshipping the mount Govardhana. When Indra saw this, he unleashed rain god upon earth and caused devastation. Sri Krishna saved all the people and animals of Brij under the shelter provided by Govardhana Parvata. It is said that SriNathji is an embodiment of Govardhana Parvata and is still there in the village named Jatipura close to Mathura.
Annakuta or Dhanakuta is mixing of strength, grains and vegetables till you get something good. This is also a turning chapter in the Vedic food preparation technique where mixing of grains was prohibited.
Day 5 – Yama Dwitiya or Dooj
Day five of the festival is the day of celebration of the brother-sister love. It is a day dedicated to the love of Yama and Yamuna – the son and daughter of Surya. It is said if any brother and sister pair takes a dip in Yamuna together on this day, both will have a long happy life.
All said, the festival of Diwali is also mark of the new crop. Diwali is celebrated just in time when the new Kharif crop is harvested. India being an agricultural country it is hard to distinguish the festivals from the crop cycles. Similarly, holi is celebrated when the Rabi crop is harvested. Since these crops are primarily north-indian, the festivals also resonate with north Indians more. Similarly, the Pongal, Onam, Durga Puja and Ganesh Chaturthi all follow the regional agriculture cycles. Don't they?
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