To day India is alive with Diwali, the festival of lights; interestingly it has evolved with various regional customs getting assimilated to create this biggest festival of cheer and prosperity, when goddess of wealth is supposed to visit every home.
Diwali, the Festival of Lights
Today is Diwali, the festival of lights,The festival of triumph over Evil
Of Virtue, of Right:
The day when Rama, the king of Ayodhaya
Returned after rescuing his abducted wife
from the clutches of the demon-king, Ravana.
On this dark 'Amavasya' night,
Paths were lighted for him
with thousands of luminous lamps bright.
The name 'Dipavali' signifies, a 'string of lamps'
To welcome the king to the capital
from 'Banvasa', exile of fourteen years,
ending in this celebration of lights...
Legend has it that Laxmi, the Goddess
of wealth and prosperity,
during the churning of Ammaratha,
the Elixir of Immortality,
emerged from the Sea
on this day to bestow her blessings
on the mankind...
The very mention of Dipawali evokes
Beautiful images of firecrackers, lamps,
Gifts, sweets, new clothes and Laxmi-
The goddess of wealth...
There are many legends interwoven
into this week-long celebration of light:
Dhanterasa, celebrated two days before Amavasya-
meaning bleak moon-less night-
When the king Hima, doomed to die
on the fourth day of his wedding, by a snake-bite,
Was saved by lighting of lamp by his devoted bride:
She laid out all her ornaments on the doorway,
to dazzle the God of Death,
Who came disguised as a Serpent,
to take her husband's life;
The dazzle did blind the eyes
And the serpent returned, without taking his life;
Thus the triumph of the love of a wife!
Bursting of crackers is connected
to yet another legend:
Krishna killed the demon Narakasuran
To free all women, held captive by him;
Hence the custom of waking up at dawn,
Bursting at least one symbolic cracker,
And bathing in the oil of purification...
Jain custom has it as the day
of passing away of saint Mahavira-
The day of his attaining Nirvana-
salvation from this earthly Vana.
The lighting of the symbolic lamp
substitutes the light, extinguished
by the passing away of Mahavira-
the enlightened one-
to the World of Divine...
The fourth day of the festival,
Is marked by the coronation
Of the king Vikramadatiya
in the 56 BC, Vikrama Era-
the calendar for this day in North India-
hence marking the Indian New Year:
New account books are opened with payer,
so that business is lucrative through out the year.
Homes are washed, incense is burnt
To facilitate the entrance of Laxmi,
the Goddess of wealth and good cheer.
On this day, not only the world is alight,
But we also bring into our hearts a new light,
Lighting up our spirits in the divine wisdom of love,
The festival of love symbolizes
the lighting of our inner conscience-
Our inner light-
that remains dormant in the heart
and has not come out to light up
our soul, our consciousness, our spirit bright.
The Triumph over Evil of Virtue and Right!
Diwali, the festival of lights!
Author: Zoya Zaidi
Aligarh (UP), India
Copyright©: Zoyta Zaidi
Poetry by Zoya Zaidi
Read 875 times
Written on 2006-10-21 at 16:21
Tags Festivity
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