Happy Diwali

Wishing everyone out in blogosphere a very Happy Diwali!

Diwali is a festival of lights and as I write this, my home is all lit up. I've got diyas, tealight candles and some pretty lights on, along with normal tubelights.

There are a couple of mythological reasons behind Diwali. Mostly in North India, it is celebrated as the return of Lord Rama, back to Ayodhya after his 14 year banishment. Dusshera was the day he vanquished King Ravana and it took him the next two weeks or so to reach his home in Ayodhya. Hence the population of the city lit lamps all around their homes to welcome him. In the South, it is mostly celebrated as Naraka Chaturthi where Lord Krishna defeats the demon Narakasura. Wikipedia has some more details of how Diwali or Deepavali is celebrated across India and Nepal.

Usually we wake up before sunrise, and go to the prayer room. Then my mother (and now me) will put oil on everyone (minimum the hair, and maximum all over the body). Then bath and prayers where new clothes are given. After some coffee and breakfast, it's time to burst crackers. These crackers are supposed to dispel evil as well as let the Gods above us know that all is well in Earth. After this it's time go to the temple, take the blessings of the elders and followed by a scrumptious lunch. Then the oil bath in the morning along with waking up early makes you sleepy, so a siesta is in order. That pretty much sums up what we do in Diwali in our family.

Happy Dusshera!

Here’s wishing everyone a very Happy Dusshera! Navratri and Dushhera is celebrated all over India, Nepal and the Hindu parts of Bangladesh with great festivity and gusto! This festival, which comes at the end of the nine nights of Navratri is a day where good triumphs over evil. Navratri is celebrated all over India and is a celebration of the Mother Goddess. This celebration takes the form of keeping Kollu in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, dancing the Garba and Dandiya in Gujarat and Durga Puja in West Bengal.

The ninth day of Navratri is dedicated to Goddess Saraswati who is the Goddess of Learning. On this day, you would keep your books and other implements of work (like plough for a farmer, needles for a tailor etc) and pray over them. You could also not use them on that day. On Dusshera, you had to take out the books and implements from the altar and use them. When we were in school, Saraswati Puja would invariably come during exams, which meant we could not study on that day. I would always ponder on the irony of the situation – on the one day of the year, when my parents would not want me to be near books would be the day I actually needed to study!!

Dusshera is also called Vijay Dashami, which literally means victory on the tenth day. There are many legends for Dusshera – the most popular one is from Hindu Mythology which concers Lord Rama, his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana. The nine days of navratri is supposed to be the days when he fought the evil king Ravana of Lanka who had kidnapped Sita and kept her in his kingdom of what is today known as Sri Lanka. On the tenth day, Lord Rama finally defeats and kills King Ravana. In the northern part of India, there are huge communal Ram Leelas which enact the battle with the culmination on Dusshera of the victory of Lord Rama over King Ravana. You can read more about this story as well as other mythological tales attributed to Navratri and Dusshera here. These include stories about Durga and the demon Mahisasura and the Pandavas and the Kauravas. This link will also let you know how different states in India celebrate this festival.

Dusshera or Vijaya Dashimi is also traditionally the day for starting formal studies and/or any new course. This day is called Vidyarambham and when my kids were around two years old, we did this in Mumbai so that they could start formal schooling when they came back to Singapore and turned 2.5 years. I also remember starting music lessons when I was young on this day. I did think of starting carnatic music for the Princess today, but decided to leave it for another year.