Diwali Celebrations
Diwali is celebrated with fun and frolic in India. It is celebrated in almost every state of India. People of different states celebrate Diwali in their own ways. In north India Diwali is celebrated with great pomp and show. People start cleaning their houses a days before the day of Diwali. The houses and office places are cleaned and white washed. Old scrap, material is thrown out and new furniture and other house hold items are bought. New dresses are purchased to wear on Diwali.On the day of Diwali people decorate their houses with different type of decoration material and lights etc. Lighting is done by traditional as well as modern means. Traditional means are Diyas and Candles. Diyas are lighted with a wick trenched with oil while candles are made of wax as everyone knows. The decoration of main gates and worship place is very important. The Vandanvars are used to hang on the gate which may contain auspicious symbols of Swastik or the images of Lord Ganesha and Godess Laxmi. These Vandanvars are to welcome Godess Lakshmi. Rangolis are designed at the doors of main entrance and worship place.
In The Evening : People worship Godess Laksmi and Lord Ganesha at the house and at the work place. Then people give gifts to their workers and their dears and nears. People also distribute sweets to workers , neighbours and friends etc. People close their old Bahikhata open the new one's. At night people burst crackers. The fire work is marvelous on this day. Everybody enjoys this fire work. The crackers are of various type like sparkles , sky shots and bombs of different strengths. Children are fond of the fire work. They wait for Diwali desperately for bursting crackers.
In South India : people take early morning oil bath on Diwali. They worship Lord Krishna on this day as Lord Krishna killed Narakasur on this day and freed 16000 daughters of devtas from the claws of demon king. From that day Diwali is celebrated in south India with great joy.
In West Bengal : It is celebrated as Kali Pooja. As it is the day of new moon (Amavasya) , Kali pooja is of great importance on Diwali. Statue of Mother Kali is decorated with new clothes, bangles and flowers. The pooja starts usually at late night and completes early in the morning. People stay awake on whole night. They keep them awake by firing crackers etc. People come to godess wearing new clothes as Godess pleases to see her children wearing new clothes as every mother does. In the next morning ,when pooja gets completed people take blessings of their elders. This custom is very good and shows the our rich culture.
In Ayodhya : Diwali is celebrated in memories of Triumph of Lord Rama over Ravana. This is the day when Lord Rama vanquished the Demon king. This is also treated as the symbol of win of good over evil. The people decorate their houses and do lighting all around. On Diwali Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after completing his exile of fourteen years.
