> Meaning & Significance
Diwali Meaning & Significance
Deepavali is a festival where people from all age groups participate. They
give expression to their happiness by lighting earthen 'diyas' (lamps),
decorating the houses, bursting firecrackers and inviting near and dear ones
to their households for partaking in a sumptuous feast. The lighting of
lamps is a way of paying obeisance to god for attainment of health, wealth,
knowledge, peace, valor and fame.
It is one time in the whole year that children volunteer to leave their
beds long before the day begins. In fact, the traditional oil bath at 3 a.m,
is the only chore that stands between them and the pre-dawn adventures. They
emerge, scrubbed clean to get into their festive attire, and light up little
oil lamps, candles and scented sticks(agarbathis), the wherewithal for
setting alight crackers and sparklers.
On Diwali night, little clay lamps are lit in Hindus homes, but now a days
colored electric lamps are also used. What is the significance of lighting a
lamp? There is a logical answer to this question. It is through the light
that the beauty of this world is revealed or experienced. Most civilizations
of the world recognize the importance of light as a gift of God. It has
always been a symbol of whatever is positive in our world of experience.
To Hindus, darkness represents ignorance, and light is a metaphor for
knowledge. Therefore, lighting a lamp symbolizes the destruction, through
knowledge, of all negative forces- wickedness, violence, lust, anger, envy,
greed, bigotry, fear, injustice, oppression and suffering, etc. Competition
is stiff, and even the little girl in silk frocks and their finery are
watching out for the best sparklers and flowerpots, the rockets and
Vishnuchakras, which light-up the night sky like a thousand stars. Grown-ups
are the soul of generosity. Festive bonhomie abounds.