DIWALI FESTIVAL GENERAL ESSAY for IFS,IAS,BANK PO and OTHER COMPETITIVE EXAM

Describe in about celebration of a festival, one page the (50 marks)

Diwali

Introduction:

It is one of the famous festival throughout india by hindus,sikhs and jains. It is also celebrated in countries like Singapore Thailand Malaysia South Africa Britain Mauritius Trinidad and Tobago Guyana Indonesia in their own way.Diwali “The festival of light “ was celebrated with much zeal and enthusiasm throughout the world by Indians.

Time of celebration:

->The Diwali celebrations begins from Dusshera, which comes about twenty days before Diwlai.
->The festival here is celebrated according to the Hindu solar calendar hence it falls in the months of October-November, on the day of Amavasya-the darkest day of the month.

Story of Diwali

-> Like other festivals the festival of lights also has its origin in mythology. .

i) Return of lord ram to Ayodhya:
The most famous legend associated with the story of Diwali is the return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya.
• Lord Ram was sent to exile by his stepmother keykayee for 14 years in the jungle.
• His wife Sita and younger brother Lakshman also accompanied him there.
• In the jungle Ravan kidnapped sita and Lord Ram had to take the help of God Hanuman and monkey king Sugvir to kill Ravan.
• After killing Ravan and completing his period of exile, Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya and to celebrate his comeback the citizens of Ayodhya decorated their houses, exchanged sweets and ignited firecrackers.
• Since that day Diwali came to be celebrated in order to commemorate the coming back of Lord Ram.


ii) Samundra Manthan:

• According to another legend associated with the Story of Diwali,
• Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity incarnated.
• She incarnated due to the churning of the ocean, which came to be known as the incident of 'Samundra Manthan', by the demons as well as the deities.

iii)Killing of demon Narkasura:

• Another famous Diwali story talks about the killing of demon Narkasura by Satyabhama with the support of Lord Krishna.
• Narkasura once defeated Lord Indra, the king of heaven and also snatched away the earrings of Mother goddess Aditi, who was a relative of Satyabhama.
On hearing this news Satyabhama got very furious and asked for Lord Krishna's help for killing the demon who readily agreed.


iv)Asceticism of Shakti-

• Skanda Purana says that the deity Shakti wanted to get the Lord Shiva's half body so she made an austerity or kedhara vrata for 21 days
• On the day of Diwali, Lord Shiva accepted Shakti into his left body form, known as Ardhanarishvara.

v) For the Jainism people:

• the day has been connoted with the nirvana of Lord Mahavir, which took place on 15th October, 527 B.C.

vi) For the Sikh community

• The importance of the day has been increased when their Guru Hargobind Ji, the 6th Guru, has been released from the imprisonment with 52 Hindu Kings.
No matter what the legend but the festival of lights is celebrated with much enthusiasm and zeal in all over the country by people of all religions.

way of celebration:

-->cleaning of house
-->traditional oil bath-southindia
-->illuminating inside and outside the home-for the arrival of goddess lakshmi
-->special prayer to goddess lakshmi
-->lighting crackers
-->exchanging sweets
-->wearing new dress-signifies healthy soul
-->burning incense sticks
-->exchanging greeting cards
-->Hangings-the idols of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi.
-->Rangolis - art patterns made on the entrance floor of the homes in order to welcome Lights

Festival Of Lights :

• 'Festival of Lights' or Diwali unifying entire India because of the charisma and splendor surrounding this festival.
• Diwali has been given the traditional name of 'festival of lights' because of the hundreds and thousands of small oil lamps or diyas lighted by many households.
• The burning of these diyas are considered to be the lighted pathway of a person's expression of happiness.
• It is also a manner of paying obeisance to God, the Supreme power for attainment of health, prosperity, knowledge, financial security and peace in one's life.
diyas are used for illuminating home.diyas are small oil lamp made of clay. Nowadays in cities candles and classy neon lights wax filled diyas often substitute conventional diyas.

Diwali Celebrations Around The World

i)Diwali celebrations in Britain :

• The Indians are the second largest ethnic minority in Britain. To get rid of the feeling of missing their homeland, especially during festival times, the Indians here celebrate most of the festivals .
• The enthusiasm of the festival celebration makes the task of leaving small lamps on windowsills or by open doorways possible ignoring the chill. The lamps and diyas play their part in maintaining the atmosphere of Diwali at home.

ii)Diwali celebrations in Guyana

• Guyana, formerly known as British Guiana, is located on the northeast coast of South America.
• Hindus constitute 33% of Guyana's total population.
• The day of the festival is declared as a national holiday in the official calendar of Guyana.
• Sweets distributed mainly consist of pera, barfi, and kheer.

iii)Diwali celebrations in Indonesia :

• The name Indonesia came from two Greek words: "Indos" meaning Indian and "Nesos" meaning islands.
• The majority of population follows Islam. Hindus constituent about 2% of Indonesia's total population.
• However, the Indonesian island of Bali is famous for celebrating the festival of Diwali, as a majority of the population here is that of Indians
• The celebration and rituals of the festival is mostly similar to that celebrated by their counterparts in India.

iv)Diwali celebrations in Malaysia

• The Hindu community of Malaysia constitutes about 8% of its total population .
• The community celebrates Diwali as a symbol of triumph of good over evil.
• The Malaysian people call diwali as Hari Diwali.

v)Diwali celebrations in Mauritius

• Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean that lies to the east of Madagascar.
• Mauritius accounts a 63% of Indian majority of which 80% follow Hinduism. Hence, celebration of almost all the Hindu festivals in this island is a common phenomenon.

vi)Diwali celebrations in Nepal

• Nepal is a landlocked country nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas
• Diwali in Nepal is known as Tihar.
• The festival here continues for five days. Every day has its special significance.
• The first day is dedicated to cows as they cook rice and feed the cows believing that goddess Lakshmi comes on cows.
• The second day is for Dogs as the Vahana of Bhairava. Preparation of delicious food especially meant for the dog is a typical characteristic of the day.
• Lights and lamps are lit to illuminate the entire surrounding and some of the specialty items are prepared to mark the third day of the festival. Fireworks, Lamps and crackers are widely used.
• The fourth day is dedicated to Yama, the Hindu God of Death. He is prayed for long life.
• The fifth final day is Bhaiya Dooj dedicated for the brothers who are wished long life and prosperity by their sisters.

vii) Diwali celebrations in South Africa

• South Africa is located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa..
• Most of the Hindus here are from Gujarat and Tamil Nadu and continue to follow their regional variations of Hinduism.

viii)Diwali celebrations in Trinidad and Tobago


• Trinidad is the most southern of the Caribbean islands, lying only seven miles off the Venezuelan coast, is one of the most exciting, colorful islands of the West Indies. Considered as the land of the Humming Bird,
• The celebrations continue for over a week and the headquarters of the National Council of Indian Culture at Diwali Nagar becomes the focal point.

Conclusion:

Diwali regards to bring supernatural joy and brightness in life with the hope of discovering light amidst darkness, love amidst of violence, happiness in the place of ignorance.
It is the fact that the celebration of festivals focuses on the home and family. It becomes an occasion of togetherness and enjoyment for the people in the name of god.