Diwali is the festival of purity..

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Diwali symbolises the victory of light over darkness,... Diwali (English: /dɪˈwɑːliː/), also called Deepavali (IAST: Dīpāvalī) or Deepawali (IAST: Dīpāwalī),[4] is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism.[a] It symbolises the spiritual victory of Dharma over Adharma, light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.[5][6][7][page needed][8] Diwali is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar months of Ashvin (according to the amanta tradition) and Kārtika – between around mid-September and mid-November.[9][10][11][12][13] The celebrations generally last five or six days.[14][15]

Diwali is connected to various religious events, deities and personalities, such as being the day Rama returned to his kingdom in Ayodhya with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana after defeating the demon king Ravana.[16] It is also widely associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, and Ganesha, the god of wisdom and the remover of obstacles.[17] Other regional traditions connect the holiday to Vishnu, Krishna, Durga, Shiva, Kali, Hanuman, Kubera, Yama, Yami, Dhanvantari, or Vishvakarman.

Primarily a Hindu festival, variations of Diwali are also celebrated by adherents of other faiths.[14] The Jains observe their own Diwali which marks the final liberation of Mahavira.[18][19] The Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas to mark the release of Guru Hargobind from a Mughal prison.[20] Newar Buddhists, unlike other Buddhists, celebrate Diwali by worshipping Lakshmi, while the Hindus of Eastern India and Bangladesh generally, celebrate Diwali by worshipping the goddess Kali.[21][2][22]

During the festival, the celebrants illuminate their homes, temples and workspaces with diyas (oil lamps), candles and lanterns.[8] Hindus, in particular, have a ritual oil bath at dawn on each day of the festival.[23] Diwali is also marked with fireworks as well as the decoration of floors with rangoli designs and other parts of the house with jhalars. Food is a major focus with families partaking in feasts and sharing mithai.[24] The festival is an annual homecoming and bonding period not only for families,[16][17] but also for communities and associations, particularly those in urban areas, which will organise activities, events, and gatherings.[25][26] Many towns organise community parades and fairs with parades or music and dance performances in parks.[27] Some Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs will send Diwali greeting cards to family near and far during the festive season, occasionally with boxes of Indian confectionery.[27] Another aspect of the festival is remembering the ancestors.[28], Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/, Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License;

Diwali: A celebration of the goddess Lakshmi, and her promise of prosperity and good fortune, Jeffery D. Long, Elizabethtown College:  Diwali, a popular festival for Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs, is celebrated on the Amavasya, or new moon day, of the month of Kartik in the traditional Indian lunar calendar, which typically occurs in late October or early November.

Devotees across around the world will bring festivities into their homes by lighting earthen lamps called diyas, setting off fireworks, displaying colored electric lights and exchanging gifts. In northern India, this date also marks the beginning of the new year.

The day is specially dedicated to the worship of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of prosperity and good fortune.

Who is Lakshmi?

In modern images, Lakshmi is typically depicted wearing either a red or a green sari. The upper two of her four hands are holding lotus flowers, while her lower right hand is upraised in the “do not be afraid” gesture, or abhaya mudra.

Her lower left hand is pointed downward with her palm facing out and golden coins are falling from it. She sits or stands upon a large red lotus flower. Often, there are two elephants behind her with their trunks upraised. As poet Patricia Monaghan writes, sometimes these elephants “shower her with water from belly-round urns.”

Lakshmi is believed to be the consort of Vishnu, who is the preserver of the cosmic order, or dharma. As Vishnu’s shakti, or power, Lakshmi is his equal and an integral part of his being.

In the Srivaishnava tradition of Hinduism, Lakshmi and Vishnu make up a single deity, known as Lakshmi Narayana. Also known as Shri, Lakshmi is believed to mediate between her human devotees and Vishnu.

Origins of Lakshmi

According to the sources I have studied as a scholar of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist traditions, Shri in fact seems to be the earliest name given to this goddess in Hindu texts. This word originally means splendor and it refers to all that is auspicious: all the good and beautiful things in life. The name Lakshmi, on the other hand, refers to a sign, imprint or manifestation of Shri. These two words seem to refer to two distinct goddesses in the earliest Hindu literature, the Vedas.

By the first century, however, which is the period of the writing of the “Puranas,” or the ancient lore of the Hindu deities, these two deities appear to have merged into a single goddess, known as Shri, Lakshmi or Shri Lakshmi.

There are many stories of Lakshmi’s origins. In the most popular of these, from the fifth century Vishnu Purana, she emerges from the ocean when the Devas and Asuras, the gods and the anti-gods, churn it to acquire amrita, the elixir of immortality. In another source – the Garuda Purana, a ninth-century text – she is said to be the daughter of the Vedic sage Bhrigu and his wife, Khyati.

Those who wish for prosperity in the new year say special prayers to Lakshmi and light diyas in their homes so the goddess will visit and bless them.

Jeffery D. Long, Professor of Religion and Asian Studies, Elizabethtown College

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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