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| Diwali |
Diwali is a very important festival
for Hindus. It marks the last day of the Hindu
calendar. Dhan Teras, Kali Chaudas, Diwali,
New Year and Bhai Bij are the five important
days, which are celebrated as the festival
of Diwali.
Though Diwali is a social festival, it also
has a religious significance. On the day of
Kali Chaudas, i.e., the day preceding Diwali,
Sri Krishna attained victory over a giant
called Narakaasura by killing him and thus
relieving the people from his tyranny. To
celebrate this victory, Hindus light Deepaks
and in this way Diwali is celebrated. When
Rama attained victory over Ravan and returned
to Ayodhaya with Sita, the people of Ayodhaya
became very happy and were delighted to welcome
Rama and Sita. They cleaned their houses,
made colourful designs on the floors called
'Rangolis' in front of their houses, and decorated
the whole city of Ayodhaya. Strings of lighted
deepaks were strung everywhere. In this manner,
the return of Rama and Sita to Ayodhaya is
also celebrated in Diwali.
On this same day, the Jains celebrated the
attainment of Nirvana by Lord Mahavir. It
is easy to defeat an outside enemy, but it
is very difficult to defeat the inner enemy
lying in us. Greed, anger, envy, animosity
are some of the enemies within us. Anyone
who is able to attain victory over these inner
enemies is called Mahavir. For Jains, this
day is of great significance.
Swami Dayanand, the founder of the Arya Samaj,
brought knowledge to people who used to believe
in superstitions and had blind faith. The
Arya Samaj celebrates Diwali as the Nirvana
day of Swami Dayanand.
Swami Ramtirth left this physical world on
this day.
In this manner many different religious leaders
are associated with this day and thus all
Hindus celebrate Diwali.
On Diwali day, the business people worship
the Goddess of wealth and prosperity. It is
not right to disregard or abuse wealth. Wealth
is worshipped, as it is counted a blessing
of God. By putting wealth to good use, one
can help the welfare and well being of the
whole of this world. Anyone misusing wealth
will bring loss and damage to others as well
as to himself. Thus wealth is considered as
a type of energy and its good use will bring
an end to the effects of evil forces.
In this manner, Diwali is the most important
for Hindus. It is the occasion of cleanliness
and light. Houses are decorated with lights
and Rangolis. Crackers resound and light up
the sky. Everyone is adorned with new and
bright clothes. Sweets are exchanged. However,
these are outer celebrations. If with these
outer celebrations, we light our inner beings,
if we clean our hearts, make them pure and
full of love for others, if we become humble
and consider the welfare of all, then the
celebration of Diwali will become beneficial
to us as well as the community.
We pray that this year's Diwali will light
our hearts and send out loving rays for all. |
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