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Diwali, the night of lamps
The new-moon night when lamps are lit to welcome Lakshmi and to drive out misfortune from the house.
About Diwali, the night of lamps
Diwali, kept on the new-moon night of the month of Kartika, is the festival of lamps. Homes are cleaned and painted, and rows of clay lamps (diya) and rangoli floor designs are laid at the doorstep, because the goddess Lakshmi is believed to visit only the clean and welcoming house. In many regions the elder woman of the house drives out Alakshmi, the personification of misfortune, with winnowing baskets and a lamp at dawn. Merchants open new account books and worship them, and in parts of northern India people play cards or dice, said to recall the game played by Shiva and Parvati and to try the year's luck. Sikhs, Jains and some Buddhists mark the same days for their own reasons.
Entries tied to it
Also part of it, and being written: Diwali (The five days and their stories.).
More entries linked to Diwali, the night of lamps
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Diwali" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family, and are described as belief and practice. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Churel: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Diya: Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sky lantern: Richy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lakshmi: Raja Ravi Varma, Public domain, source
- Rangoli: SreeramKalyan, CC0, source