One of the biggest festivals celebrate by all Hindus worldwide is Deepavali or Diwali in India. This festival is celebrated with lots of enthusiasm and happiness for five continuous days, with the third day being celebrated as the main Diwali or as Deepavali 'Festival of Lights'. One important practice that the Hindus follow during the festival is to light diyas, candles or oil lamps all around their house. By lighting their house the Hindus are thanking the gods for the happiness, knowledge, peace and wealth that they have received.
The auspicious day of Deepavali or Diwali is decided by the moon position & according to the Hindu calendar, Amavasya or the "no moon day" is considered the perfect day for the Festival. The dark night comes after every fortnight & in the Hindu month of Kartik (October/November), it marks the festive occasion.
There are various alleged origins attributed to this festival. Some hold that they celebrate the marriage of Lakshmi with Lord Vishnu. In Bengal the festival is dedicated to the worship of Kali. It also commemorates that blessed day on which the triumphant Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana. On this day also Sri Krishna killed the demon Narakasura. People celebrated this occasion by lighting diyas, candles or oil lamps to drive away the darkness of amavasya.
Preparation for Deepavali or Diwali usually starts at least two to three weeks before the festival. Most families will be busy cleaning and decorating their houses, some would even renovate their home for the festival. Usually families will shop for new clothes and accessories for their home, forexample, in Singapore most Hindus will go to Little India to do their shopping.
The Hindus will be awake as early as 3am for the first ritual to take an oil bath in the morning and wear new clothes, the oil is regarded as purifying as a bath in the holy Ganges. One of the important practices for the Hindus is to pay their respects to the elderly and most families would go to the temple after having breakfast. The reason why they would be going to the temples is to pray to get happiness and prosperity on Deepavali or Diwali. On the first day usually the Hindus would not go visiting but would stay at home to welcome the guests who visit them. Everyone forgets and forgives the wrongs done by others. There is an air of freedom, festivity and friendliness everywhere. This festival brings about unity and it instils charity in the hearts of people.
Visiting Hindus during Deepavali will be an interesting activity in most countries, as you will get to taste a wide variety of delicious food. Every home that you visit you will be served with a tempting spread of sweets. Some of the popular sweets are halwa, burfi and laddu. Hindus love eating spicy food and for non-vegetarians they indulge in favorites like prawn sambal, chicken tandoori, korma and fish head curry. As for vegetarian Hindus you would find vegetarians popular dishes like thosais, idlis and naans.
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