'Festival of Lights‘Diwali Festival

Diwali is a popular Hindu festival which takes place in

late October to early November.

The festival of Diwali celebrates the return of Rama and Sita to their kingdom after they had spent 14

years in exile.

During Diwali the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, is welcomed into Hindu

homes as it is believed she will bring prosperity,

This triumph of good over evil brought back the light of knowledge and truth to

mankind.

Part of the preparation for welcoming Lakshmi is the lighting of many small Diva lamps to greet her and light

her way.

The Hindu New Year celebration lasts from one to five days and is also known as the ‘Festival of

Light’. This takes place on the third day of the festival of Diwali.

At Diwali festivals there are usually

fireworks too.

Diwali is one of the biggest festival of Hindus and it is celebrated with great enthusiasm and happiness all over India and in other countries

too.

Hindus perform Laxmi Puja in the evening and they seek the blessings of the goddess of Wealth, Lakshmi

At the festival of Diwali people exchange Diwali gifts with their family and friends.

The meaning of 'Diwali' is 'a row of lamps'. The most popular tradition of Diwali is filling little clay lamps with oil and wick and lighting them in rows all over the house.

Light is important in

Hinduism because it

means goodness. So,

during the Festival of

Lights, 'deeps', or oil lamps, are burned

throughout the day and into the night to

ward off darkness and

evil.

Homes are filled with these oil lamps, candles and lights. Some

people use decorated light candles, some use decorated diva, or clay

lamps, and other people use decorative lights and put them in

their windows for the festival.

Diwali is a time for family gatherings, foods, celebrations and

pooja.

In order to welcome the goddess Laxmi, houses are kept clean and

Rangoli patterns are drawn on doorsteps.

People decorate their houses and business places and the entrances are made colourful with lovely traditional Rangoli designs to welcome Laxshmi,

the goddess of wealth and prosperity.

To show that they are waiting for Laxmi Hindus celebrating Diwali draw small footprints with rice flour and vermilion

powder (kumkum) all over the houses and burn the Diwali

lamps.

Rangoli is Indian traditional art, usually created on the floor during

festivals.

Rangoli patterns are 2 dimensional and are made with vibrant colours.

During the Diwali festival, people usually make various types of Rangoli patterns that are geometrical designs.

Between these designs they place the oil lamps (Divas).

Click on this pattern to see

a web site with more designs!