“Life should be a continual celebration, a festival of lights the whole year-round. Only then can you grow up.Can you blossom.”-Rajneesh

The word meaning of Diwali also known as ‘Deepavali’  means an array of lamps. It is a festival to mark a new beginning and the triumph of good over evil, and light over darkness. It is also believed that on this day, Lord Rama and his wife Sita returned to their kingdom from an exile after defeating the demon king Ravan. One wouldn’t actually be celebrating Diwali without having diyas, sweets, rangolis and lanterns all having their own significances. Diyas signifies getting rid of selfish and materialistic thoughts. The oil in the diya symbolizes negatives in the human mind. The wick is the symbol of atma or the self. The diya presents light when the oil is burnt by the wick. The light of the diya directs us towards happiness and pleasure in life.

Diwali is also celebrated primarily to worship goddess Lakshmi and lord Ganesha. Prayers are offered to the goddess for her blessings in the form of wealth. Rangoli designs are created at the entrance of the house,  as a symbolically welcome the goddess to the home. People create ‘Rangoli’ for luck and blessings, to create the designs people generally use rice, lentils, flower petals, turmeric and other spices. It is also made with coloured chalk, rice powder and crushed limestone which have a high demand in the market during these days. We can also never think of a Diwali without lanterns, it is an ever-shining light God! It is believed that during Karthika, the spirits of the dead visit their relatives' houses to wish them well or that if lanterns are not lit, the dead will curse their relatives to live in darkness throughout life.

Traditional lanterns like Kandeels are hung for up to a month from the start of Diwali. The colourful lanterns are always tied above to indicate that God lives in the soul world with full of different virtues. Families and friends share sweets and gifts and greet each other. Indian families prepare sweets prior ten days to the festival. It is an old tradition to consider sweets to be pure and it is a must in Diwali given as an offering to Gods. There are almost a hundred varieties of sweets like gujjiya, gulab jamun, barfi, ladoos the list goes on and on……

 On Diwali lets bring the light of unconditional love in our hearts and drive out all materialistic thoughts from our lives. Let's throw our ego, jealousy, anger out of our lives and celebrate this joyous festival together…..