Diwali Festival

Diwali festival is an occasion when everyone will be cleaning their home thoroughly; preparing elaborate rangolis, planning the special dishes and for their visit to temple, friends and relatives. Diwali has evolved into a community festival where people socialize at a large scale and take out few joyous moment from their busy schedule. Shopping for Diwali starts a fortnight before the festival beckons. It's a shoppers time as they never have purchases so good. Almost every shopkeeper has an attractive discount offer on clothes, sweets and crackers to woo customers.

The Five Days Of Diwali
The celebration of the Diwali festival stretches for five days. On the first day of Dhanteras, people buy new utensils ; on second day of Chaturdashi or Chhoti Diwali, devotees take bath before sunrise as it is considered auspicious; on third day of Diwali, Lakshmi puja is performed to propitiate the goddess of wealth to fulfill one's wishes for prosperity; fourth day commence the Govardhan puja, on this day their is worship of cows; and, on the fifth comes Bhai Dooj when brothers visit their sisters. Its origin is traced to the Puranic incident of Yama visiting Yamuna.

Significance Of Diwali
Diwali, or Deepawali, literally means rows of diyas (clay lamps). It also marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year and Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god, is worshiped. It is considered a positive time for shopping, starting new ventures, business deals and house warming. On this day, doorways are lit up and decorated with Rangoli or traditional patterns to welcome the Hindu goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. The festival is a symbolic representation of the lifting of spiritual darkness.

For Sikh & Jains
The day of Diwali is equally important for Sikh and Jains. During the festival time in 1620 the 6th Guru, Hargobind Singh Ji gained the release of 52 Hindu princes who had been falsely imprisoned in Gwallior Fort by the rulers of the area, the Mughalss. The Golden Temple was lit with many lights to welcome the release of Guru Hargobind and Sikhs have continued the celebration. The Jain also celebrate this time, as a celebration of the establishment of the dharma by Lord Mahavira.