60 Incredible Facts About Diwali (The Festival of Light)

Facts About Diwali: Diwali or Deepavali is a major Hindu festival. This festival of lights is celebrated all over India. During this festival, small oil lamps are lit indoors and outdoors. A skylight is installed at a high place. Rangoli is decorated outside the house. The festival falls in the middle of autumn, at the juncture of the months of Ashwin and Kartik, after the end of the rainy season and the arrival of new crops. Ashwin Vadya Dwadashi to Kartika Shuddha Dwitiya consists of six days of this festival. This festival usually falls between October - November. This festival in IndiaThere are holidays in 50 places. It is a sacred Hindu festival that symbolizes the victory of good over evil.

Interesting Facts About Diwali

The festival signifies the victory of light over darkness.
The English city of Leicester hosts the biggest Diwali celebrations outside of India.
It is a tradition to clean the house, making it spotless before entering the New Year.
It is celebrated in honor of Goddess Lakshmi – the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity.
It is the most famous, biggest and brightest festival of India, and is celebrated for five days.
The festival also marks the return of the Lord Rama and Sita after completing fourteen years in exile.
“Shubh Deepavali” is a customary greeting associated with Diwali. It means, “Have an auspicious diwali”.
Businesses also start new accounting books, and farmers end the harvest season. The festival also signals the onset of winter.
As part of the Diwali celebration, people get to visit each other, exchange gifts, feast, feed the poor, and set off fireworks.
On the same night that Diwali is celebrated, Jains celebrate a festival of lights to mark the attainment of moksha by Mahavira.
Reported by US Global Investors, people who celebrate Diwali buy an enormous amount of gold as it is a symbol of wealth and status.
The dates for Diwali change every year based on the moon’s position, but the holiday is usually celebrated in October and November.
As stated by Kid’s World Travel Guide, Diwali symbolizes the beginning of the Hindu New Year and starts two days before the new moon.
As stated by The Fact Life, “Shubh Deepavali” is a greeting that is most associated with Diwali. It means, “Have a successful Diwali.”
Sivakasi, a town in Southern India, is the largest producer of fireworks in India. It produces about 90 percent of the fireworks in India.

Diwali Information in English

During the Diwali festival, windows and doors are left unlocked with the hope that Lakshmi will enter the houses and bless the occupants with success and wealth.
Diwali is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the Hindu month of Kartika. Hinduism is a major religion of India, and is considered to be the oldest religion in the world.
It is a national holiday in India, Trinidad & Tobago, Myanmar, Nepal, Mauritius, Guyana, Singapore, Suriname, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Fiji. And is an optional holiday in Pakistan.
Sikhs also celebrate Diwali, as it marks the release of their guruji – Guru Hargobind Sahibji – and 52 other kings and princess of India that were made captives by the mogul emperor Shah Jahan.
As part of the Diwali celebrations, paintings or statues of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh are placed side by side for rituals and prayers. Typically, people worship Lord Ganesh before Goddess Lakshmi.
More than 800 million people celebrate this festival in various ways. During the festivities, Hindus outside India visit mandirs (their places of worship) to give offerings to deities, and to share food.
Traditional diyas (light lamps) used during Diwali are earthen lamps, although plastic and metallic diyas have also become available recently. These diyas are filled with ghee or oil, and a cotton wick is used to bear the flame.
Diwali also marks a major shopping festival in the places where it is celebrated. There are special discounts and offers that businesses provide to their customers. Buying new things during this festival is considered to be good.
The fireworks on day 3 of the Indian holiday, signify Diwali legend Prince Rama’s (the Hindu god Vishnu in human form) return to his kingdom after being exiled for 14 years and defeating king Ravana reported by US Global Investors.

Unknown Facts About Diwali in English

Oil and light lamps are used in high numbers in and around peoples’ houses and properties to celebrate the festival. The festival commemorates the lighting that was done to bring Lord Rama and his wife Sita from the forest of Ayodhya.
Diwali is also celebrated in honor of the marriage of the Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi. And it also marks the triumph of the Lord Krishna over the demon Naraka. Hindus in Bengal honor the fearsome Goddess Kali on the occasion of Diwali.
Diwali is celebrated not just in India but in different places throughout the world as stated by Culture Trip. Countries that celebrate Diwali include Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Fiji, Thailand, Mauritius, Australia, England and Canada.
The most ubiquitous and popular Diwali tradition is the setting of fireworks. The addition of that tradition to Diwali celebrations is, however, recent. Until the 1900s, pyrotechnics and firecrackers were prohibitively expensive and thus only available to royals.
Diwali is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the Hindu month of Kartika and, much like Easter, the date changes every year. In 2019, Diwali started on October 25 as reported by The Fact Life, in 2020, it fell on November 14, and in 2021, Diwali began on November 4.
According to Get Lit, Diwali brings along special foods that are prepared for celebrating the holiday. Dishes include Sheera which is a “sweet fudgy like substance” made with semolina, raisins, saffron and nuts, and Kheer which is a creamy pudding made with sago and rice, and eaten with lentil vadas.
Diyas light the houses; fireworks illuminate the skies and rangoli decorates the outside Hindu homes. They do this to attract Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of good fortune. Floors inside as well as outside homes are coated with rangoli, which consists of intricate designs made of flower petals, sand, or colored rice.
According to Culture Trip, Diwali is one of the few occasions where soldiers on both sides of India and Pakistan (the two countries have been in various wars with each other for the past 70 years). On this luminous holiday, both sides lay aside their differences and even distribute delicious sweets across the border every year.

Lesser Known Facts About Diwali

During the festival of Diwali, fireworks worth millions of dollars are ignited. These fireworks cause a lot of pollution, which is a particularly life hazard for those living in densely populated areas such as the cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai in India. Fireworks produce a variety of pollutants affecting sound, light, air and water.
How Diwali is observed differs based on tradition and region. For instance, in the northern part of India, People celebrate the legend of the return of King Rama after defeating Ravana by lighting rows of lamps. Conversely, in the west, the light festival commemorates the time when Lord Vishnu (one of the major Hindu gods) sent King Bali, the demon, to rule the world of the dead.
The name Diwali is derived from the rows (avali) of lamps (deepa) that people light outside their houses and temples as a symbol of the internal light that protects against spiritual darkness. For Hindus, Diwali is important akin to how Christmas is to Christians. However, over the centuries Diwali has morphed into a national celebration that’s celebrated by even non-Hindu communities.
According to National Geographic, different stories are celebrated throughout India during Diwali. For example, in the north, Indians celebrate the story of King Rama's return to Ayodhya after he defeated Ravana (the 10-headed king of demons) by lighting rows of clay lamps. In southern India, they celebrate it as the day that Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura. Finally, in the west, the light festival marks the day that Lord Vishnu, the Preserver (one of the main gods in Hindu) sent the demon King Bali to rule the nether world.
The first day of Diwali is designated for buying small gold items and cleaning the homes. Besides, Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped on that day. On the second day, which celebrates the obliteration of Narakasura by Krishna, people offer prayers for their ancestors’ souls. On the third day, families seek Goddess Lakshmi’s blessings to ensure their success; set off fireworks and light diyas; and visit temples. This is the festival’s main day. The fourth day marks the first day of the year in the Hindu calendar. Besides, it commemorates Krishna’s triumph over Indra.
The five-day celebrations of Diwali have different traditions as stated by National Geographic. On day one, people clean their homes and shop for gold or kitchen utensils to help bring good luck to their homes. Day two calls for a little bit of crafting creativity as people usually create design patterns called rangoli on the floor of their homes using colored powders or sand. On day three, families gather together for a prayer to Goddess Lakshmi which is called Lakshmi puja, then gather for a ginormous feast and fireworks. Day four marks the first day of the Hindu new year and friends and relatives visit each other and shower everyone with gifts and best wishes. Finally, on day five, brothers visit their married sisters, who welcome them with a tasty meal.

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