Deepavali, a Sanskrit word meaning “rows of lighted lamps.”
Mostly known as Diwali the Festival of Lamps,”
This is one of my favorite festivals of Autumn. It’s date depends on the Hindu lunar calendar, and it lasts five days. This year it is begins 06:03 on Nov 04, 2021 and ends at 02:44 on Nov 05, 2021.It is about the victory of good over evil, good luck, light lamps, sweets, great food, gifts, new clothes, and Ghenda – गेंदा flowers a.k.a. “Cempasuchitl” flowers.
What is not to like about that?
In the Hindu Mythology the story goes like this:
Rama and Sita are actually gods.
Long time ago in India, lived a king called Dassaratha. He had two sons prince Rama, and Lakshman, when he remarried he had another son prince Bharat. Bharat’s mother had the king vanish Rama and Sita so her son could become king.
Rama’s other brother Lakshman went along with him and Sita and on their journey they met an old Wiseman who gave them some magic arrows to protect themselves from evil spirits.
One day, Sita saw a beautiful faun and asked Rama to catch it for her. Rama tried to catch it but, instead he found himself lost in the woods.
Lakshman, went looking for Rama and set a circle around Sita. He told Sita that as long as she stayed within the circle, nothing bad could happen to her.
When Lakshman was gone, an ugly old man appeared and ask Sita to help him, she thought it would be safe to help an old man, and stepped out of the circle, at that time, the ugly old man changed into the king of the demons known as Ravana. He kidnapped Sita and took her to the demon island of Lanka.
Rama and Lakshman found their way out of the forest, and when they found Sita was gone, they realized they had been tricked by Ravana, and started their journey to find her.
Hanuman the king of the monkeys found Rama and Lakshman and told them he had seen the chariot of Ravana flying to they island of Lanka, and he promised Rama to help them find Sita.
Hanuman’s army built a bridge with tree trunks and when they reached the island Ravana’s army of demons came to stop them, they fought for a long time until Rama took one of the arrows that the wise man gave him in the forest, and struck Ravana in the heart. Ravana was dead, and everyone cheered.
When Rama and Sita return to his father’s palace they saw people had lit lots of lamps to welcome them, and they live happy ever after.
The legend says that Ravana could not be killed by any god, only by a human. So, the god Vishnu and Lakshmi Goddess of wealth and prosperity also his wife decided to be born as humans to get rid of the demons, and so they were born as Rama and Sita.
begins 06:03 on Nov 04, 2021
Books you will surely like about Rama and Sita. [One Video]
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Questions I am often asked about Diwalli.
Q: Who are Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha?
A: Goddess Lakshmi is Goddess of wealth, fortune, luxury and prosperity (both material and spiritual), the wife of Vishnu. She had no children and adopted one of the two sons of Goddess Parvati. Lord Ganesha, who is the patron of arts and sciences and the ‘Deva’ of intellect and wisdom.
Q: Why are Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha worshiped together?
A: Because one must first be blessed by Lord Ganesha with intelligence to spend the wealth from Goddess Lakshmi in the right manner.
Q: Why does Lord Ganesha have the head of an elephant?
A: Most early cults used attributes of an animal to represent a god, i.e. the Egyptian god of wisdom, language and music had the head of an ibis, Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent. The Greeks represented gods using an animal, like Athena, was represented by an owl. In modern times some of our heroes have also animal attributes such as Batman, Catwoman, Black Panther.
