Diwali lighting up the south

By Victoria Bartlett
BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight

Candles are lit during Diwali to ward of evil spirits

Diwali is one of the biggest Hindu festivals, celebrated for five continuous days, where the third day is the main 'festival of lights'.

The festival signifies the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance.

The actual legend behind the festival differs depending on where you come from, but the story is usually linked to Lord Rama's victory as King.

He returned to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and killing a demon.

Traditions of Diwali

In Britain, as in India, the festival is a time for thoroughly spring-cleaning the home, wearing new clothes and most importantly, decorating buildings with fancy lights.

Priti Dave, 45, is a Hindu representative on the Southampton Council of Faith says: "There are lights to represent four different elements - detachment (from desires), devotion (to the Lord), prayer and meditation, and spiritual wisdom.

When we were children, my mother would also take the soot from the lamps and put a bit behind our ear, or use it as eyeliner, to keep evil spirits away from us Priti Dave

"The idea is that if you light these you will be led from falsehood to truth, from darkness to light, and from death to mortality - because we believe in incarnation and, as Hindus, the ultimate aim is to be at one with God."

Priti adds that this side of the celebration is sometimes forgotten: "The main message of Diwali is to bring light from within you and dispell darkness. Like with Christmas, the true meaning often gets lost because people are so busy enjoying the party.

"It is hard living in Western society to lead the right path when people are surrounded by different backgrounds and ways of thinking - but it is possible."

Stages of celebration

Day one of the festival sees people washing their money. People literally wash coins in milk and water and worship the goddess of wealth. It can also be said that giving or distributing money to the poor and needy, is a way of 'washing your wealth'.

Day two sees people offering food to the goddess in order to cast off evil spirits. Priti says her family had different traditions: "We would light lamps outside to ward off evil spirits and keep them out of the house, as people do for Halloween.

Priti Dave cooks up her Diwali dishes for the weekend's celebrations

"When we were children, my mother would also take the soot from these lamps and put a bit behind our ear, or use it as eyeliner, to keep evil spirits away from us."

Day Three is the last day of the Hindu year and thus also the end of the Hindu financial year. Many businessmen close their account books and do rituals to open new books for the next financial year, in order to gain prosperity in the next financial year.

Day Four is the start of the Hindu new year. On this day everybody dresses in their new clothes and visits the biggest temple in their town or city with their families. The young bow down and touch the feet of their elders to gain blessings.

Priti says there is also a gourmet side to the day's celebrations: "On New Years Day we bring many many dishes to the temple - hundreds will be on display and we'll eat those together after singing, dancing and praying.

The festival of lights often includes fireworks and lighting up the temples

Money or gifts of clothes are also given. Priti says this is often given in cash: "Gifts in the Asian society tends to be money rather than actual presents. Traditionally men also buy gold jewellery for their wives - I'll have to remind my husband of that!"

Day Five - on the final day of the festival a brother should be with his sister wherever she is and give her a gift. Historically this was so that the brother could check that all was well with his sister in her marital home.

Priti says "This was put in place to keep the tie between brothers and sisters after the women had got married and left her family and gone to live in another village."

Festival of Lights

The name of the festival comes from the Sanskrit word dipavali, meaning row of lights.

On the third day houses, shops, and public places are decorated with small earthenware oil lamps called diyas. These lamps, which are traditionally fueled by mustard oil, are placed in rows in windows, doors and outside buildings to decorate them.

In India oil lamps are often floated across the river Ganges - it is regarded as a good omen if the lamp manages to get all the way across.

Electric lights are fireworks are a big part of the Diwali celebrations in the UK.

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