This week Hindus in India and its diaspora worldover celebrated the Festival of Diwali. India is a vast country having religious and cultural variations hence Sikhs, Budhists and Jains also celebrate their version of Diwali or Deepavali. The festival has its roots in Hindu mythology and epics.
Diya (Lamp) and Deepmala (Row of light), both symbolize light and spiritually; it is victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance and good over evil. People celebrate by lighting lamps, decorate homes, shoot and display fireworks and distribute sweets with relatives and friends.
India is a very diverse country and has ancient history. Different religious groups in different regions have different stories to relate to the Diwali festival. When Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya from exile and after winning the war with Ravana, people lit the lamps to welcome him and celebrated and then on every year the same day.
Buddhists relate it to the day Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism in the 3rd century BCE. Jains commemorate Diwali as Lord Mahavira attained Nirvana on that day in 500 BCE Sikhs celebrate Diwali as Victory of its sixth Guru Hargovind Singh after long freedom Struggle.
Modern environmental concerns clashed with this ancient tradition when millions of Indians set a Guinness World Record November 11 for illuminating the greatest number of bright earthen oil lamps. As noted in www.thenationalnews.com:
“A “hazardous” 400-500 level was recorded on the air quality index last week, more than 10 times the global safety threshold, which can cause acute and chronic bronchitis and asthma attacks.”
New Delhi is routinely named as the Indian city with the worst air quality, when the burning of crop residues in neighboring states is combined with cooler temperatures. This year, primary schools were closed, polluting vehicles banned, and construction halted to alleviate the effects of the air quality. While it’s still too early to tell if this world record will contribute to the pollution and health risks, few celebrants can argue with this sentiment from a Loughborough College UK participant in 2022:
“The moral of Diwali is that good always triumphs over evil; no matter how tough things get or whatever your situation there is always light at the end of the tunnel.”
