Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, is one of the most celebrated festivals in the world. It is a five-day festival that starts on October 28th this year, with the main celebrations happening on October 30, the third day.
The festival sees its largest gatherings and celebrations in India, but Hindu communities across the globe join in the celebrations. Here is how you can prepare for Diwali. Or, if you’re simply interested in the festival from an outsider’s perspective, here you can learn about the preparations your Hindu friends and coworkers will be making during the build up to Diwali.
What is Diwali?
Diwali, also called Deepavali in some Indian languages, translates literally as “row of lamps” and is a celebration of the victory of good over evil, light over dark and knowledge over ignorance. Rows of lamps are lit everywhere in the community and people go to extra lengths to light up their houses.
Who celebrates Diwali?
While Diwali sees its largest celebrations in India, countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Nepal also have big celebrations. Where Hindu communities are found in the USA, Canada, Europe etc, smaller festivals or celebrations take place. Aside from Hinduism, other religions that celebrate this festival are Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Non-religious people are also free to celebrate.
Preparing for Diwali
Here are a few things to do in preparation of Diwali, which usually takes place during the first two days of Diwali.
Clean the house
It is important to clean the house or place of business thoroughly. It’s more than just a quick vacuum and dust. It can be compared to a spring clean, and apart from laundry, floors, cupboards and furniture, it’s also important to sort out documents, organize and tidy your work environment and organize messy wardrobes or storage spaces.
It’s a cleansing ritual of sorts and a way to rid yourself of unnecessary elements in your environment.
Decorate your entrance way
Rangoli is a colorful, traditional pattern made with rice flour and often shaped like lotus flowers. Draw these designs outside your home to make it beautiful. Other shapes and elements also seen as part of these decorations are lights, bells, flower garlands and mirrors. The designs are beautiful, colorful and inspiring and cheers up the entire community.
Decorating the entrance to the house or business is also a joyful way to welcome the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity.
Go shopping
Especially in India, the markets are alive during the Diwali preparations. Shops are packed with shoppers and filled with piles of tiny candles, colorful lanterns, bags of bright, decorative powders and endless amounts of streamers and twinkling lights.
Another tradition during the preparations for Diwali is to buy a new outfit to wear during the main celebrations. It’s exciting to go out and pick a beautiful new outfit for the occasion. Many Indians living abroad send money to their families in India at least a week before the celebration so they can go shopping.
Make or buy traditional sweets
Women make traditional sweets before Diwali, as sweet treats are one of the important elements of the festival. Instead of handing out expensive presents during Diwali, children receive lots of sweet treats and families give each other homemade treats in decorative boxes. Women gather in kitchens as long as a month before the festival to start making these delectable, traditional sweets.
A few traditional desserts and sweets made for Diwali are gulab jamun, often called Indian donuts (deep fried dumplings soaked in sugar syrup), jaleebi (deep fried, stringy sweets soaked in sugar syrup), kheer (creamy Indian rice pudding) and ladoo (sweet coconut balls).
Paint henna
To make themselves prettier yet, women take the time before Diwali to paint their hands and arms with traditional henna.
Light lanterns
The traditional lanterns lit outside the houses before Diwali are called diyas. These small lamps go hand-in-hand with the rangoli designs and light up the streets, creating excitement all around.
Kids run around in the evenings lighting firecrackers in the street to further elevate the excitement.
Leave out the meat
Many Hindus are vegetarian throughout the year, but some chose to make Diwali a meatless holiday, and will abstain from eating meat during the build up to the festival as well.
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