Diwali Festival 2020

 Diwali is a festival celebrated by Hindus all over the world with great excitement and enthusiasm. This festival is also called the Festival of Lights because people light earthen lamps as a part of the celebrations of this festival. The readers would know how to attain the Supreme Almighty. 

Diwali is a four-day-long event and begins with Dhanteras which falls on November 13, 2020, and ends with Bhai dooj which falls on November 16, 2020. Deepawali is on November 14, 2020.

As far as the preparation of Diwali celebrations is concerned, people begin with cleaning their homes and offices around a month before. Buying new clothes for the young and elderly is equally observed. People prepare sweets and savory dishes for the occasion. People decorate their doorways with beautiful and colorful rangoli to welcome goddess Laxmi—goddess of wealth. Earthen lamps and hanging lamps are lit.

Diwali Festival 2020: People use decorative lighting to decorate their homes and offices. Crackers are burnt on all four nights of the festival. People visit each other’s houses and exchange gifts and sweets. Laxmi Pujan is the main event during this festival which is not in accordance with the Spiritual Texts.

 It is celebrated to commemorate the victory of Rama over the evil king Ravana and his return to Ayodhya after an exile of 14 years.  When Rama and his wife Sita were sentenced to an exile of 14 years they left their kingdom Ayodhya along with Laxman to complete the sentence. During the exile, Sita was abducted by Ravana, the evil king. Lord Rama fought a war with Ravana to free Sita from his clutches and eventually Ravana was killed during the war. Post this the trio returned to their kingdom Ayodhya, which was celebrated by the people by lighting up earthen lamps and decorating the entire kingdom to welcome their Princes and Princess. It is believed that from then on the festival of Diwali began to be celebrated. 

Another folklore that surrounds the Diwali celebration comes from the time of Mahabharata. After losing a dice game with Kauravas, the Pandavas were sentenced to an exile of 13 years. After serving the exile when they returned to their birthplace Hastinapur on the new moon day of the Kartik month, the people there celebrated their return and illuminated earthen lamps everywhere and decorated their kingdom. 

Another tale that supports Diwali celebrations is that goddess Lakshmi rose from the ocean during the churning of the cosmic sea on this day. This was the day when Lord Vishnu married goddess Lakshmi and to mark this special occasion many luminous lamps were illuminated. This serves as a major reason why goddess Lakshmi is worshipped on the day of Diwali and why people seek her blessings to acquire wealth throughout the year. But the worship of demigods can’t yield any benefit. The spiritual benefits can be derived by the worship of Kabir Saheb only.

After reading the discussion above, I am sure this question comes as a setback as to why I am asking for a justification for the celebration of Diwali? Well, if it surprises you I am happy that it does because there are a lot of environmental, economical, logical, and spiritual reasons which question the very celebration of this festival.

The first reason that opposes Diwali celebrations is that it is essentially a festival of lights. But other than the lights people burst crackers. These crackers not only harm the delicate balance of our ecological system but also pose a threat to the health conditions of newborn babies, animals, the sick, and the elderly. These crackers cause a lot of noise pollution and air pollution which can lead to severe implications in and around the surroundings where they are let off.

A second important reason for questioning Diwali celebrations is regarding the way these crackers are produced. Every year during Diwali there are incidents of fire in cracker factories. This not only puts the employees of the factory at risk but also causes a threat to those who live around those factories. Plus a lot of children are employed in crackers making factories which leads to child labor and which is legally a crime. By purchasing these crackers people create a demand for these commodities which encourages these factory owners to employ more children and put them and other people at health risks.

Diwali Festival 2020: A vast majority of people celebrate Diwali commemorating the homecoming of Lord Rama along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman after serving the exile of 14 years. It’s understood that during that era people celebrated their homecoming since they were unaware of what the future beheld with regards to the family life of Lord Rama and Sita. Two years later Lord Rama sentenced pregnant Sita to an exile of a lifetime.