The festival of lights ‘Diwali’ is one of the most predominant festival celebrated in India. It is all about celebrating the victory of Good over Evil. Indians decorate their hoses and worship Lord Ganesha and Goddess Laxmi for prosperity.
Diwali 2020 Date
Every year Diwali is observed on the new moon day / 15th day (Amavasya) of Kartik month. This year Diwali will be celebrated on Saturday, 14 November.
Laxmi Puja Muhurat 2020
Performing the puja in the correct muhurat is essential to get the maximum benefits out of the puja. It is believed that the chances for the success of a task is maximised if it is done in the correct muhurat. The muhurats for laxmi puja in 2020 are
1. Pradosh Kala Muhurat
‘Pradosh Kala’ is the period, which starts just at the time of Sunset. The Pradosh Kala Muhurat for this year is of 1 hour and 56 minutes. So, for Laxmi puja the muhurat starts at evening 05.28 pm up to 07.24 pm.
2. Nishita Kala Muhurat
‘Nishita Kala’ is the period usually of duration of less than an hour and falls during the midnight. The Nishita Kala Muhurat for Laxmi Puja this year starts at night from 11.59 pm up to 12.32 am.
Other than these 2 muhurats you can also consider the ChoghadiaMuhurat for performing the Laxmi Puja. The ChoghadiaMuhurat are as follows:
Afternoon – 02.17 pm up to 04.07 pm
Evening – 05.28 pm up to 07.07 pm
Night – 08.47 pm up to 01.45 am
15th November Morning – 05.04 am up to 06.44 am
Laxmi Puja Rituals
Laxmi Puja is one of the most important pujas performed at the day of Diwali. Along with Goddess Laxmi, Lord Ganesha and Goddess Saraswati is also worshipped. It is believed that Goddess Laxmi descends to Earth and visits every house on the day of Diwali and showers her blessings. So, here are few rituals that you must perform while doing Laxmi Puja at the day of Diwali.
1. Keep your house clean and decorate it with lights, diyas and lamps. Sprinkle the Holy Ganga Jal all over the house before starting with the Laxmi puja.
2. Place the idols/pictures of Goddess Laxmi and Lord Ganesha over a red coloured cloth and place a Kalash filled with water near it.
3. Apply Haldi and Kumkum tilak on both the idols/picture. Lit a diya in front of them and place with rice, turmeric, saffron, gulal, sandalwood paste and etc. Offer your prayer and devotion.
4. After Laxmi Puja, Goddess Saraswati, Goddess Kali, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Kuberare revered according to the rites.
5. After that you can also pay reverence to your books, wealth, etc.
6. After the completion of the puja and all the rituals distribute sweets to everyone including your neighbours, friends etc and perform some charity to the needy.
7. Make sure you perform the Puja along with all the family members.
Significance of Diwali
Diwali personifies the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. Diwali symbolizes the return of Lord Shree Ram, Mata Sita and Laxman from their 14 years of exile. Lord Shree Ram defeated and killed Ravana who abducted Mata Sita. This was the victory of good over evil. The entire city of Ayodhya was lighted with diyas and lamps and the citizens welcomed Lord Shree Ram, Mata Sita and Laxman with great joy and pomp.
So, it is believed that lighting your houses with lamps, diyas, lanterns and decorating with flowers and rangoli’s at the time of Diwali is bringing the presence of God into our houses and hearts, eliminating all the darkness from our minds and inviting the divine light of knowledge and prosperity.
Diwali Celebrations Across India
Diwali is celebrated with huge enthusiasm in all over India. Various states have various traditions and rituals in celebrating Diwali. Like in the western part of India it marks the beginning of Hindu financial year, in the easter part Goddess Kali is worshipped during Diwali with huge celebrations, in the northern parts of India Diwali is associated with Lord Shree Ram’s return from exile to his kingdom in Ayodhya, and in the south, the festival is also called as Naraka Chaturdashi that is observed as Krishna’s victory over Narakasura. Here are few cities and states that have the grandest of celebrations with their own unique traditions.
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
The sacred Ghats of Varanasi are decorated and lightened with diya and lamps. The auspicious Ganga Aarti is performed in the evening. All the houses are decorated with flowers and diyas. during the night-time thousands of priest’s chant hymns. This gives a great spiritual feel witnessing all the festivities live.
Jaipur, Rajasthan
The decoration in Jaipur during Diwali is a delight to watch. The markets are hugely decorated with various patterned lanterns and lights. The popular markets like MI Road, Nehru Bazaar, Tripolia Bazaar and Bapu Bazaar to community centres are decorated exceptionally well. A competition is also conducted among the markets and the best decorated market wins. One of the most happening places of Jaipur, The Narahgarh Fort point looks immensely beautiful during Diwali. A huge crowd visits the fort during Diwali to witness the whole city that glitters the whole night.
Kolkata, West Bengal
Kolkata the city of joy celebrates Kali Puja during Diwali with great enthusiasm. The city looks magical with dazzling lights and hugely decorated Kali puja pandals. A grand puja is conducted in the midnight to celebrate the victory of good over evil and destruction of evil. Ululations (high pitched vocal sounds) and sound of bells resonates across the temples and residences where the puja is observed.
Gujarat
In Gujarat huge rangolis are made during Diwali. For Gujaratis, Diwali marks the last day of their year. The Next day is celebrated as their new year. People visit each other’s houses and distribute sweets. Laxmi puja is performed for prosperity.
Amritsar, Punjab
Punjab looks totally glittered with lights on the day of Diwali. The Golden temple in Amritsar is lit with thousands of diyas and lights. BandiChhor Divas, the festival that coincides with Diwali is celebrated across Punjab, Haryana, and other areas.The festival symbolizes the historical release of the Sixth Sikh guru, Guru Hargobind, along with 52 kings, from the Mughal prison in the year 1620.Guru Hargobind directly reached the Golden Temple after his release and the city was illuminated with diyasto celebrate the occasion.
Mumbai, Maharashtra
Mumbai – The City of Dreams looks heavenly during Diwali. The celebrations are huge with firecrackers and lights. Maharashtrians prepare various kinds of Faral during Diwali. The Faral includes various Ladoo, Chakli, Shankarpara, Chewda, Karanji and etc. there are two main lantern streets in Mumbai (also known as ‘Kandil Galli’) specialized for sale of Diwali Kandils, where one can find hundreds of Lanterns in varieties, colours, shapes and sizes. One is ‘Kawli Wadi street’ in Dadar West and the other is ‘Kantilal M Sharma Street’ (South Mumbai), a lane at the junction of Crawford Market.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
People in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana celebrate the day of Diwali in the memory of the Victory of Lord Shree Krishna over the demon Narakasura. It also states the closing of accounts for agrarian businesses. Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped in the morning.
Karnataka
Diwali is celebrated in Karnataka with a ritual known as Balipadyami. It is celebrated in honour of the notional return of the daitya-king Bali on earth.On this day, people take early morning bath with an oil massage (abhyangasnan) and women move lit lamps in front of their husbands’ faces. In the afternoon, they feast on a meal with different delicacies. People wear new clothes and celebrate the whole day.
So, this was all about Diwali and its celebration. As said “The more we bring God into our heart, the more His Divine Light shines within us”, this year pray for prosperity and health and have a Happy And Safe Diwali.
