The celebration will include dancing, a fashion show and other performances, as well as free food. Diwali celebrates Rama's eventual defeat of the evil spirit Ravana, and his triumphant return to his home. Subhamoy Das is the co-author of "Applied Hinduism: Ancient Wisdom for Today's World." [124] Many visit their favourite Hindu temple. [185] When these compounds pollute the air, they increase the risk of cancer in people. Communities prepare over one hundred dishes from a variety of ingredients, which is then dedicated to Krishna before being shared among the community. This year, it begins in the first week of November from 2nd-6th. In 2022, Diwali is on Monday 24 October. [110] Some regions of India start Diwali festivities the day before Dhanteras with Govatsa Dwadashi. [143], The last day of the festival, the second day of the bright fortnight of Kartik, is called Bhai Duj (literally "brother's day"[146]), Bhau Beej, Bhai Tilak or Bhai Phonta. Diwali festivities usually last for 5 days. [19] Diwali is also marked with fireworks and the decoration of floors with rangoli designs, and other parts of the house with jhalars. https://www.learnreligions.com/when-is-diwali-1539426 (accessed March 4, 2023). This is believed to please Yama (Yamraj), the god of death, and to ward off untimely death. Diwali celebrations burst into life on the third day of the five day festival of lights, which falls between October and November with a changing date each year. This year's date of celebration starts November 14, 2020. . Diwali is generally a time for visiting, exchanging gifts, wearing new clothes, feasting, feeding the poor, and setting off fireworks (though such displays have been restricted to limit noise and other environmental pollution). Though technically religious, it's also become a cultural event in North America that's celebrated with sweets and special foods. On that day sisters pray for the success and well-being of their brothers. Diwali or Deepavali - "The festival of lights" is one of the most important festivals for Hindus. Diwali Celebrations Dates in Different Regions Diwali 2023 (Deepavali 2023) is on Sunday, November 12th in India. [28][29][30], Diwali is also a major cultural event for the Hindu, Sikh, and Jain diaspora. [77][78][i], The religious significance of Diwali varies regionally within India. [121] It is also celebrated as Roop Chaudas in some North Indian households, where women bathe before sunrise, while lighting a Diya (lamp) in the bath area, they believe it helps enhance their beauty it is a fun ritual that young girls enjoy as part of festivities. [43][55], Emperor Harsha refers to Deepavali, in the 7th-century Sanskrit play Nagananda, as Dpapratipadotsava (dpa = light, pratipad = first day, utsava = festival), where lamps were lit and newly engaged brides and grooms received gifts. Amavasya is thought of as the darkest night of the year and is holy to Hindus. Monier Monier Williams (2008 updated, Harvard University), Sanskrit English dictionary, . Amavasya is thought of as the darkest night of the year and is holy to Hindus. [162][q] ASSOCHAM, a trade organisation in India, forecasted that online shopping alone to be over 300 billion (US$3.8billion) over the 2017 Diwali season. The name is derived from the Sanskrit term dipavali, meaning row of lights. The festival generally symbolizes the victory of light over darkness. [24], Originally a Hindu festival, Diwali is now also celebrated by other faiths. Diwali is usually celebrated twenty days after the Vijayadashami festival, with Dhanteras, or the regional equivalent, marking the first day of the festival when celebrants prepare by cleaning their homes and making decorations on the floor, such as rangolis. It's observed on the 15th day of Kartik, the holiest month in the Hindu lunar calendar. One tradition links the festival to legends in the Hindu epic Ramayana, where Diwali is the day Rama, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman reached Ayodhya after a period of 14 years in exile after Rama's army of good defeated demon king Ravana's army of evil. [79] The festival formally begins two days before the night of Diwali, and ends two days thereafter. [112] [o] The looms, tools of trade, machines and workplaces are cleaned and prayers offered to these livelihood means. It is celebrated in India and other countries such as Nepal, Malaysia, Fiji, and Mauritius. It is celebrated for five days across India and other parts of southern Asia, as well as in many other places around the world. [12] Chhoti Diwali is also a day for visiting friends, business associates and relatives, and exchanging gifts. A lunar day is uniquely identified by three calendar elements: msa (lunar month), paka (lunar fortnight) and tithi (lunar day). [123], This day is commonly celebrated as Diwali in Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Karnataka. Learn Religions, Oct. 12, 2021, learnreligions.com/when-is-diwali-1539426. The Prayer Hymn (Aarti) for the Hindu Diwali Celebration, Hindu Calendar: Days, Months, Years and Epochs, The Real Reason for the Hindu Raksha Bandhan Celebration, History and Significance of Diwali, the Festival of Lights, Reasons to Celebrate Diwali the Festival of Lights, Calendar of Hindu Festivals, Fasts, and Religious Events 20202025, The History of Vasant Panchami, the Birth of Hindu Goddess Saraswati, A Guide to the 6 Seasons of the Hindu Calendar, A Guide to Lohri, The Hindu Winter Bonfire Festival, Evaluating Population Exposure to Environmental Pollutants During Deepavali Fireworks Displays Using Air Quality Measurements of the Safar Network, Whose Diwali Is It? Das, Subhamoy. The names and events of the individual days of Diwali are as follows: The first day, known as Dhanteras, is dedicated to cleaning homes and purchasing small items of gold. Deepavali means a row of lights, where 'deep' means light and 'avali' means row. As an auspicious occasion, many Hindus will make big purchases as it's believed that this will bring good luck. Every autumn, the observance sees millions of people attend. This year, Diwali 2022 begins on Monday, October 24, 2022 (24/10/2022), and finishes on Wednesday, October 26, 2022 (26/10/2022). [137][138] According to Pintchman, who quotes Raghavan, this ritual may also be linked to the tradition in some communities of paying respect to ancestors. [100], Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas in remembrance of the release of Guru Hargobind from the Gwalior Fort prison by the Mughal emperor Jahangir and the day he arrived at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The Hindu calendar is based on both the sun and moon (while the Gregorian calendar is only based on the sun). Diwali is also an important festival in Jainism. Diwali is generally a time for visiting, exchanging gifts, wearing new clothes, feasting, feeding the poor, and setting off fireworks (though such displays have been restricted to limit noise and other environmental pollution). When Is Diwali in 2021, 2022 and 2023? [108] During Diwali, people wear their finest clothes, illuminate the interior and exterior of their homes with saaki (earthen lamp), diyas and rangoli, perform worship ceremonies of Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and wealth,[l] light fireworks, and partake in family feasts, where mithai (sweets) and gifts are shared. The festival of Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama to his kingdom after defeating Ravana. Das, Subhamoy. The festivities vary between different regions. [13][14][93][94], A scholar of Jain and Nivethan, states that in Jain tradition, Diwali is celebrated in observance of "Mahavira Nirvana Divas", the physical death and final nirvana of Mahavira. It was in early 20th-century, states Harjot Oberoi, a scholar of Sikh history, when the Khalsa Tract Society triggered by the, Hindus of eastern and northeastern states of India associate the festival with the goddess. The auspicious time to conduct Lakshmi Puja will begin at 6:09 pm and end at 8:04 pm, according to the Drik Panchang. Merchants perform religious ceremonies and open new account books. Today it is the "festival of lights," attached to various mythological stories, particularly tales about Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Diwali usually falls in October or November. This is the day when Hindu, Jain and Sikh temples and homes are aglow with lights, thereby making it the "festival of lights". [n] Vishwakarma is the presiding Hindu deity for those in architecture, building, manufacturing, textile work and crafts trades. It is observed on the 15th day of the 8th month (the month of Kartik) in India's calendar. In 2023, it falls on a Sunday, and some businesses may choose to follow Sunday opening hours. A variety of sweets are prepared using flour, semolina, rice, chickpea flour, dry fruit pieces powders or paste, milk solids (mawa or khoya) and clarified butter (ghee). This year, Diwali or Deepavali will take place on October 24. The word Deepawali comes from the Sanskrit word deep, which means an Indian lantern/lamp. [31][32][33] The main day of the festival of Diwali (the day of Lakshmi Puja) is an official holiday in Fiji,[34] Guyana,[35] India, Malaysia,[a][36] Mauritius, Myanmar,[37] Nepal,[38] Pakistan,[39] Singapore,[40] Sri Lanka, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. The women, in particular, adorn themselves in colourful attire and decorate their hands with henna. Cook, Sharell. [m] Contemporary Bengali celebrations mirror those found elsewhere, with teenage boys playing with fireworks and the sharing of festive food with family, but with the Shakti goddess Kali as the focus. The meaning of Diwaliand its many legends Diwali is so widely. The Catholic dicastery Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, founded as Secretariat for non-Christians by Pope Paul VI, began sending official greetings and the Pope's message to the Hindus on Diwali in the mid-1990s. [15][131][132] After the puja, people go outside and celebrate by lighting up patakhe (fireworks) together, and then share a family feast and mithai (sweets, desserts). Diwali is observed as a Gazetted Holiday throughout the nation. Because the festival of Diwali is celebrated according to the lunar calendar, the dates are different each year. Residents of Amritsar lit lamps throughout the city to celebrate the occasion. Gambling, especially in the form of card games, is encouraged as a way of ensuring good luck in the coming year and in remembrance of the games of dice played by Shiva and Parvati on Mount Kailasa or similar contests between Radha and Krishna. [109] Textual evidence suggests that Bengali Hindus worshipped Lakshmi before the colonial era, and that the Kali puja is a more recent phenomenon. Sainsbury's bans fireworks across . According to Audrey Truschke, the Sunni Muslim emperor Aurangzeb did limit "public observation" of many religious holidays such as Hindu Diwali and Holi, but also of Shia observance of Muharram and the Persian holiday of Nauruz. To produce colors when crackers are burst, carcinogenic and poisonous elements are used. At such events a variety of music, dance and arts performances, food, crafts, and cultural celebrations are featured. The five day festival falls in the first week of Novmber. [116][114] Women and children decorate doorways within homes and offices with rangolis, colourful designs made from rice flour, flower petals, colored rice or colored sand,[23] while the boys and men decorate the roofs and walls of family homes, markets, and temples and string up lights and lanterns. Historical records appear inconsistent about the name of the lunar month in which Diwali is observed. Diwali, also known as Deepavali, falls on 4 November this year. Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of good fortune and prosperity, is the primary deity worshiped during Diwali. This is believed to please Yama, the god of death, and to ward off untimely death. [121] The day and its rituals are interpreted as ways to liberate any souls from their suffering in "Naraka", or hell, as well as a reminder of spiritual auspiciousness. The second day is Naraka Chaturdashi. (2021, October 12). Unlike some other festivals, the Hindus typically do not fast during the five-day long Diwali including Lakshmi Pujan, rather they feast and share the bounties of the season at their workplaces, community centres, temples, and homes. [98][99] This traditional belief of the origin of Diwali, and its significance to Jains, is reflected in their historic artworks such as paintings. "The first day . The holiday falls in late October or early November each year, and in 2021, is on Thursday, November 4. . In his 11th-century memoir on India, the Persian traveler and historian Al Biruni wrote of Deepavali being celebrated by Hindus on the day of the New Moon in the month of Kartika. Important Read: Tips to Celebrate Diwali in 2021 History and Significance of Diwali Diwali is also known as Deepavali, Dipavali, Dewali, Deepawali, or the Festival of Lights. [43] In western states such as Gujarat, and certain northern Hindu communities of India, the festival of Diwali signifies the start of a new year. Many light diyas and keep them burning throughout the night. Confectioners and shops create Diwali-themed decorative displays, selling these in large quantities, which are stocked for home celebrations to welcome guests and as gifts. It is usually celebrated on October or November every year. In 2022, Diwali falls on October 24th which is a new moon day or Amavasya. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Diwali is one of the most widely celebrated religious festivals worldwide, it takes place every year between October and November and it commemorates the spiritual victory of light over darkness. In Bengal the goddess Kali is worshipped. More Topics Diaspora, Identity, and Festivalization, The Festival of 'Deepavali' as Marks of Tradition and Identity for Working, Married Hindu Women: Continuity and Change, Celebrations as Social Investments: Festival Expenditures, Unit Price Variation, and Social Status in Rural India, M.A., English Literature, University of North Bengal. [60] It is mentioned in the Ramayana that Diwali was celebrated for only 2 years in Ayodhya. Diwali falls in either October or November each year, depending on the cycle of the moon. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. It is intended to signify a brother's duty to protect his sister as well as sisters blessing their brothers. [20], The festival is an annual homecoming and bonding period not only for families,[17][18] but also for communities and associations, particularly those in urban areas, which will organise activities, events and gatherings. It is believed that spirits roam around on the night of Kali Chaudas, and Hanuman, who is the deity of strength, power, and protection, is worshipped to seek protection from the spirits. Ritually, in honour of Lakshmi, the female player always wins. Diwali takes places every year, either in October or November, depending on the position of the Moon. Diwali, also spelled Divali, one of the major religious festivals in Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, lasting for five days from the 13th day of the dark half of the lunar month Ashvina to the second day of the light half of the lunar month Karttika. [86], Mythical tales shared on Diwali vary widely depending on region and even within Hindu tradition,[88] yet all share a common focus on righteousness, self-inquiry and the importance of knowledge,[89][90] which, according to Lindsey Harlan, an Indologist and scholar of Religious Studies, is the path to overcoming the "darkness of ignorance". Related: 25 Diwali Facts When is Diwali 2022? On the eve of his first visit to India as President of the United States, Obama released an official statement sharing his best wishes with "those celebrating Diwali". [170] National and civic leaders such as the former Prince Charles have attended Diwali celebrations at prominent Hindu temples in the UK, such as the Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, using the occasion to highlight contributions of the Hindu community to British society.