Diwali

One of the biggest religious festivals in Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism is called Diwali. The 5-
day festival symbolises the triumph of light over darkness, hence, the word Diwali comes
from the Sanskirt term dipavali, which means ‘row of lights’ (Britannica, 2022). The festival
is generally celebrated by people exchanging presents, decorating their houses and
neighbourhoods with lights, and setting off many fireworks (Jones, 2018).
It is the most significant celebration of the year in India, and it commemorates the victory of light
over darkness, wisdom over ignorance, and goodness over evil. The festival take place over a five-
day period and is celebrated by over one billion people across India. Diwali includes prayers,
feasts, fireworks, family get-togethers, and charitable giving. Some people consider Diwali to mark
the start of a new year. The dates for Diwali each year are determined by the Hindu lunar
calendar. Diwali usually falls between the Hindu months of Asvina and Kartika, which usually fall in
October and November (Mckeever, 2020). 
Each day of Diwali has its own significance, on the first day of Diwali people clean and tidy their
houses, pray to the goddess Lakshmi and bake biscuits and sweets. On the second day of Diwali,
people decorate their houses with clay lamps and rangolis (Mckeever, 2020).
 Rangoli

Above, is an image of the rangolis, rangolis are beautiful designs placed on the floors of
people’s homes to celebrate Diwali, they are generally designed using flower petals,
coloured powder or rice.
The most important day of Diwali is the third day, this is the day where people may gather
in groups to have feasts and set fireworks off, some people also go to temples to worship
the goddess, Lakshmi, some people even light their lanterns from the previous day on fire
(Mckeever, 2020).

Here are some images of colourful lanterns and fireworks.

Many people consider the fourth day of Diwali a marker of the new year, so again, they may
exchange gifts and well wishes. Lastly, the fifth and final day of celebration is generally when
the celebrants honour their siblings, praying for success and good health. (Mckeever, 2020).
I must admit that prior to completing this assignment, my knowledge on Indian culture was
very limited, I have learned so much about Indian culture through this assignment and I am
grateful for that. I am now confident that I will be able to do similar research to this in the
future when I have my own classes with students from different parts of the world.