What Is Diwali? Here's Everything To Know About The Festival Of Lights
Fall brings a lot of colors to mind. Crunchy autumn leaves falling to the ground in bright colors; fields of orange pumpkins and red apples just waiting to be harvested; and purple and red bunches of mums. But if you celebrate Diwali, when you think of fall, you think of the bright rangoli or the assortment of mitai. To find out what Diwali is and how it’s celebrated, we talked to some experts on the holiday.
What is Diwali? What does it celebrate?
“Diwali is the Festival of Lights that symbolizes light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance,” said Chandni Patel, who runs a blog called Chand’s Kitchen. It’s celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and some Buddhists, Eleanor Barnett, who runs @historyeats, said. “Falling each year in the autumn, around the darkest night of the Hindu lunisolar calendar, the five-day festival celebrates the victory of light over darkness,” she said. The climax of the festival is the third day, which falls on October 24 this year.
To different religions, Diwali means different things. “In Hinduism, Diwali celebrates the return of the deities Rama and Sita to Ayodhya after a 14-day exile, for example,” Barnett said, "whereas Sikhs commemorate the sixth guru Hargobind Singh's release from prison in 1619.”
What are some Diwali traditions?
Because Diwali is celebrated by such a diverse group of people, traditions and customs can vary from family to family. “Leading up to Diwali, we clean our houses, light diyas (oil lamps), draw rangoli (patterns made with colored powder or rice), and cook all sorts of mitai (sweets), and snacks,” Patel said. “During Diwali, we dress up in new clothes, perform pujas (religious ceremonies), get together with family and friends to enjoy large feasts, and even light fireworks.”
Diwali is also a time for prayer and reflection. “Many people visit temples and pray to the Hindu deity Lakshmi,” Barnett said. “It's also a time for happiness and joy; family and friends come together to feast, dance, and celebrate.”
What are the typical foods eaten during Diwali?
A lot of different dishes are eaten during the holiday. There’s the mitai, or Indian sweets. “Some popular examples include laddoo, little balls of deliciousness made from flour, ghee, and sugar; barfi, sweets made from powdered milk and sugar which are flavoured with fruits, nuts and spices; chakli, pretty doughnut spirals; and karanji or gujiya, crescent-moon pastries filled with sweet stuffings,” Barnett said.
Patel’s favorite recipe is a Rose Barfi she developed for her blog. It’s made with ricotta cheese, milk, ghee, and rose water. “It's the biggest hit with my friends and family.”
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