Deepavali (Diwali): a feast of light, in the dark

The Indians all over the world are celebrating the feast of Deepavali, the feast of light on 28th october,2008. But in today’s present social and political condition in India tends us to say a celebration of light in the dark. The people in India really lost its moral power to say that we are celebrating Deepavali in all its meaning and real depth.

Deepavali is one among the major Indian festival and a significant festival in Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism. It is the Festival of Lights, where the light or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within every human being. In India it is celebrated on the first day of the lunar Kartika month, which comes in the month of October or November.

Deepavali literally means a row of lamps and in due course, the popular name has shortened to Diwali, especially in India. The inner significance of Deepavali is to lead man from darkness to light. Light has always been the symbol of the highest ideals of man, and the festival of light, is celebrated all over the world in different forms.


Om

asato ma sadga maya,
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya,
mrityorma amritamgamaya
Om
shantih shantih shantih

Oh Almighty!

Lead us from the unreal (falsity) to the real (truth)

From darkness to light!
From mortality to immortality!
Oh Almighty!
May there be Peace! Peace! Peace!

- Brihdaranyaka Upanishad 1:3:27


Many Deepavali festivals have come and gone. Yet the heart of the vast majority of the people in India are as dark as the night of the new moon. The house is lit with lamps, but the heart is full of darkness and ignorance.