Diwali was so special during childhood because it was associated with the diwali vacation too. Diwali simply suggests unbounded joy and everything new.
People living abroad totally miss celebrating Diwali in Mumbai. Bursting crackers, meeting people, and even that ambience is so sorely missed by me. We do celebrate Diwali here, but it is obviously not like back home. We don’t even get crackers here in Denver! We try and make up for the lack of the atmosphere in Mumbai by wearing nice traditional clothes and having lot of sweets.
.
In Maharashtra, Diwali starts from Vasubaras which is the 12th day of the 2nd half of the month of Ashwin. This day is celebrated by performing an Aarti of the cow and its calf- which is a symbol of love between mother and her baby.
The next day is Dhanatrayodashi (tra-3 dashi-10 i.e. 10+3=13th day) or Dhanteras. This day is of special importance for traders and business people.
The 14th day of Ashwin is Narakchaturdashi. On this day before sunrise, people wake up and bathe after rubbing scented oil on their body (they also bathe using Utna). After this the entire family visits a temple and offers prayers to their God. After this visit, everyone feasts on Faral which is a special Diwali preparation consisting of delectable sweets such as "karanji", "ladoo", "shankarpale" and "mithai" as well as some spicy eatables like "chakli", "sev" and "chivda".
Then comes Laxmi- poojan. It occurs on Amavasya i.e. no moon day. The dark night is illuminated by lamps and at dusk crackers are burst. New account books are opened after a pooja. The stock exchange performs a token bidding called Muhurta bidding. Generally the traders do not make any payments on that day (according to their belief Laxmi should not be given away but must come home). In every household, cash, jewellery and an idol of the goddess Laxmi is worshipped. Friends, neighbours and relatives are invited over and celebrations are in full swing. The broom used to clean one's house is also worshipped as a symbol of laxmi in some places .
Padwa' is the 1st day of the new month - Kartik in the Hindu calendar.
Bhaubeej - it is the time where in the bond of love between a brother and sister is further strengthened as the sister asks God for her brother/s long and successful life while she receives presents from her beloved brother/s.
Homes are cleaned and decorated before Diwali. Offices perform pooja. Bonuses and holidays are granted to employees on these auspicious days. People buy property and gold on these days too. Children build replica forts in memory of the founder of Maratha empire, Shivaji Maharaj. For children, Fire works, new clothes and sweets make Deepavali the most eagerly awaited festival of the year.
Diwali, the 'festival of lights', is the occasion of illuminating the flame of your heart with the love of lord Ram. It is the day which is connotes with the victory of truthfulness over the wickedness. In today's arena where people are running after money, diwali gives a chance to pause for a minute and create sweet memories with your family, friends. So in the midst of your mundane daily activities, stop for a while and express your gratefulness towards all your dear ones, laugh and enjoy for what god has given you. Celebrate the festivity of the day by gifting beautiful gifts, as a remembrance of love.
Sweets
Festivals without sweets is like surviving without water!So it is the time for have some barfi, ladoo, gulab jamun, rasgullas and have a delicious & yummy Diwali. Winsome, these are available in the attractive packing to be presented as the gift.
Gold and Silver Gifts
Wish a sterling and bright full Diwali to all your dear ones with the exquisite stylized gold and silver gifts. Extend your hearty wishes with the alluring compliment of silver and gold coins with the auspicious lord Ganesha idol.
Apparels
People wear new clothes in the Diwali night. So add dash of glamor and beauty in the festival by gifting stylish apparels to all your closed ones. Garments decked with the appealing hand embroidered with the unmatchable elegance are the perfect gift for the special occasion.
Candles
Incandescent candles, glittering with the flame of beauty and glory, are the nice gift option for wishing the lighting Diwali to all your closed ones. Illustrious candles remove all darkness of the night and make it more enlightening and fanciful.
Diwali celebration in Maharashtra is interestingly different from what is seen in other parts of the country. In a typical Marathi family Diwali celebrations starts with 'Vasu-baras' that comes on tithi 'Ashwin krushna dwadashi' as per Marathi calendar. Vasu-baras is a celebration held in honor of cows - regarded as mother by Hindus. Following the rituals of the day married women perform 'puja' of cows having calf. The tradition symbolizes a woman’s gratitude towards cow for serving them and their children.
Dhanatrayodashi
Dhanatrayodashi is a popular name for Dhanteras in Maharashta. Some also celebrate Dhanvantari Jayanti on this day to honor the great ancient doctor Dhanvantari. On the day of Dhanatrayodashi 'Yama-Deep-Dan' is held wherein mothers and wives make one ‘divas’ each for all living male in the family. The diva, made from the kneaded flour is lit and offered to Lord Yama in the evening. As they perform the ritual womenfolk pray to Lord Yama - the Hindu mythological God of Death that their husbands and sons be blessed with a long life.
Narak Chatudarshi
Chhoti Diwali is popularly known as Narak-Chaturdashi in Maharashtra. On this day people celebrate Narakasur’s death by Lord Krishna. They get up early in the morning and massage their bodies with scented oil. And as a custom they use 'utane' or 'utanah' for bath instead of soap. This special bath is referred to as 'abhyang-snan'. It may be noted that 'Utane' is not the same as uptan. Utane is made of several things having ayurvedic properties like 'chandan' (sandalwood), 'kapoor' (camphor), manjistha, rose, orange skin and haldi (turmeric).
Diwali Celebrations - Lakshmi-Pujan
Lakshmi-pujan is celebrated on the Diwali evening. Believing that Goddess Lakshmi visits every house in the evening, people perform ‘Lakshmi Puja’. This is essentially a worship of Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Ganesh, money, jewelleries and the broom.
A variety of mouth-watering delicacies including chivda, chakali, shankar-pale, anarse, kadaboli, karanji, shev, chirote etc are prepared to mark the festival. Throughout Diwali, Marathi people hang 'Akash-kandil' / 'Akash-dive' and light up 'panti's outside their houses. Tradition of drawing colourful 'Rangoli's is also followed in Maharashtra as in rest or India.
Diwali Cha Padva
The third day of Diwali is also celebrated as 'Diwalicha Padva' by many. This is a celebration of togetherness of husband and wife and love shared by them. To mark the occasion wife does 'aukshan' of her husband and husbands present a special gift to their wife.
Bhav-Bij
The last day of Diwali festival is called Bhau Bij. In this sisters do 'aukshan' of their brothers and pray for their long life. Brothers, in their turn bless their sister and pamper them with loads of Bhau-Bij gifts.
Tulsi-Vivah
In Maharashtra, end of Diwali celebrations marks the beginning of Tulsi-Vivah. Under this people organize marriage of sacred tulsi (a basil plant) in their house. In Maharashtra the tradition is that people start organizing marriage ceremonies of their sons/daughters only once Tulsi-vivah starts. Celebration of Diwali ends with Dev-Diwali. source: wikipedia
People living abroad totally miss celebrating Diwali in Mumbai. Bursting crackers, meeting people, and even that ambience is so sorely missed by me. We do celebrate Diwali here, but it is obviously not like back home. We don’t even get crackers here in Denver! We try and make up for the lack of the atmosphere in Mumbai by wearing nice traditional clothes and having lot of sweets.
.
In Maharashtra, Diwali starts from Vasubaras which is the 12th day of the 2nd half of the month of Ashwin. This day is celebrated by performing an Aarti of the cow and its calf- which is a symbol of love between mother and her baby.
The next day is Dhanatrayodashi (tra-3 dashi-10 i.e. 10+3=13th day) or Dhanteras. This day is of special importance for traders and business people.
The 14th day of Ashwin is Narakchaturdashi. On this day before sunrise, people wake up and bathe after rubbing scented oil on their body (they also bathe using Utna). After this the entire family visits a temple and offers prayers to their God. After this visit, everyone feasts on Faral which is a special Diwali preparation consisting of delectable sweets such as "karanji", "ladoo", "shankarpale" and "mithai" as well as some spicy eatables like "chakli", "sev" and "chivda".
Then comes Laxmi- poojan. It occurs on Amavasya i.e. no moon day. The dark night is illuminated by lamps and at dusk crackers are burst. New account books are opened after a pooja. The stock exchange performs a token bidding called Muhurta bidding. Generally the traders do not make any payments on that day (according to their belief Laxmi should not be given away but must come home). In every household, cash, jewellery and an idol of the goddess Laxmi is worshipped. Friends, neighbours and relatives are invited over and celebrations are in full swing. The broom used to clean one's house is also worshipped as a symbol of laxmi in some places .
Padwa' is the 1st day of the new month - Kartik in the Hindu calendar.
Bhaubeej - it is the time where in the bond of love between a brother and sister is further strengthened as the sister asks God for her brother/s long and successful life while she receives presents from her beloved brother/s.
Homes are cleaned and decorated before Diwali. Offices perform pooja. Bonuses and holidays are granted to employees on these auspicious days. People buy property and gold on these days too. Children build replica forts in memory of the founder of Maratha empire, Shivaji Maharaj. For children, Fire works, new clothes and sweets make Deepavali the most eagerly awaited festival of the year.
Diwali, the 'festival of lights', is the occasion of illuminating the flame of your heart with the love of lord Ram. It is the day which is connotes with the victory of truthfulness over the wickedness. In today's arena where people are running after money, diwali gives a chance to pause for a minute and create sweet memories with your family, friends. So in the midst of your mundane daily activities, stop for a while and express your gratefulness towards all your dear ones, laugh and enjoy for what god has given you. Celebrate the festivity of the day by gifting beautiful gifts, as a remembrance of love.
Sweets
Festivals without sweets is like surviving without water!So it is the time for have some barfi, ladoo, gulab jamun, rasgullas and have a delicious & yummy Diwali. Winsome, these are available in the attractive packing to be presented as the gift.
Gold and Silver Gifts
Wish a sterling and bright full Diwali to all your dear ones with the exquisite stylized gold and silver gifts. Extend your hearty wishes with the alluring compliment of silver and gold coins with the auspicious lord Ganesha idol.
Apparels
People wear new clothes in the Diwali night. So add dash of glamor and beauty in the festival by gifting stylish apparels to all your closed ones. Garments decked with the appealing hand embroidered with the unmatchable elegance are the perfect gift for the special occasion.
Candles
Incandescent candles, glittering with the flame of beauty and glory, are the nice gift option for wishing the lighting Diwali to all your closed ones. Illustrious candles remove all darkness of the night and make it more enlightening and fanciful.
Diwali celebration in Maharashtra is interestingly different from what is seen in other parts of the country. In a typical Marathi family Diwali celebrations starts with 'Vasu-baras' that comes on tithi 'Ashwin krushna dwadashi' as per Marathi calendar. Vasu-baras is a celebration held in honor of cows - regarded as mother by Hindus. Following the rituals of the day married women perform 'puja' of cows having calf. The tradition symbolizes a woman’s gratitude towards cow for serving them and their children.
Dhanatrayodashi
Dhanatrayodashi is a popular name for Dhanteras in Maharashta. Some also celebrate Dhanvantari Jayanti on this day to honor the great ancient doctor Dhanvantari. On the day of Dhanatrayodashi 'Yama-Deep-Dan' is held wherein mothers and wives make one ‘divas’ each for all living male in the family. The diva, made from the kneaded flour is lit and offered to Lord Yama in the evening. As they perform the ritual womenfolk pray to Lord Yama - the Hindu mythological God of Death that their husbands and sons be blessed with a long life.
Narak Chatudarshi
Chhoti Diwali is popularly known as Narak-Chaturdashi in Maharashtra. On this day people celebrate Narakasur’s death by Lord Krishna. They get up early in the morning and massage their bodies with scented oil. And as a custom they use 'utane' or 'utanah' for bath instead of soap. This special bath is referred to as 'abhyang-snan'. It may be noted that 'Utane' is not the same as uptan. Utane is made of several things having ayurvedic properties like 'chandan' (sandalwood), 'kapoor' (camphor), manjistha, rose, orange skin and haldi (turmeric).
Diwali Celebrations - Lakshmi-Pujan
Lakshmi-pujan is celebrated on the Diwali evening. Believing that Goddess Lakshmi visits every house in the evening, people perform ‘Lakshmi Puja’. This is essentially a worship of Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Ganesh, money, jewelleries and the broom.
A variety of mouth-watering delicacies including chivda, chakali, shankar-pale, anarse, kadaboli, karanji, shev, chirote etc are prepared to mark the festival. Throughout Diwali, Marathi people hang 'Akash-kandil' / 'Akash-dive' and light up 'panti's outside their houses. Tradition of drawing colourful 'Rangoli's is also followed in Maharashtra as in rest or India.
Diwali Cha Padva
The third day of Diwali is also celebrated as 'Diwalicha Padva' by many. This is a celebration of togetherness of husband and wife and love shared by them. To mark the occasion wife does 'aukshan' of her husband and husbands present a special gift to their wife.
Bhav-Bij
The last day of Diwali festival is called Bhau Bij. In this sisters do 'aukshan' of their brothers and pray for their long life. Brothers, in their turn bless their sister and pamper them with loads of Bhau-Bij gifts.
Tulsi-Vivah
In Maharashtra, end of Diwali celebrations marks the beginning of Tulsi-Vivah. Under this people organize marriage of sacred tulsi (a basil plant) in their house. In Maharashtra the tradition is that people start organizing marriage ceremonies of their sons/daughters only once Tulsi-vivah starts. Celebration of Diwali ends with Dev-Diwali. source: wikipedia
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