Fortune

Five Elements and Mega Festival of Deepaavali

Throughout the period of human history, man has found solace in festivities in his course of struggle for existence and drudgery of life. This is true to all the places on earth, all the societies and all the religions. The change in natural factors influences human mind—after the summer comes the rainy season, then follows autumn, and winter. The winter bids adieu at the onset of the king of the seasons, the Spring. The human civilization throughout the ages in different parts of globe has found out the means to enjoy through festivals.

But never for a moment can we forget that every festival is associated with religious observance and rites and rituals. This festival of Deepaavali has also religious importance for Hindus, Jains and Sikhs. It has astrological, astronomical and geographical importance too.

This is the time when the temperature of the earth starts to go down slowly and gradually and during the period Kartik Amavasya (moonless night of November.) the sun and the moon stay at the Constellation of Libra (Tula Rashi).

• This festival of lights is associated with the emergence of goddess Mahalakshi on this day during the churning of the ocean by the gods and demons. The appearance of goddess Lakshmi means she came to the earth to shower goodwill, wealth and prosperity on the human race. This is why this day is observed as the birth day of goddess Lakshmi and a special puja is arranged in every Hindu house across the globe where Hindus live.
• This day of Deepaavali has a Puranic importance. According to the Purana the first emperor and law-giver on Earth is emperor Prithu who founded a vast empire, established law and order, enacted new laws for the betterment of the people and exploited and explored the whole earth on this day of Kartik Amavasya and as a result the earth was filled with abundance of crops, trees, wealth of various kinds etc. 
• Another factor for the observance of Deepaavali is that Lord Vishnu on this very day released goddess Lakshmi from the clutches of king Bali the great demon emperor famous for this munificence. King Bali by dint of his penance became ageless and immortal and defeated Indra and other gods and took possession of all the wealth of the heaven along with goddess Lakshmi. In fact, Vishnu assumed the form of a dwarf (Fifth Incarnation) and resorting to deception pushed emperor Bali into the nether world (Rasaatal) with one foot. Thus the heaven was also freed from the control of the demons and goddess Lakshmi was restored to her abode in heaven and the gods worshipped her on this day.
• In the Ramayana we have read that after fourteen years of self-exile, on this very day Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana and his retinue entered the city of Ayodhya after defeating Ravana the king of Lanka. Hearing the arrival of Rama after 14 years the citizens of Ayodhya decorated the whole of the city with lamps and lights and greeted them. Sage Vasishtha the royal priest also without wasting a moment performed the coronation ceremony of Rama and declared him the king of Ayodhya. So the day of foundation of Ramrajya was the day of Deepaavali which is observed with festivities.
• In the Purana it is mentioned that on the day of Chaturdashi i.e. one day prior to Deepaavali lord Krishna killed the demon king Narakasur who perpetuated a kingdom of oppression and torture. So this day is also observed as minor or Chhoti Deepavali and the main Deepaavali is observed the next day commemorating the defeat of Narakasur by Krishna.
• In the Mahabharata the great poet Vyasadev has written that the Pandavas after 12 long years of exile and one-year period of living incognito returned to Hastinapur the Capital on this day and the subjects in favour of the Pandavas greeted them by lighting lamps in different places. This may be one of the causes of observing Deepaavali.
• It is strongly believed that emperor Vikramaditya’s victory is celebrated through festivities on this day. The people of the country greeted his victory by lighting lamps throughout the kingdom.
• Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati the great founder of Arya Samaj, breathed his last on this day of Kartik Amavasya and the Arya Samaj observers this day as the day of Nirvana of Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati.
• The Jainas also observe this day as the day of Nirvana of the 24th Tirthankar Sri Mahavir Swami. He was the founder of the modern Jaina philosophy. So the Jainas observe this day commemorating the 24th Tirthankar.
• The third Sikh Guru Amardas founded Gurudwara on the day of Deepaavali. So the Sikhs on this day converge on the Gurudwaras to get the blessings of their Guru. It is important to note that in 1577 A.D. the lamp in the Golden Temple of Amritsar was extinguished on this very day of Deepaavali till 1619 A.D. Only after the Sixth Sikh Guru Hargovind defeated the Mughal emperor Jahangir and captured the Gowalior fort and freed 52 other kings, the Deepaavali ceremony was restored in that year. 

It may be noted here that the festival of lights in Tamil Nadu is called ‘Kartigai Deepam’ or the lamp of the month of Kartik. It starts on the 1st day of Kartik and ends on the Kartik Sankranti day. So the observance of this day as the festival of lights is an age-old tradition and various factors of various ages of various religions merged together to make it emerge as one of the main festivals of India throughout the country.