DIWALI
THE INDIAN FESTIVAL
OF LIGHTS
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What do you know about
Diwali?
What do you want to know
about Diwali?
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WHAT IS DIWALI?
1. Diwali is the Hindu
"festival of lights" which
celebrates the New Year. It
is India's most important
holiday. . It occurs on the
fifteenth day of the Hindu
month of Kartika.
WHAT IS DIWALI?
2. It is known as the festival
of lights because in
celebration people light
many small clay lamps called
"diyas" around their homes
to represent the victory of
good over evil.
WHAT IS DIWALI?
• 3. The lights represent the victory of good over evil and
invite good luck and prosperity from the Hindu Goddess
Lakshmi and the God Ganesh, who represents good luck,
wealth and enlightenment.
WHAT IS DIWALI?
• 4. Families clean their homes from
top to bottom. Traditional families
will make an offering to the
goddess of fruit, rice pudding,
flowers and other assorted gifts. To
offer these goods the family
performs a “puja,” which involves
saying sacred words and singing. It’s
also considered very important to
refrain from eating meat in honor
of the divine spirits being invited
into your home. Traditionally every
home will set out tiny clay pots with
wicks and oil all around their home.
THE MEANING OF DIWALI
• 5. Diwali celebrates the return of Rama and Sita, in the story
from the Ramayana. The story shows how good wins over evil.
• 6. According to Ramayana, Rama, the prince of Ayodhya was
ordered by his father, King Dasharatha, to go away from his
country and come back after living in the forest for fourteen
years.
THE MEANING OF DIWALI
• 7. When Ravana, the demon king of Lanka kidnaped
Sita and took her away to his island kingdom of
Lanka, Rama fought against and killed Ravana. He
rescued Sita and returned to Ayodhya after fourteen
years.
• 8. The festival gets its name Deepawali, or Diwali,
from the rows (avali) of lamps (deepa) that the
people of Ayodhya lit to welcome their King.
THE MEANING OF DIWALI
• 7. It originated as a harvest festival that
marked the last harvest of the year before
winter.
• 8. India was an agricultural society where
people would seek the divine blessing of
Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, as they
closed their accounting books and prayed
for success at the outset of a new financial
year.
• Today, this practice extends to businesses all
over the Indian subcontinent, which mark
the day after Diwali as the first day of the
new financial year.
HOW LONG DOES DIWALI LAST?
• Diwali is a Five Day
Celebration
DAY 1
• 9. On the first day at
sunset, Hindus should
bathe and offer a lighted
deeya and jewelry with
Prasad (sweets offered at
worship time) to Yama
Raj, the Lord of Death
and pray for protection
from early death.
DAY 2
• 10. Day 2 is a day of fasting for
many Hindus, and they do not
break their fast until sunset with
lapsee, a warm sweet porridge
of cracked wheat, clarified butter
and sugar.
* Fasting
is to go
without
food.
DAY 3
• 11. On the third day they honor Ganesh the god of
wisdom and good luck, the one who removes all
obstacles from life. They worship Lakshmi, the
goddess of wealth and good fortune.
11. DAY 3:
LAKSHMI
• Lights are left burning all night, so
that Lakshmi may feel welcomed
and enter.
12. ALAKSMI
• One of the last things done on
Diwali is to drive out Alaksmi, or
the goddess of bad luck, poverty
and misfortune. Traditionally the
oldest woman in the family will
sweep the house to rid it of bad
luck.
13. HOW IS DIWALI CELEBRATED?
• 1. Go shopping- this is similar to Christmas when people buy gifts and
decorate their homes.
• 2. Clean your home- this is similar to the Chinese New Year when many
clean their home to rid it of bad luck.
• 3. Decorate your home colorfully- this is similar to Halloween or Christmas
when people decorate their homes.
• 4. Burn lamps- this is similar to Christmas when people put lights on and around their homes.
• 5. Light fireworks- this is similar to our New Year’s celebration and Fourth of July.
• 6. Bake sweets and snacks- this is similar to Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter.
• 7. Wear new clothes- this is similar to Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, or New Year’s when people will buy a
new outfit to celebrate.
• 8. Gambling- this is similar to the Chinese New Year, when after dinner the family will play cards and dice
together.
• 9. Go vegetarian- this is similar to the Buddhist New Year.
HOW IS DIWALI CELEBRATED?
• "On Diwali we get up early about 6:30am and put on our best clothes. I wear a sari,
my daughters wear shalwar kameez (traditional dress) and my husband also dresses
traditionally.
• The first thing we do is say our prayers and make offerings of fruit and traditional
Indian sweets. Then we go to our parents house to bow down to them and receive
their blessings.
• Then we go to the temple. After the temple we visit our family and friends to wish
them a 'happy Diwali'.
• We decorate our homes in bright reds, greens and yellows, and we light as many
candles as possible. Diwali is all about filling your home with light and letting go of
the gloom and the darkness."
WHY FIREWORKS?
• The illumination of homes
with lights and the skies with
firecrackers is an expression of
respect to the heavens for the
achievement of health,
wealth, knowledge, peace and
prosperity. According to one
belief, the sound of firecrackers are an indication of
the joy of the people living on
earth, making the gods aware
of their plentiful state.
RANGOLI PATTERNS
• 14. Rangoli' is a Sanskrit word which means a creative expression
of art through the use of color.
• 15. The main purpose of making rangolis in Diwali is to welcome
Goddess Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth, to individual homes apart
from warding off the evil eye.
• 16. The patterns are made with fingers using rice powder, crushed
lime stone, or colored chalk. They may be topped with grains,
thumps, beads, or flowers.
RANGOLI
• 17. Though making of a Rangoli is highly
dependent on the preferences and skills
of the maker, lines are always drawn on
one finger movement (rangolis are
always drawn with fingers) and
frequently, the mapping of the rangoli is
done with the help of dots, which are
joined to form a pattern, and then the
pattern is filled with colors. One
important point is that the entire pattern
must be an unbroken line, with no gaps
to be left anywhere, for evil spirits are
believed to enter through such gaps, if
they find one.
• https://www.truetube.co.uk/search/all?subject=All&topic=All&keystage=All&search=diwali
• http://www.brainpop.com/educators/community/bp-topic/diwali/
• http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/07/india.obama.trip/index.html
EXIT CARD WRAP UP
What did you learn about Diwali? List three facts.