An Indian Festival
An Indian festival is a festive occasion. Children dress up in their best and women make elaborate preparation to celebrate the occasion. Festivals come every now and then. People make best use of these occasions to relax and give themselves a carefree day.
The most important festivals are Dewali, Dussehra, Holi and Raksha Bandhan. Dewali, in fad, is the most important of all festivals. It is celebrated with great pomp and show throughout the country. The houses, shops and streets glitter with multi-coloured lights.
Dewali or Deepawali is celebrated to remember the truimph of Shri Rama over Ravana, the king of Lanka who had taken away Sita, the wife of Shri Rama. It was when Lord Rama returned Ayodhya and was crowned the king that the people celebrated the return of their king with illuminations.
People make preparations for the occasion well in advance. All the houses are cleaned, white washed and painted. Any sign of dirt is considered inauspicious. Each and every nook and corner of the houses and surroundings are illuminated by different kinds of lights. People keep awake about the whole night bursting crackers and wishing each other a “happy Deewali” People meet each other happily and make all kinds of shopping on and around the day. It is said, the more you spend on that day the more will you get till the next Deewali. It is a day of great earnings for shop-keepers. Sweet-sellers and garment dealers do the highest business.
It is said Maa Laxmi visits every house this night and showers money and blessings everywhere. So the Goddess is worshipped and welcomed by all by bursting crackers and making illuminations everywhere.
There are different customs to celebrate the festival in different pans of the country. The villagers prefer the light, the earthen lamps to illuminate the houses. They light thousands of these lamps to welcome the Goddess of Wealth. It is a day of celebration for the Government offices and officials. Lot of money is spent to illuminate important Government buildings and many official gatherings are organized to celebrate the occasion.
India is strange land with strange habits and customs. The celebration of festivals is one of them. There are lots of small festivals celebrated at some places and areas having some significance to those areas or places. People are much attached to them.
