| Diwali |
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India is a land of
festivals. Deepavali or Diwali is the Festival of Lights and
is celebrated with fervor and gaiety. The festival is
celebrated by young and old, rich and poor, all alike
throughout the country to ward off the darkness and welcome
the lights into their lives. This festival symbolizes the
unity in diversity as every state celebrates in its own
special ways.
The celebration of the four-day festival commences on Aswayuja
Bahula Chaturdasi and would conclude on Kartika Shudda Vijiya.
The first day of the festival Naraka Chaturdasi marks the
vanquishing of the demon Naraka by Lord Krishna and his wife
Satyabhama. According to puranas Naraka, the son of
Bhudevi,acquired immense power as a blessing from Lord Brahma
after a severe penance. He soon unleashed a reign of terror in
the kingdom of Kamarupa, harassing the lestial beings with his
invincible might. Unable to bear the tyranny of the demon, the
celestial beings pleaded with Lord Krishna to save them from
his torture.
But Naraka could not be easily killed as he had a boon that he
could face death only at the hands of his mother Bhudevi. So,
Krishna asks his wife Satyabhama, the reincarnation of Bhudevi, to be his charioteer in the battle with
Naraka.
When Krishna feigns unconsciousness after being hit by an arrow
of Maraca, Satyabhama takes the bow and aims the arrow at
Naraka and kills him instantly. Later Lord Krishna reminds her
of the boon she had sought as Bhudevi. The slaying of the
Naraka by Sathyabhama could also be taken to interpret that
parents should not hesitate to punish their children when they
stray on to the wrong path. The message of Naraka Chaturdasi
is that the good of the society should always prevail over
one's own personal bonds.
The second day is Amavasya when Lakshmi puja is performed and
is believed that on this day Goddess Lakshmi would be in her
benevolant mood and would fulfill all the wishes of her
devotees. One version says that it was on this day Goddess
Lakshmi emerged from Kshira Sagara when the Gods and demons
were churning the sagara for Amrutha Bhandam.
Another version is that when Lord Vishnu in the guise of
Vamana, sought three feet of land from the very generous king
Bali Chakravarthy, Bali had to surrender his head as Vamana
had conquered the earth and the sky in His two strides. Lord
Vishnu banishes Bali into the Pathala Loka by keeping his
third stride on Bali's head. Later, pleased by his generosity,
Lord Vishnu grants him a boon and he inturn requests the Lord
to guard his palace at Patha Loka.
Meanwhile, the Goddess is unable to bear the separation and
her grief affects the functioning of the entire universe.
Brahma and Lord Shiva offer themselves as guards and plead
with Bali to relieve Vishnu. So, on the Amavasya day Lord
Vishnu returns to his abode and Goddess Lakshmi is delighted.
That is the reason it is believed that those who worship
Goddess Lakshmi on this day would be bestowed with all the
riches.
The third day is "Kartika Shudda Padyami" and it is
only on this day that Bali would come out of Pathala Loka and
rule Bhuloka as per the boon given by Lord Vishnu. Hence, it
is also known as "Bali Padyami".
The fourth day is referred to as "Yama Dvitiya" and
on this day the sisters invite their brothers to their homes.
However, in the northern part of India it is celebrated as the
return of Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana from his 14 years
of exile after killing Ravana. To commemorate his return to
Ayodhya, his subjects illuminated the kingdom and bursted
crackers. For the Gujaratis, Marwaris and other business
community Diwali marks the worship of Goddess Lakshmi and also
the begining of the new financial year.
For Bengalis, it is the time to worship Goddess Kali or Durga.
The Goddess Durga continued her "Vilaya Tandava"
even after killing the demon Mahishasura. To control her rage
Lord Shiva throws himse
DIWALI SIGNIFICANCE
Depavali day,or is it night? It is a festival where people from
all age groups participate in the festivities to give
expression to their happiness by lighting earthern diyas,
decorating the houses, bursting fire crackers and inviting the
near and dear ones to their households for partaking in the
sumptious feast. The lighting of lamps is a way of paying
obeisance to god for attainment of health, wealth, knowldge,
peace, valourand fame.
It is one time in the whole year that children volunteer to
leave their beds long before the day begins, having delayed
their retiring there, in the first place as long as they
possibly can, without incurring pare ntal wrath.Infact, the
traditional oil bath at 3 a.m, is the only chore that stands
between them and the pre-dawn adventures, as they emerge,
scrubbed clean to get into their festive attire, and light up
little oil lamps, candles and agarbathis the wherewithal for
setting alight crackers and sparklers.
Who shall set off the first chian of crackers that go
boom,bang and vroom? and who is the owner of the 10-minute
banger that steals the thunder from your little chain of
needle-sized crackers? Does the boy next door have more
crackers than me?
Competition is stiff, and even the little girl in silk pervades, frocks and their finery are watching out for the
best sparklers and flowerpots, the rockets and Vishnuchakras which light-up the night sky like a thousand
stars. Grown-ups
are all the souls of generosity, and its nary a harsh word of reproach
except a warning to steer clear of the crackers. Crackers, clothes,
good wishes and festive bonhomie abound, as if there is more coming from the bottomless source
of all this happiness.
BOOM TIME
One cannot imagine Deepavali without fireworks. The very
significance of the festival being the victory of good over
the evil, the latter is destroyed and reduced to ashes by
fireworks is the belief of the people.
Most of the fireworks and crackers throughout the country is
supplied by Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu. They have monopoly in this
business. However, since generations, people of North Andhra
have been making fireworks of their own for the festivals of
lamps with a riot of colours. It is interesting to note that
all the families which originally belong to the region have
kept the tradition alive and make quality fireworks of their
liking which are not usually available in the market.
We are sorry but we can no longer disclose the information of
making fire crackers at home.
SWEETS
Royal Vermicelli Kheer
Rice Kheer
Carrot Halwa
Chilled Curds Idlis
Lentil Salad
Gram Dhal Vada
Royal Vermicilli Kheer
Ingredients : Vermicilli - 1/2 cup (thin variety) Milk - 4
cups Sugar - 1/2 - 3/4 cup Cream - 1/4 cup Ghee - 4 tabs
Almonds - 2 tabs Cinnamon powder - 1 level tsp Bananas - 3
(small)
Method
Fry vermicelli in 2 tabs of ghee, till light gold in colour.let
it gets cold. Skin almonds-chop them into small pieces. Fry in 2
tabs of ghee,tillwell toasted.
Boil the milk, add the vermicelli and keep on stirring over low
heat till the vermicelli is just cooked and the milk is thick. Do
not over cook the vermicelli).Reduce heat and add
sugar little by little-stirring all the time till the sugar
dissolves.
Remove from heat, when cold, mix in the cream,almonds,cinnamon
powder and chopped bananas. Serve chilled with a little silver
vary on top for decoration.
Rice Cheer
Ingredients : Rice - 1/2 cup Milk - 6 cups Sugar - 3/4 cup
Camphor - pinch or nutmeg - pinch Method
Wash rice well, and cook it with milk till semi thick stirring
all the time so that the rice does not stick to the bottom of
the vessel and the rice is well cooked.
Reduce heat, add the sugar, little by little when sugar is well
incorporated remove from fire.
Fry in ghee the cashew nuts and raisins, till golden in colour.When
cold add to kheer.Powder camphor or nutmeg and add
that too. Serve hot or cold.
You could add 1/4 cup of beaten cream when the cheer is cold. Instead
of sugar you could heat 1-1/4 cup of palm jaggery(or ordinary jaggery) with a 1/4 cup of water-when
jaggery completely dissolves-strain and when cold, add to the
cold thickened kheer.Add powdered camphor or nutmeg.
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