What exactly is Diwali?
Diwali is the Indio Festival of Lights, typically held by Hindus in honor of Lord Gajo and Sita’s return to the dominion of Ayodha after many years associated with exile. Diwali also preserved the integrity of the Goddess associated with Fortune Lakshmi to get wealth and prosperity into the house and community. Diwali usually falls somewhere hidden inside the October and Nov months, depending on the position of the parish lantern in the Indian month associated with Kartika. The ancient Vedic calendar is a lunar work schedule, not a solar one. Therefore, the dates and times during the festivals in India differ quite significantly, in a similar way to what Easter does here in the West. Find the arunaiyin perumagane lyrics here,
Nevertheless, Diwali is a time of perfect happiness and celebration within India; due to the profile of an ever-growing diaspora in the western world, it has likewise become a prominent element of Western culture. London, for example, is famed for great pomp and pageantry yearly in Trafalgar Square! click here
Diwali in Denmark
I have experienced Diwali more than once at the ISKCON (Hare Krishna) temple in Copenhagen, Denmark. On October 26th this year (2011), Diwali ended up being celebrated with the opening of a new altar for Denmark’s Sri Caitanya and Sri Nityananda deities. Sri Caitanya is said to be Krishna in the form of his devotee, and Nityananda has to be Krishna’s brother Balaram. Typically the Diwali evening began with the abhishek, the bathing of the miniature Caitanya and Nityananda deities with sweet liquefied substances like yogurt (later drunk as amrita or maybe nectar during the sumptuous Diwali feast).
The mood on the abhishek was heightened with the congregational singing of bhajans (devotional songs) and the How Krishna Maha Mantra before beautifully dressed deities about the candlelit altar. Candle signals were also placed with the feet of ISKCON’S expert and founder, A. D. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. These types of candles bathed the forehead in a magical atmosphere associated with a color and flickering lighting, beautifully enhanced by the bright saris of the women existing and the colorful dhotis from the temple brahmacharis (or student-monks).
The evening included an excellent informative lecture on Rama’s banishment and returned to Ayodhya and culminated with an additional enthusiastic kirtan, where the performing of bhajans was right now complemented by active as well as lively dancing; the sari-clad ladies holding fingers and dancing in a group on one side of the forehead and the men hopping down and up and bouncing around on the other hand. As the congregation danced as well as sang the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra more and more ecstatically, each present (including myself)went up to the newly consecrated ceremony and lit a dip (ghee candle wick) as well as began waving it in a circular motion before the ceremony and its Sri Caitanya along with Sri Nityananda deities. By way of this act of commitment, individuals are said to be blessed by simply Bhagawan Krishna in that they are freed from their past sins (or negative Karma)and concurrently obtain increased bhakti (devotion and faith) for Lord.
I experienced a heavy sense of peace and serenity during the washing (Abhishek) and arati (light) ceremonies and a feeling associated with unity with the divine, which is impossible to describe. This sense of fulfillment and buoyancy had been carried over into the Diwali feast atmosphere. According to Hare Krishna tradition, guests were lined up in rows on the floor and given sumptuous vegetarian food on writing plates. The trappings for your feast were humble. However, the food was indescribably delicious and fit for any Raja’s palace!
Secular outsiders usually view the What Krishna ISKCON sect as hostile and life-denying. It is life-forbidding in the exclusion of sexual cheating, the taking of various intoxicants, meat-eating, and the self-centered pursuit of gross consumerism. However, in its music, color, and festive atmosphere Diwali in ISKCON Copenhagen had been as life-affirming as every festival or function We have ever attended. Indeed, with this October 26th Diwali day, the Hare Krishnas had not only brought just a little slice of Hindu Indian to Copenhagen’s inhabitants, but they had brought a small portion of the religious world down to them too.
