The Story of Diwali

The Story of Diwali

Hello there! This is Ranjani. I’m really excited to tell you about Diwali, which is right around the corner and one of my favorite festivals ever!

                          

Diwali is known as the festival of lights in India. It is one of the biggest festivals, celebrated all over India with firecrackers and fireworks from early morning to late into the night. I will explain more about Diwali in the next post, because Diwali is this Saturday, October 29, 2016! (Again, the dates for Hindu festivals change every year. Last year, in 2015, Diwali was on November 10^th.)

There are many stories behind Diwali, depending on which state of India they are from and their religion. I'm going to introduce you to two of the ones I've heard. The first of these stories is one of the two great epics in Hindu mythology: the Ramayana (RAA--MAA--ya-NAA). The second one is the story of Lord Krishna, who goes on to be one of the main characters in the other great epic, the Mahabharatha (ma-HAA--BHAA-ra-THA), and the God whose words comprise the entirety of the holy book, the Bhagavad-Gita (BHA-GA-VAD--GEE-THAA).

Rama’s Return to Ayodhya

The Ramayana is the story of Lord Ram, or Rama (RAA-MAA), who was sent on a 14-year exile from his kingdom Ayodhya (ah-YO-DHYA), on the day he was to be crowned prince.  Although Rama is the only one exiled, his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana (LACKSH-ma-na) (one of three brothers Rama has) follow him. During his exile, his wife, Sita (SEE-THAA), is kidnapped and taken to Lanka by the demon Ravana (RAA-va-naa). Rama goes on a journey searching for her and makes friends with monkeys, who constitute his army, and fight Ravana’s demon army. They actually build a bridge of stones called the Rama Setu from the tip of India to Sri Lanka – rocks that float all on their own and can support the weight of anyone – which still exists today. Watch this video that tells you more about this amazing bridge.

The day Rama returns back to Ayodhya after his 14-year exile is said to be celebrated as Diwali.

One thing you need to understand about Indian epics is that there are literally thousands of stories within that one big story, and so much happens! Growing up, my parents had bought a DVD of the Ramayana story in English for me and my brother to watch. Here’s a link to that. I encourage you to watch it!

In the center, we have Sri Rama. To his right, we see his brother Lakshmana, and to his left, we see his wife Queen Sita. At Rama's feet, we see his devotee Hanuman.

Krishna vs Kamsa

Lord Krishna (Krish-NAA) is one of the most popular gods in Hinduism. Again, there are lots of smaller stories about Krishna – perhaps more than those about Rama – but the gist of it all is this: Krishna’s uncle Kamsa (COME-saa) heard a prophesy that the eigth son of his sister will kill him. Fearing for his life, he locked up his sister and her husband in a stone prison. He killed every child of theirs, but on the night of Krishna’s birth there were supernatural occurrences that aided in his escape. His father carried the newborn baby all the way to Vrindavan (VRIN-DAA-VUN) to the cowherder Nanda’s (NUN-DA) house and exchanged Krishna for their newborn daughter while everyone was asleep. Thus Krishna grew up in Vrindavan. Kamsa found out Krishna has escaped and was out there somewhere and sent demon after demon to slay him. However, when the time came, Krishna himself went to Mathura (MA-thu-raa), the city he was born in, and slayed Kamsa.

Diwali is celebrated as the day Krishna slayed his wicked uncle, Kamsa.

I’ve mentioned that Krishna’s story continues further into the Mahabharatha epic. This article gives you more detail on Krishna’s story, although there are still many smaller stories that are not mentioned. 

This is Lord Krishna, portrayed with his flute (Krishna ALWAYS has a flute he's playing) and a cow or two behind him denoting his childhood rearing cows in Vrindavan.

Another popular story behind Diwali is that of the slaying of a demon called Narakasura (na-ra-KAA-su-RAA); however, I am unfamiliar with that one. 

And on that note, HAPPY DIWALI, EVERYONE!

Navrathri

NAVRATHRI

Navrathri (NAV-RAA-THREE) is a festival dedicated to the worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. The word Navrathri literally means “Nine nights” in Sanskrit (‘nava’ means nine and ‘rathri’ means night), so the festival is celebrated for nine nights and ten days.

The story behind Navrathri is the battle between the goddess Durga (DOOR-GA) and the demon Mahishasura (MA-HEE-SHAA-SU-RAA). There is also another story to explain this festival: In the Ramayana, Lord Rama had a huge battle with the demon Ravana in Lanka and this festival celebrates the days of that war culminating in victory. You can read the detailed stories here. Ultimately, Navrathri is the celebration of the triumph of truth over evil. 

Navrathri is celebrated in different ways in different parts of India. In South India (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Puducherry), it is called Golu; in East India (Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, and also the union territory Andaman and Nicobar Islands), it is celebrated as Durga Pooja; in West India (Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra, along with the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli) it is celebrated as Garba; and in North India (Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, and the Union Territories Delhi and Chandigarh), it is celebrated as Ramlila. In this article, we will tell you about the South Indian way of celebrating Navrathri - Golu. Check out this article to know more about the other kinds of Navrathri!

Golu is mainly a social event. There are poojas (rituals) toward the end of the festival - the 8th day is Saraswathi (SA-RA-SVA-THEE) Pooja and the 9th day is Vijayadasami (VI-JAYA-DUH-SUH-MEE). I'll explain more about this at the end.

A "golu" is basically a a set of steps set up and decorated with dolls and idols (made from clay or paper mache usually) arranged on it that we generally buy in shops and roadside stalls in South India. Sometimes, aside from the dolls of the Gods and Goddesses, some people set up scenes of regular day to day things like a marketplace scene or a park. Some even have scenes of a marriage, a pooja, or a cricket game. It's all up to creativity!

Here are some pictures of some Golus:

Here's an example of the golu at one of Ranjani's relative's houses in India

You can see a close up of the dolls and arrangement in the pictures above

Here's the golu at Ranjani's friend Sowmya's house in India. Instead of setting up steps, they decided to use the shelves in the wall to arrange their golu on. 

When there's more stuff to display, people usually decorate an extra table or something next to the golu steps

Another golu at one of Ranjani's relative's houses

 Above are pictures of the golu at of Ranjani's friend Divakar's house in Chennai in India

These were the golus at Ranjani's house in two different years in India

Below are some more pictures from these

This was Ranjani way back in 2013, wearing a gaghra choli (a type of North Indian outfit)

This is a marriage scene. The dolls and pieces for these type of scenes are usually sold as sets.

Ranjani decorated the sides of her golu with streamers. One can decorate their golu extravagantly or keep things simple. It is ultimately up to their creativity!

This is the golu at Ranjani's aunt's house

Navrathri is also celebrated by Indians in the United States! Indians here either get their dolls and steps shipped from India or order them all off amazon (which is what is most used). The problem with shipping these from India is that some dolls are made from clay and therefore very heavy and all the dolls are very delicate and can might break while shipping if the package is not handled carefully. 

These steps are set up and the dolls are arranged on them and decorated and this arrangement is kept throughout the duration of the festival. During Navrathri, people who set up golus in their house invite friends and relatives over to see it and they go to other people's houses too. When you go to see someone's golu, you can choose to sing in praise of the goddesses or just sit down and look at the golu. When you are leaving, you get something like a return gift as a "thank you for coming" sort of thing. This is generally only for the women and young girls, by the way, because Navrathri is first and foremost a ladies' festival, but these days people buy stuff to give to young boys too when their moms drag them along to these things. Typically, a return gift consists of two betel leaves; something called "paaku" in Tamil (it would be called something different in other languages); a fruit; and "kungumam" and "chandanam" (again, these are the names for the things in Tamil and it would be called something different in other languages). 

Ranjani was invited to her friend Manas's house and her aunt's house for Navrathri. We both went to her friend Manas's house on Saturday, October 1st, the first day of Navrathri in 2016 (the dates for festivals change every year since the Hindu calendar is based on the moon and stars). 

The golu at Ranjani's friend Manas's house

From left to right: Ranjani, Sarah and Manas, standing in front of Manas's golu. Ranjani is wearing an anarkali, Sarah is wearing a gaghra choli, and Manas is wearing a sari.

There are two rules to Navrathri:

1. Once you start, you must keep the golu in your home every year. The only exception to this rule is if a family member dies, in which case you cannot celebrate any festival for a full year.
2. You must add at least one new doll every year.

   

   During Navrathri, we must perform a pooja for the goddess every day, morning and evening, and prepare a sweet (we'll devote a whole blog post to Indian sweets soon - there are thousands of different sweets one can prepare at home) or sundal (SOON-DAL) (a traditional South Indian dish prepared from chickpeas, peanuts, black eyed peas, or moong beans, etc.) as offerings and give as 'prasadam' (PRA-SAA-DUM) to the guests who visit our house. 

   

THE END OF NAVRATHRI:

   The 8th day of Navrathri is called Saraswathi Pooja. It is a day devoted to the goddess Saraswathi, so on this day we must not study anything. Students in India usually have a holiday from school for this day. On the morning of Saraswathi Pooja, each person in the household takes some of their books, a notebook, and a pen and/or pencil and piles it all up in front of the goddess (it could be in front of the golu or in the pooja room or the prayer area). Then we cover it with a cloth and do a pooja (ritual) for the goddess Saraswathi and leave everything like that for the rest of the day, until the next morning.

In the above pictures, you will see the books and notebooks covered by an orange cloth and the Mridangam instrument kept in front of the golu for Saraswathi Pooja

   The 9th day of Navrathri is called Vijayadasami. This is an auspicious day to start learning something new. People going to music, dance, or any kind of class are usually called by their teacher for just a short class on this day even if they usually don't have class that day of the week to learn something new. A pooja is performed again and the cloth is removed off the books. Each person is given their books and they read something in each of their books and write something in their notebooks. This symbolizes the goddess's blessings in studies in those subjects and further learning. There is also a tradition of writing in raw rice. A platter of uncooked rice is placed in front of everyone and they each take turns writing with their fingers in it - first the chant "Om Sri Maha Ganapathaye Namaha" thrice in Sanskrit, then usually the alphabet and some numbers. Ranjani usually traces the English and Hindi alphabet with her fingers in the rice and then the numbers from 1 to 10 or 20 or any number she wants. This symbolizes the blessings of the goddess in reading, writing and math. On the night of the 9th day, the dolls are supposed to be lain down on the steps, to "put them to sleep". If there is not enough space, people usually lay down one or two dolls.

   The 10th day of Navrathri is the day all the dolls on the steps are taken down and carefully packed into boxes to store away until next year. The steps are dismantled and the decorations taken down and everything is stored away safely. The only exception to this is if the tenth day falls on a Tuesday or Friday, which are auspicious days for the Goddess Ambal (AAM-BAAL), in which case the golu will be taken down the days after that. 

The Beginning

Indian Culture

This blog will explore Indian culture from the perspective of an Indian, Ranjani Venkatakrishnan, and an American, Sarah Hunt, two freshmen college journalism students at ASU, who met in their English 105 class. We will introduce you to different Indian events (festivals and rituals), culture, lifestyle, clothing, food, and many more aspects related to India.

We hope you enjoy the journey as we share our experiences through An American Learning Indian Culture.

Sarah: I was born in a small town in the Bay Area of California during a busy and exciting time in my parent's lives. My dad had just finished school and we moved back to Arizona for work. I grew up in Maricopa County, Arizona. I have always had, even just somewhat of an interest, in adventure. I began to develop a liking to Indian culture when I took AP World History my sophomore year in high school. We learned about several different countries, and it was interesting to learn about cultures other than my own; how people, even though we all started out the same, could live completely different lives. One I enjoyed in particular was India. Their bright apparel, close relationships with family and friends, and legacy of story telling was inspirational. I decided through English classes that I wanted to write about people and their stories, because everyone has a different story to tell. I wanted to discover adventures that were not in the culture I was used to. And through my church, I decided I wanted to combine it all with humanitarian aid, and write about my trips helping people. When you help others, it forms a special bond, and they will open up and tell you things that are unfathomably incredible. Documenting the human experience is my small contribution to history that I hope will continue to inspire others to make connections and reach outside the comfort zone. If you never try, you'll never know how your life could have been different, and most importantly, better.

Ranjani: I’m from Chennai, the capital of the South Indian state Tamil Nadu. I was born in Chennai, but my family moved to the US in 1999 when I was a year and half old and I’ve mostly lived in Dallas, Texas; Cleveland, Ohio; and Plano, Texas (we moved around a lot because of my dad’s job). In May, 2008, I moved back to India because my parents felt education was better there and my grandmother needed us to take care of her. So, from 5^th to 12^th standard (it’s called standard, not grade, in India) I studied in Chennai. It’s interesting that by my 18^th birthday I could say I have lived exactly half my life in the USA and half in India! Growing up, I had an interest in becoming a doctor, but I was frightened of the immense competition in that field so I decided I would not be a doctor or engineer. In 10^th standard, I realized my passion for writing and did some research on the internet to find out what ambition would suit my interest. Since then, my heart has been set on becoming a journalist. My goals as a journalist are to travel the world and write about different place – the cultural aspects as well as the lifestyle. I hope to learn and show people not only the magic of the different cultures that surround us on this small planet, but to bring people together by showing them we are all the same. One day I hope to make a difference in the world – however small – and be remembered.