And the Festival of lights starts its one year countdown again!

Alright, I don't own these pics on this post, okay? I have googled them.
So, Diwali, the festival of lights, one of the major Hindu festivals, thus has a very important place in my life. The overall celebrations, prayers, and all, last for five days, in which, the major day is the third day, which is Diwali. Diwali, or you may say, Deepawali, is celebrated on the 15th day of the month of "Katika" called, "Kartik Maas". For those people following Jainism, Diwali is the day when "Lord Mahavir" attained Moksha, or Nirvana, in 527 BC. For Hindus, it is the day when Lord Ram, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, came back to his home, and kingdom, "Ayodhya" after living for 14 years in forest.

Now should I go into some details about the festival?! I think, yes, as it would make my readers familiar with what they are reading about on my thought desiccator, right?! ;)

Lord Ram is considered to be the seventh avatar(incarnation) of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian Puranas. Based on Puranic genealogy, Rama is believed by Hindus to have lived around 5000 B.C.E. in the second Yuga called Treta Yuga(2 millennia before Krishna who was born towards the end of Dwapara Yuga). Rama is traditionally considered to have appeared in the last quarter of Treta Yuga. Born as the eldest son of Kausalya and Dasharatha, king of Ayodhya, Rama is referred to within Hinduism as Maryada Purushottama, literally the Perfect Man or Lord of Self-Control or Lord of Virtue. Rama is the husband of Sita, whom Hindus consider to be an Avatar of Lakshmi and the embodiment of perfect womanhood.

Rama's life and journey is one of perfect adherence to dharma despite harsh tests of life and time. He is pictured as the ideal man and the perfect human. For the sake of his father's honour, Rama abandons his claim to Kosala's throne to serve an exile of fourteen years in the forest. His wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, unable to live without Rama, decide to join him, and all three spend the fourteen years in exile together. While in exile, Sita is kidnapped by Ravana, the Rakshasa (evil Lord) monarch of Lanka. After a long and arduous search that tests his personal strength and virtue, Rama fights a colossal war against Ravana's armies. In a war of powerful and magical beings, greatly destructive weaponry and battles, Rama slays Ravana in battle and liberates his wife. Having completed his exile, Rama returns to be crowned king in Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) and eventually becomes emperor, rules with happiness, peace, prosperity and justice — a period known as Rama Rajya. Now this day when he returned from his exile is celebrated as Diwali.

The name "Diwali" is a contraction of "Deepavali" (A Sanskrit word), which translates into "row of lamps". Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps (diyas) filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. These lamps are kept on during the night and one's house is cleaned, both done in order to make the goddess Lakshmi(Goddess of wealth and prosperity in Hinduism) feel welcome. Firecrackers are burst in order to drive away evil spirits. During Diwali, all the celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends.

The festival starts with Dhanteras on which most Indian business communities begin their financial year. The second day of the festival, Naraka Chaturdasi, marks the vanquishing of the demon Naraka by Lord Krishna and his wife Satyabhama. Amavasya, the third day of Diwali, marks the worship of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth in her most benevolent mood, fulfilling the wishes of her devotees. Amavasya also tells the story of Lord Vishnu, who in his dwarf incarnation vanquished the Bali, and banished him to Patala. It is on the fourth day of Diwali, Kartika Shudda Padyami, that Bali went to patala and took the reins of his new kingdom in there. The fourth day is more popularly celebrated as Kartika Shudda Padyami in Southern India, and as "Annakutt" in Northern India. In northern India "Annakutt" marks the day when Lord Krishna saved the people from the wrath of Lord Indra(The God of Rain). The fifth day is referred to as Yama Dvitiya (also called Bhai Dooj), and on this day sisters invite their brothers to their homes. It is considered very auspicious and rather mandatory for a brother to eat something at his sister's house that day, which is forbidden in many traditional Hindu families.

Also, you people might be interested in knowing the fact that, Diwali is an official holiday in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore, and Fiji.

Now this was all about Diwali, my favorite festival, that as I said, has a very special place in my heart as I am a Hindu. So why here on desiccator? Well! You all can get certain idea after reading all those just too prefect things, right?! o_O Ram-Rajya, a thing for which a common man tries different-different politicians and political parties to let run the government. But alas! seeing the current scenario, this all seems to be something totally non-existent! :/ A man like Lord Rama! Can he exist in the today's world? A man with perfect self-control, and who is so calm always! One can only wish to be like him, but frankly speaking, the world is too bad that it all seems to be like a childish longing, that is too difficult to be fulfilled. Diwali is celebrated to show that good can defeat evil in any case. Ravana, the one who was so intelligent, shows that power corrupts everyone, and this corruption makes the most intelligent person to behave like a fool! Isn't t similar to what we are seeing these days happening in our countries?!

Diwali is celebrated by most of the people just as a holiday, or fun-day, but how many of us celebrate it with the real spirit of Diwali?! Well, quite too handful people do that. I wish people understand the message this beautiful festival is trying to give us. Though I don't even know, how many of you actually read this, or thought about it on an intellectual level. Sometimes I feel like I have spoken here what I thought, but still there are hardly any people who are listening! Because there is always a difference between Hearing and Listening!