Thursday, November 8, 2012

Diwali- The festival of flowers, gifts and lights



Diwali, as the name substantiates is the festival of lights. It indicates bringing happiness and prosperity in everyone’s life, it also marks the end of darkness and evil power. This festival of lights is celebrated throughout the country, irrespective of religion, cast and creed with full devotion. It unites people by eliminating any rivalry and teaches them to live in harmony. Diwali is marked with the lighting of lamps to signify the victory over evil spirits, by keeping clay lamps all around the house and also by bursting crackers. Homes are cleaned, painted and illuminated with additional lights to welcome goddess Lakshmi. People wear new clothes and distribute sweets among them to mark the grandeur of the festival.

It rolls back to the age of Ramayana, where Lord Ram along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman came back to Ayodhya- their homeland after 14 years of exile and after defeating Ravana, the king of Lanka. People in Ayodhya gave them a grand welcome by lighting lamps and bursting fire crackers to signify triumph of good over evil. Since then, this festival has been celebrated as end of evilness. It is celebrated exactly 20 days after Dusherra, which comes in the month of mid-October and November. It is also called deepavali in some parts of India, where deepa means light. However, both the naming conventions signify the same festival.
Importance of Diwali:
Diwali is celebrated for four days and each day has its own meaning. Respectively,
1.      The first day is known as dhanteras, where goddess Lakshmi is worshipped for wealth and prosperity, it’s also considered an auspicious day for businessmen who decorate their offices and homes to welcome the goddess of wealth.
2.      The second day is the naraka chaturdasi which marks the end of demon narakasura by lord Krishna. This day is celebrated, as a mark of praying to the god to eradicate the laziness in one’s life, bring about happiness and wisdom in the future.    
3.      The third day is amavasya, which means no moon day in English. It represents the worship of lord Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and also lord Ganesha, the god that is worshipped before the beginning of every work for its goodwill.
4.      The fourth day is balipadyami. Lord Vishnu fifth incarnation as Vamana avatar who came to suppress king balichakravarthi. This festival indicates spreading light and happiness throughout the world.  
Gifts, flowers and Diwali!!!
Lights are not only the attractive part of the festival, but even gifts, sweets and flower decorations also bring liveliness to the festival. People and mainly children are very excited about this festival because of not only the crackers, but also delicious sweets and wonderful gifts. Gifts are usual and in a high demand during this season. Relatives and friends bring sweets and toys for the children, new dresses are purchased for the whole family. Many retailers give gifts along with the items purchased as a special token of love and affection in this festival. The festival unites people as they exchange gifts and sweets, increasing the bond between them. This tradition of giving and taking gifts has been followed since a very long time, and this will sure continue for many more decades as well.
Flowers in the form of bouquet are also one of the main forms of gifts in present day scenario. Flowers are not only used as gifts, but also as to decorate the houses, offices and shops. Flowers bring special fragrance in the houses throughout the day. They are used in worshiping god and also in beautifying rangoli arts, which are designed in front of the houses for a special reason. Decorating with flowers not only makes us feel pleasant, but the fragrance brings about the festive mood and joyfulness among people. Flowers are used by people irrespective of whether they are rich or poor. Many flowers are also grown in gardens which help the people to choose the best ones for gifting and decorating purpose. In Hindu culture, usually people purchase jewelry and ornaments during this season. It is also a type of gift given to their loved ones. People send flowers Mumbai and also send flowers Bangalore for such great occasion.
Gifting the internet way:
In modern era, where hectic workload, business schedule and meetings drives people to forget about the importance of festivals and also maybe the case of people staying abroad where these festivals are not celebrated. So it is common for them to miss the fun and happiness of these festivals. So in order for them to stay in touch with their loved ones they are going the internet way of sending gifts, flowers, greetings, chocolate and thereby not missing on the importance of the festivals. Online gift shops and many other websites provide shipping of flowers and gifts as well and by virtue of which, these people are able to spread joy and prosperity.
Flower delivery Mumbai tradition is increasing day by day in India.

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