FROM DELHI, MEENAL BISHNOI, AUTHOR OF THE INSPIRING BLOG ‘MAISON MARIGOLD’, SHARES HOW HER FAMILY CELEBRATES THE FESTIVAL OF DIWALI THROUGH DECORATING THEIR HOME, PREPARING SPECIAL DISHES AND DRESSING IN FESTIVE CLOTHING TO CELEBRATE THIS FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS.
In a country with such diverse cultures as India, each with its fair share of stories, legends and deities, it is no surprise that every day there is a festival celebrated somewhere in India. Yet none rivals the beauty and grandeur that is the ‘Festival of Lights’, Diwali, a celebration signifying the triumph of light over darkness. Celebrated during a new moon between mid-October and mid-November, it is a festival that flows out of a glorious legend and encompasses beautiful customs. 128
BY
Meenal Bishnoi
Though there are many legends associated with the history of the festival, the most widely accepted and popular story of Diwali has its origins in the Ramayana, the great Hindu epic that relates the life story of Lord Rama, the virtuous king of Ayodhya. When Lord Rama returned to his kingdom after 14 years of exile, having rescued his wife Sita from the clutches of the demon king Ravana during an epic battle between good and evil, the people of Ayodhya illuminated the whole kingdom with