![]() ![]() ![]() 12, but in all there are five days of festivities. This year, the main holiday falls on Sunday, Nov. Gambling is a popular tradition because of the belief that whoever gambled on Diwali night would prosper throughout the year.Īnd in Singapore, in the lead-up to Diwali, a silver chariot with the goddess Sri Drowpathai Amman is towed through the streets from the Sri Marjamman Temple, which also hosts Theemithi, a ritual in which men walk on burning charcoal.Ī shopkeeper arranges lanterns kept for sale ahead of the Diwali festival, the Hindu festival of lights in Mumbai. Here, many have an early morning bath with warm oil to symbolize bathing in the holy River Ganges as a form of physical and spiritual purification. In South India, it honors another story of exile from the epic Mahabharata, the victory of Lord Krishna’s destruction of the demon Naraka who is said to have imprisoned women and tormented his subjects. Many people dedicate the holiday to special prayers to Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, in the hopes that she will bless them. In North India, it draws from the Ramayana, with Rama’s people lighting diyas to guide him, his wife Sita, and brother Lakshmana on a triumphant journey home after 14 years in exile. The holiday, which has become both religious and secular, is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and some Buddhists. People are visiting a pandal or a temporary platform for the worship of the Hindu goddess Kali ahead of the Kali puja festival in Kolkata, India on Nov.
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