Coming close on the heels of Dussehra, Diwali is celebrated on the last day of the Gujarati calendar year, and generally comes in the months of October or November, on the English calendar. This festival has become an universal festival, and is celebrated all over the world.
Dhanteras is celebrated by two days before diwali. Everybody goes out of their way to make big purchases and buy new clothes and jewellery. This is because this day is considered auspicious for wealth, and it is said that if you buy any silver or gold on this day, you will be lucky throughout the year. The goddess Lakshmi is worshipped on this day through a Lakshmipujan, which is performed not only in the homes but in shops and offices as well. People prepare diwali recipes a week before diwali. The diwali recipes are distributed to families and friends.
The other version is that when Lord Vishnu in the guise of Vamana, sought three feet of land from the generous demon king Bali, the latter had to surrender his head as Vamana had conquered the earth and the sky in two strides. Lord Vishnu banishes Bali into the Pathala Loka by keeping his third stride on Bali’s head. Later, pleased by his generosity, Lord Vishnu grants him a boon and he in turn requests the Lord to guard his palace at Pathala Loka.
Hindu puja on the eve of Diwali. While Deepavali is popularly known as the “festival of lights”, the most significant spiritual meaning is “the awareness of the inner light”. Lots of purchasing goes on. Lots of diwali sweets and diwali recipes are made. Central to Hindu philosophy is the assertion that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Deepavali is the celebration of this Inner Light, in particular the knowing of which outshines all darkness (removes all obstacles and dispels all ignorance), awakening the individual to one’s true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With the realization of the Atman comes universal compassion, love, and the awareness of the oneness of all things