Hello, my dear readers. Welcome to the world of Festivals. This year has been a disaster and everybody can agree to this point. However much I try to avoid this point, I can’t avoid it, especially during the festival season and Diwali is the best festival in India. The festival of lights and the festival where the family comes together to celebrate unity was ruined for not only me but many other people, thanks to Covid-19😒🙏. Let me show you what happened this Diwali and let me tell you, my Diwali was a disaster, so let’s go people.
This year was the worst for me, to be honest. I am sick with 101• fever and totally bored. I have a headache and body ache. I have nothing to do as headache doesn’t let me read and body ache doesn’t let me move about in the house. Now I am sick and bored and feel so bad that this year, Diwali was so bad😞. So let me not bore you anymore and tell you what happened this year in Diwali. Let’s go, people.
This year people did nothing in Diwali. See Diwali has a few days of celebrations and they are:
•Dhanteras: on this day, people start cleaning their houses and buy gold for the family. This day is auspicious for buying gold as Dhanteras means the worship of Lord Dhanvantari, the God of good health and Ayurveda and also the worship of Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity.
What People Do On This Day:
On this day if you buy gold for the women in the house, it means you are inviting Goddess Lakshmi in your house to bless you with wealth and as you clean the house, you invite Lord Dhanvantari to bless your house with health.
Hindus consider this an extremely auspicious day for making new purchases, especially of gold or silver articles and new utensils. It is believed that new “Dhan” (wealth) or some item made of precious metal is a sign of good luck. In modern times, Dhanteras has come to be known as the most auspicious occasion for buying gold, silver, and other metals, especially kitchenware. The day also sees heavy purchases of appliances and automobiles.
On this night, the lights are set out every night both in the sky lamps and as offerings at the base of a Tulsi plant and also in the form of diyas, which are placed in front of the doorways of homes. This light is an offering to Yama, the Host of Death, to avert untimely death during the time of the Diwali festival. This day is a celebration aimed at increasing wealth and prosperity. Dhanteras engages themes of cleansing, renewal, and the securing of auspiciousness as embodied by Lakshmi.
This piece of information was taken from Google to provide elaborate information.
What We Did On This Day:
This year, we did nothing. There is Covid outside and no money in the house. This year people did not buy Gold as much as they usually do. In 2019, people in India bought 30 Tonnes of Gold on Dhanteras and this year people bought less than 20 Tonnes of Gold. India is almost on the verge of economic depression and the fact that there is no money to buy gold on such an auspicious day makes it hard for the Hindus. Another reason this year there was no celebration on Dhanteras was that the jewellery shops were open but people were scared of getting infected. Even my family did not go out this year.
So if I am to conclude after giving such detailed information on Dhanteras sales (I am studying for an MBA, what do you expect??? By the way, be happy that I did not include charts😂😂), this year, Dhanteras was not good for anyone.
Now onto another day number :
•Kali Chaudas: This day is a day of omen and nobody is allowed out of the house after 6 pm to avoid bringing other people’s warded off spirits into their house.
What People Do On This Day:
On this day, people ward off bad spirits and laziness by walking around the house with either a lemon or coconut or bhajiyas in their hand while chanting a Mantra and then go throw it on the crossroads.
The festival is also called as “Kali Chaudas”, where Kali means dark (eternal) and Chaudas means fourteenth, this is celebrated on the 14th day of the dark half of Aaso. In some regions of India, Kali Chaudas is the day allotted to the worship of Mahakali or Shakti and is believed that on this day Kali killed the asura (demon) Narakasura. Hence also referred to as Naraka-Chaturdashi, Kali Chaudas is the day to abolish laziness and evil which create hell in our life and shine a light on life. Narak Chaturdashi celebrated just one day before Diwali is also known as small Diwali.
What We Did On This Day:
We did nothing. We stayed at home and avoided going out, as usual, this day went by as it should have. House cleaning and spirit warding off, then staying in and avoiding the spirits. There was not much change in this day except that some people avoided warding off the spirits this year due to overcrowding on the crossroads and the fear of getting infected with Covid-19 was at its peak.
So it was a normal day and there was nothing special here. People usually used to get out in the day and avoid the crossroads but as those scared ladies had thrown all those things on the road to avoid the crowding on crossroads, the roads became a snakes and ladders game where people were trying to avoid the coconuts and lemons and bhajiyas like these things were snakes and if they touch them they will get bad luck which 2020 has already bestowed on us but they tried to avoid them and reach their destinations and trust me, the sight was worth watching😂😂.
•Lakshmi Puja: This is the main festive day of Diwali and the most important in all the festive days.
What People Do On This Day:
This is the day where all the Hindus pray to Goddess Lakshmi and decorate the house and invite her to bless them. I love this day so much as it was my grandfather’s favourite day. He also used to do Chopdi puja (praying Goddess Lakshmi to bless his knowledge and give him wealth).
To welcome the Goddess, devotees clean their houses, decorate them with finery and lights, and prepare sweet treats and delicacies as offerings. Devotees believe the happier Lakshmi is with the visit, the more she blesses the family with health and wealth. In Bengal Lokkhi Pujo or Laxmi puja is performed on Sharada Purnima day, the full moon day following Vijaya Dashami. This puja is also known as Kojagori Lokkhi pujo. Women worship Maa Laxmi in the evening after cleaning their house and decorating the floor of their houses with alpona or rangoli.
What We Did On This Day:
Nothing. See people will say that on this day we did the Puja but that is not the point. Usually in India, Puja is done with family, relatives and neighbours. They all come together and pray and laugh and enjoy Diwali with each other but this year, people did not come together to pray. Covid-19 ruined the festival of unity. The fun and happiness were there but in a small amount. Those family members who usually used to come home everyday were not even there on a festival and in India, we believe in unity more than religions. A happy Diwali greeting in real life is more valuable for Indians than a happy Diwali message on WhatsApp.
So overall, this function was ruined too, thanks to Covid-19.
•Bhai Dooj: This is just like Raksha Bandhan. I will put the links of my Raksha Bandhan and Last Diwali blog posts links, you can check them out to know more about these festivals and also see the difference between this year Diwali and last year Diwali.
On the day of the festival, sisters invite their brothers for a sumptuous meal often including their favourite dishes/sweets. The procedure may be different in Bihar and central India. The whole ceremony signifies the duty of a brother to protect his sister, as well as a sister’s blessings for her brother.
Carrying forward the ceremony in traditional style, sisters perform aarti for their brother and apply a red tika on the brother’s forehead. This tika ceremony on the occasion of Bhai Bij signifies the sister’s sincerest prayers for the long and happy life of her brother and treat them with gifts. In return, elder brothers bless their sisters and may treat them also with gifts or cash.
No Bhai Dooj this year for any sister, unless she stays at her own home but if she is married, bye-bye Bhai Dooj. Seriously, this year sucks!!! I miss my brother so much, I am on the verge of tears. I wonder when I will be able to meet him and hug him. This year has been a disaster for me as I couldn’t celebrate Raksha Bandhan and now won’t be able to celebrate Bhai Dooj. These 2 festivals are very special in a sister’s life and Covid ruined them nicely too. I can’t take this anymore😞😞. I miss my family.
This year and this festival were a disaster. Don’t mind my sarcasm guys, I am down with 101• fever, I haven’t seen my family for a long time. It’s festival season but I still won’t be seeing them, I can’t meet my brother for Bhai Dooj. We got sweets couriered to our house by my family members but I can’t have them because I am sick😭😭😭😭 and they look so tempting😋😋😭😭😭 and I haven’t met anybody in 9 months. This year IS THE WORST!!!
Well on this sad note, I would like to end my post, I have added the links to my old blogs down here, go check them out.
Raksha Bandhan || Indian Culture.
Diwali Photos From My Hindu Friends House || Diwali Special.
Kali Chaudas (The Indian Halloween) || Ancient India Rituals (Halloween and Diwali Special).
So that’s it for today, people. I am exhausted and tired. It took me 2 days to write this post and I can’t wait to see your comments on it as some people love Indian culture. This detailed explanation was for foreigners and other people interested in Indian culture.
Let me remind you that: I am a Muslim and I celebrate all religions, I collected this information with the help of my dad, my Hindu friends and the Google, of course. Please don’t get offended if something went wrong. I did my best to be accurate on all the festive days of Diwali. This is it people, see you soon and until then…
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