My name is Anjali, and I live in Berkshire with my husband Dhrupesh and our beautiful twins Krish and Bodhi (six years old) and this week we are celebrating the Hindu Festival of Diwali. 

The Story of Diwali 

The Hindu story of Diwali takes us back roughly 896,000 years. Diwali means ‘rows of lighted lamps’ in Sanskrit and in the Hindu tradition, the festival is a celebration of Rama and Sita returning home after a long period of exile.

The story tells us about a great warrior Rama, his beautiful Princess Sita and an evil king called Ravana. Ravana wanted to take Sita away from Rama and make her his wife, so he kidnapped her. Rama realised what had happened and began his quest to find her. On his journey through the forest, Rama met Hanuman, the monkey God, who offered to help rescue Sita.

Rama, Hanuman and their army battled against king Ravana. The battle was difficult and at many points it seemed like Ravana would win, but Rama fired a special golden arrow at Ravana and defeated him. With Ravana defeated, Rama and Sita were reunited and able to return home as King and Queen.

Villagers from their home optimistically anticipated Rama and Sita’s return and helped to guide them back by lighting diyas (oil lamps) through the streets, which is where the tradition originates. The lights came to symbolise the triumph of light over darkness, hope over despair, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.

Diwali Celebrations

After hundreds of thousands of years, people still celebrate Diwali. In the Hindu tradition, Diwali is a five-day festival. The first day of Diwali, Dhanteras, marks the beginning of the Diwali celebrations, where as a family we clean our home and perform puja (prayer) to the Goddess Lakshmi. We perform this puja for prosperity and good health of our household. We also love to read Krish and Bodhi books on this day to remind them of why we celebrate Diwali and to get them excited for the days ahead.

The second day, Choti Diwali, is the day for decorating! We light up our home with diyas, candles and lights. It’s one of our favourite days of the festival, with the house full of light, the magic builds up and it’s hard to contain our excitement. Krish and Bodhi especially love lighting the diyas on our front doorstep, which they’ve been doing from a very young age (under careful supervision of course!). They’ve come to learn that this tradition helps to protect us against negative spirits and energy, whilst also symbolising kindness and purity. 

On the third day, which is the height of the festival and coincides with the darkest night of the lunar month, Dhrupesh and I are usually woken up by two very excited little humans, ready to celebrate Diwali. The daytime is lovely and peaceful -we spend it as a family of four, opening presents, playing games, reading books, eating treats and taking a long walk in our favourite forest. In the evening, we dress up and get together with our family, which usually involves a delicious feast, playing some more games, (which can sometimes get a little competitive!) and perform a puja to the Goddess Lakshmi, we light diyas and place them in windows and in every room of the house to invite the Goddess Lakshmi in. We finish the evening celebrations with fireworks and far too many sweet treats.

The fourth day of Diwali is the first day of the Hindu new year -we visit our parents and my Nanima (maternal grandmother), to wish them a Saal Mubarak (happy new year) and touch their feet. Touching your elders’ feet is a mark of respect and in return they offer us their blessings for the new year ahead, wishing us a long life and happiness.

On the fifth and final day of Diwali, we celebrate Bhai Dooj, sisters invite their brothers for a meal of their favourite dishes and perform arti (a ceremony in which diyas are lit and offered up to gods) and apply a red tika (red dot of vermillion or red turmeric on the forehead) on their brother. This day is to honour the lifelong bond between brothers and sisters. 

What Diwali means to us 

We are always moved by the ancient story of Diwali; the message and celebrations reinforce several key principles that are important to us as a family. Diwali reminds us to choose light over darkness, hope over despair, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. Dhrupesh and I hope that through these celebrations and in the way that we parent Krish and Bodhi they will be proud of who they are and always embrace the light that is within them.