Everywhere Lights Everything Brights
Never mind whether it is Day or Night

This is perhaps the most well-known of the Indian festivals: it is celebrated throughout India, as well as in Indian communities throughout the Diaspora. It usually takes place eighteen days after Dasara. It is colloquially known as the "festival of lights", for the common practice is to light small oil lamps (called diyas) and place them around the home, in courtyards, verandahs, and gardens, as well as on roof-tops and outer walls. In Karnataka, the festival of lamps, Diwali, is an ancient tradition that has been celebrated for ages and grows in fascination by each year.

Everyone enjoys the goodies, the glitter and glamour, and the endless zest for living that suddenly grips people around this time. The victory of light over darkness is celebrated joyously all over the region. It is also considered to be a festival of wealth and prosperity.

In urban areas, especially, candles are substituted for diyas; and among the nouveau riche, neon lights are made to substitute for candles. The celebration of the festival is invariably accompanied by the exchange of sweets and the explosion of fireworks. As with other Indian festivals, Diwali signifies many different things to people across the country. In north India, Diwali celebrates Rama's return to Ayodhya after the defeat of Ravana and his coronation as king; in Gujarat, the festival honors Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth; and in Bengal, it is associated with the goddess Kali. Everywhere, it signifies the renewal of life, and accordingly it is common to wear new clothes on the day of the festival; similarly, it heralds the approach of winter and the beginning of the sowing season.

Festivals in India are characterized by color, gaiety, enthusiasm, prayers and rituals. Foreign travelers are struck by the scale and multiplicity of Indian festivals that have evolved in the society. Diwali, the popular festival of Indians, celebrates the return of Lord Rama and Sita from exile. Diwali is also called as the festival of lights. It usually falls between 15th October and 15th November. It is celebrated because on that day hundreds of years ago lord ram returned home to Ayodhya after 14 years of being into exile.The legend followed in Karnataka is that of an emperor named Bali who had become all-powerful and a threat to the peace of the universe. God Vishnu is said to have come to earth in the form of a short Brahmin (The Vamana Avatar), and presenting himself before the mighty Bali asked for "as much land as three of my footsteps would cover." As no king should refuse a Brahmin's appeal for charity, Bali readily granted what seemed to him a trifling request. Whereupon the diminutive Brahmin resumed his all-pervasive, omnipresent form and covers the heavens with one foot and the world below with another. He asked where he should place his foot for the third step. Bali bowed before him and offered his own head for him to place his foot on. This victory is observed on the day of the new moon (Amavasya) when the month of Ashwin (October-November) makes way for the month of Kartik.

Even the humblest of huts will be lighted by a row of earthen lamps. Crackers resound and light up the earth and the sky. The faces of boys and girls flow with a rare charm in their dazzling hues and colors. Illumination - Deepotsavas - in temples and all sacred places of worship and one the banks of rivers symbolize the scattering of spiritual radiance all round from these holy centers. The radiant sight of everybody adorned with new and bright clothes, especially ladies decorated with the best of ornaments, captures the social mood at its happiest.

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