where every child gets MORE: October 2011

Monday, 24 October 2011

Tradition of Diwali

Diwali is celebrated across the world as the "Festival of Light," where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within every human being .
Hindus, Jains and Sikhs alike regard it as a celebration of life and an occasion to strengthen family and social relationships.

DIWALI TRIVIA

WHAT is DIWALI

The word "Divali/Diwali" is a variation of the Sanskrit word "Deepavali" which means "a continuous line of lights(deep)"

WHEN IS IT CELEBRATED

Going by the Gregorian calendar, Diwali in India is observed generally in the months of October or November. The festival comes exactly twenty days after Dussehra, another sacred Hindu occassion, and is celebrated for five consecutive days at the end of Hindu month of Ashvin.

EARLY TRADITION OF EXCHANGING DIWALI GIFTS

From ancient times this has been followed. During early times, when Indian households solely depend on farming and cattle rearing for their livelihood, even then people used to give their farm produce on this day.

DIWALI Special SWEETS n NAMKEEN

Every part of the country has its own special recipies for Diwali.These are special diwali preparations done in Maharashtra.

In HISTORY

There are many interesting stories Mythology and history around Diwali

In North India, Diwali celebrates the return of Lord Rama, King of Ayodhya with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana to Ayodhya from a war in which he killed the demon king Ravana. According to Hindu mythology, it is believed that the people lit oil lamps along the way to light up their path in the darkness. The festival is celebrated on the final day of the Vikram calendar. The following day marks the beginning of the North Indian New Year and is called Annakut.

In South India, Deepavali does not coincide with the beginning of New Year as South Indians follow a different calendar, the Shalivahana calendar. It commemorates the killing of Narakasura, an evil demon who created havoc, by Lord Krishna’s wife Sathyabhama.

In Sikhs, Diwali is celebrated as the return of the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind Ji from the captivity of the city, Gwalior. To commemorate his undying love for Sikhism, the towns people lit the way to, Harmandhir Sahib (referred to as the Golden Temple), in his honour.

Among the Jain festivals, Diwali is one of the most important one. For on this occasion Lord Mahavira, who established Jainism, attained Nirvana.

For more Information

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali

http://www.indianfestivals.info/diwali.html

Diwali Traditional Games

TRADITIONAL DIWALI GAMES

In Hindu Mythology, it is believed that Goddess Parvati played dice with her husband Lord Shiva and she decreed that whosoever gambled on Diwali night would prosper throughout the ensuing year.This tradition of playing cards- flush and rummy with stakes on this particular day continues even to-day.

Ganjifas – Traditional cards game

Traditionally cards were played with “Ganjifas”.The original Ganjifas displayed enthralling objects and showered the folk art painted by the artists.

Mughal Ganjifa :History says Mughal and Hindu ganjifas were very common and had grabbed all the limelight. The present game of Mughal Ganjifa was introduced by Akbar. The Mughal ganjifa carried eight suited ganjifa pack and had 96 beautiful cards in eight suits of 12 cards each. The twelve cards in each suit comprised of two court or figure cards and 10 numeral or pip cards.

Dashavatara Ganjifa :The Hindu Dashavatara (10 incarnations) were different in their composition and construction. In the first order the number of suits and cards were more which made the game complicated . The figures and the suit signs were common to the Hindu players. Each pack of ganjifa carried 10 suits, which displayed one of the incarnations of Vishnu.

Chauka Bara – Traditional board game

In very old times “cowrie shells “ were used to play games. One of oldest strategic games using “cowrie shells” was Chauka Bara

Chauka Bara is a 'Race Game' where in two to four players race their respective coins on a board of 5x5 squares to reach the inner most square. The movement of coins is controlled by throw of four cowrie shells, hence it is a game of chance. Since each player has four coins, he can decide which coin to move!

You can play the traditional game at http://kavidikali.com/

Can you guess which game is the modern version of this game?