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The Hindu community will celebrate the day of Diwali today. The members of the Karachi community have been preparing for the celebrations of the last days. PHOTOS: ATHAR KHAN / EXPRESS
KARACHI: The Hindu community around the world will celebrate today Diwali, the return of their Lord Rama, his wife and brother of Ayodhya, lighting diya (lamps) and offering special prayers.
The festival is also called Diyari or Dipawali, which means in Sanskrit "a row of lit lamps," said Pakistani Secretary General Panchayat of Pakistan, Ravi Dawani. "This festival marks the victory of good over evil," he added.
Speaking about the origins of Diwali, Dawani recounted an event mentioned in his sacred book, the Ramayana, which took place thousands of years ago. He said that Lord Rama, who is the seventh avatar of Lord Krishna, was sent to the Baswas (jungle) by his father, the ruler of the time, when his second wife asked him to fulfill his promise. and exile Rama, the eldest of all. son, for fourteen years so that his son could become sovereign.
"Lord Rama went into exile to honor his father's promise to his wife. The event that followed shows the commitment of his wife and brother, who also accompanied him. The exile finally ended when he took over Sita [his wife] Ravana, a demon, who killed Sita during her 14 years of hard detention, explained Dawani.
The festival begins in the evening with Ganesh and Lakshmi Pooja, worship of their god and goddess of wisdom and wealth. Hindus are also preparing for the festival by cleaning and decorating their homes on the last day of the year in order to be able to enter the New Year with zeal.
However, according to Dawani, there are different points of view on the celebration. In the south of India, people celebrate Diwali on the occasion of the defeat of Narakasura by Lord Krishna. In Jainism, the day marking the anniversary of nirvana or the liberation of Lord Mahavira is celebrated, while Sikhs celebrate it as the day when their sixth guru, Guru Hargobind, was released from captivity.
Diwali is usually celebrated in October or November, which is the last day of the solar year followed by Hindus. Harvesting crops in the months of October and November is also one of the reasons to celebrate the holiday.
The festival is celebrated for five days. It includes two days before the same day and two days later, which corresponds to the New Year. In Pakistan, more than 2.5 million Hindus will celebrate this religious holiday, of which 75% of the Hindu population lives in the sind. According to Dawani, on the total Hindu population of Sindh, Tharparkar district is home to half of the Hindu population.
Posted in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2018.
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