After sunset on Wednesday, Hindus lit up their homes with earthen lamps and decorated their doorsteps with colourful Rangolis and set thaalis for pooja.
Smoke billowed out of the Shri Swaminarayan Temple on MA Jinnah Road. Inside, it was lit up with firecrackers, dias and incense. Children lit firecrackers and threw them down at the feet of the horde of people walking in and out of the temple. Vendors, taking advantage of the occasion, thronged the temple to sell the firecrackers, sweets and incense. Women decked out in red saris and gold jewellery told their young daughters to keep their heads covered by dupattas.
It was time for the festival of lights, Diwali, to begin, to mark the beginning of a new year for the followers of the Hindu faith. The word diwali derives from a sanskrit word “deepavali” which means a row of lamps.
The five-day festival commemorates the triumph of good over evil of Ram over Ravana, as described in the Ramayan. Ram returned to his home in Ayodha after 1,400 years of exile and defeated the demon Ravana.
The people believe that the goddess of wealth and prosperity, Lakshmi, visits the home of every follower. Thus, they set up poojas, with thaalis decorated with sweets coloured by yellow sandoor, flowers and a clay lamp, and do aartis in her honour.
The pooja usually begins after sundown and with respect to Ganesh – the lord of beginnings and obstacles.
People come to the temple to be blessed by the gods, according to Vijay Kumar, the Maharaj at Darya Lal temple in Kharadar. While celebrating they did not forget their countrymen and held a special prayer for dengue patients and flood survivors at the temple, he said.
