Diwali… festival of lights and colour

Diwali is one of India’s most important cultural festivals, celebrated across the nation and worldwide by the Indian community. It’s where they light oil lamps or candles to symbolise the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil.

It has also become known as the Festival of Lights.

The name “Diwali” is a actually a contraction of “Deepavali” (Sanskrit: दीपावली Dīpāvalī), which translates into “row of lamps“ which you will see everywhere during the five colourful days of celebrations which includes feasting, prayers, and fireworks.

It’s held during the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika which means the date changes each year, but it’s always sometime in October or November.

Happy Diwali and Happy New Year!!

If you are interested in colour in culture you can check out my other colour in culture related blog posts.

This article was originally written November 13th, 2012 as part of my 30 blogs in 30 days challenge series. Updated November 29th, 2021.

Images via unsplash