Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of the most important festivals celebrated in India. It is celebrated on the darkest night of the year, which usually falls some time in the beginning of November. It is also the start of the new year for many communities in India.

All over India, homes are decorated with lights and earthenware lamps called diyas. The name ‘Diwali’ is from the Sanskrit dipavali, which means ‘row of lamps’. Diyas are lit in every house to banish the dark and welcome in good luck and good fortune. People wear new clothes, meet their friends and relatives, eat good food, give each other sweets and gifts, decorate their houses with flowers and lights and Rangoli patterns, and set off fireworks.

Diwali is a festival of joy, prosperity and good luck, and a celebration of the victory of good over evil, expressed through different stories in different parts of India.

In most of the north of India, Diwali celebrates the return of the legendary prince, Rama and his wife, Sita, from exile. The story of Rama and Sita, Rama’s victory over the evil Rakshasa king, Ravana, and his glorious return to his kingdom of Kosala where he is crowned king, is told in the Ramayana. 

In Bengal and the eastern parts of India is told the story of the goddess Kali, the destroyer of evil. It is said that long ago, the world was overrun with evil – men had turned to wicked ways, and demons, rakshasas and ogres thrived and prospered. The gods were helpless. They could do nothing to control or contain the evil in the world. In desperation they turned to the supreme goddess Devi for help. Devi agreed to end the evil, and took on the black and frightening form of the goddess of destruction to do so. This form of Devi is known as Kali, which means ‘black’. Devi in the form of Kali then went on a rampage of destruction, killing and destroying all the evil men and demons in the world. But Kali became so angry that she could not stop, even when all the evil had been destroyed, and began laying waste the entire world in her fury. The gods asked her to stop, but she didn’t hear them. They turned to Shiva her husband for help as the only one who could stop her. But Kali didn’t hear him either. So Shiva lay down in her path – and only when she put her foot on him did she come to her senses, and stop her frenzy of destruction. The goddess is worshipped in her destructive form. She is terrifying to look at, black and furious, with four hands, dripping blood and dressed in skulls. She is usually depicted with one foot on Shiva who lies prone in her path, and with her tongue sticking out in horror as she realises the becomes aware of the destruction she has caused. Kali Puja, the day devoted to her worship, usually falls a day before Diwali.