seen on the scene
DIWALI
INDIAN FESTIVAL
Written by : Sangeeta Dua
Diwali is the largest festival of India which is celebrated by more than 1.3 billion Indians worldwide . It is a celebration of the ‘ Victory of Good Over Evil ’. People celebrate this occasion by lighting the outsides of houses and buildings with candles or multicolored lights , and with fireworks and noise crackers . The day is also spent in thanking God for the blessings in ones life and distributing sweets to neighbors as means of spreading goodness . The day after Diwali is also the New Year per the Hindu lunar calendar . Twenty days prior to Diwali is a festival called Dussehra , which is the actual day of the victory by God incarnate Rama destroying the evil king Ravana . This day is celebrated with victory parades in many parts of India , and by burning effigies of the Evil Ravana and his collaborators . Nine days prior to Dussehra is the start of Navratri ( nine day ) celebration which kicks off the festival season in India , during which the female form of God is worshipped and many folks dance away the early parts of the night with communal dances called Garba . This year the US has issued a commemorative stamp in honor of the Diwali festival . In Houston , Diwali-Dusshera festival is an annual event whose photographs are shown here .
8 iF Magazine | NOVEMBER 2016