Tomorrow, we begin Diwali celebrations. Diwali or Deepavali is one of the most popular festivals in India. It means different things to different people. There are different stories regarding what Deepavali is about. In North India, it is the celebration of Sri Rama returning to Ayodhya after having defeating Ravana and establishing Vibhishana on the throne of Sri Lanka. Some media posts speak about the number of days he walked. If you go by Valmiki Ramayana, Sri Rama did not walk from Sri Lanka to Ayodhya because Vibhishana had given him the Pushpak Vimana for travel.
Diwali starts with Dhanteras, the worship of Vishnu as Dhanavantari. It is not worship of money but Vishnu manifesting Himself as the Lord of Health on Dhanavantari Trayodashi followed by Naraka Chaturdashi. This is the celebration of Sri Krishna and Satyabhama destroying Narakasura, which is why Narak Chaturdashi is celebrated. There's also a story about Kali Ma destroying some asuras which explains Kali Chaudas.
Skanda Purana connects Deepavali with the story of Bali. The king who ruled the southern parts of India, especially what is known as modern Kerala, and he was sent off to Paataala. For three days he was supposed to return and have a look at how his people are prospering. To show their prospertity, people celebrate Diwali by invoking Goddess Lakshmi and it is an association with Raja Bali that we have the Bali pratipada. There is Kali puja and Lakshmi puja. So, we can see that Deepavali is made up of more than one story which is fine, because more than one historical factor can be there in celebration. Deepavali has a social aspect of bonding people together with exchange of gifts and sweets. Thus religion includes the social aspect, the religious dimension which is sober, serious and also a joyful, celebratory dimension to it. The whole gamut of human feelings of the human experience is included. Ultimately, it's all about how one relates to Ishvara, to the God of their understanding and how to seek a better understanding and get into the spiritual dimension behind the religious experience.
The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidyaf@gmail.com
