WHATS DIWALI?

• Diwali is a hindu festival celebrated for five days on October 23
• The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness.
• Its the festival of 'Light'.

Diwali is the time to enjoy the delicious sweets, light the bright lamps and have a sparkling celebration. The festival has been celebrated for ages in India. But do you have any idea how and when did it first originate? The history of Diwali celebrations is nearly as old as the history of India. Here we bring you ten different reasons each of which is popularly believed by different sections of Indian people as the cause behind the origin of the Diwali tradition. Some of these have their roots in the different kinds of legends and mythical tales that can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures called Puranas.

Once upon a time there was a great warrior, Prince Rama, who had a beautiful wife named Sita.

There was also a terrible demon king, Ravana. He had twenty arms and ten heads, and was feared throughout the land. He wanted to make Sita his wife, and one day he kidnapped her and took her away in his chariot. Clever Sita left a trail of her jewellery for Rama to follow.

Rama followed the trail of glittering jewellery until he met the monkey king, Hanuman, who became his friend and agreed to help find Sita. Messages were sent to all the monkeys in the world, and through them to all the bears, who set out to find Sita.

After a very long search, Hanuman found Sita imprisoned on an island. Rama's army of monkeys and bears couldn't reach the island, so they began to build a bridge. Soon all the animals of the world, large and small, came to help. When the bridge was built, they rushed across it and fought a mighty battle.

When Rama killed the evil Ravana with a magic arrow, the whole world rejoiced. Rama and Sita began their long journey back to their land, and everybody lit oil lamps to guide them on their way and welcome them back.

Ever since, people light lamps at Diwali to remember that light triumphs over dark and good triumphs over evil.

Diwali Story Printables - Older Children

Below you will find colouring pages and two types of story paper (lined and with handwriting lines) for each picture. Children can use the story paper to copy the story or write their own version.

For many Indians this five day festival honours Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

People start the new business year at Diwali, and some Hindus will say prayers to the goddess for a successful year.

Lamps are lit to help Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, find her way into people's homes.

They also celebrate one of the Diwali legends, which tells of the return of Rama and Sita to Rama's kingdom after fourteen years of exile.

spring-cleaning the home,
wearing new clothes
exchanging gifts (often sweets and dried fruits) and preparing
festive meals
decorating buildings with fancy lights.
huge firework displays often celebrate Diwali.