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(An article published in 2023 is being reposted.)
Diwali is celebrated with great enthusiasm all over India. In North India, people of every religion celebrate in their own way. A question related to this is that since when is Dilawi being celebrated in Tamil Nadu.
Diwali is one of the biggest festivals of Hindus. Hindus who live in other countries also celebrate it with enthusiasm there. However, every part of the country has its own story related to this festival.
This festival is celebrated most of the years on the new moon day of the month of Appasi according to the Tamil calendar. For some years it started being celebrated a day before Amavasya.
According to the English calendar, the festival of Diwali falls in approximately October and November.
On the occasion of Diwali, this day has been declared a government holiday not only in India but also in some other countries.
But, not only Hindus, people of religions like Jain and Sikh also celebrate this festival.
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Is Diwali a festival of Hindus or Buddhists?
There are many stories prevalent in North India regarding Diwali. One of these is related to a mythological story. The day Ram returned to Ayodhya with Lakshman and Sita after completing 14 years of exile. That day the people there celebrated by lighting lamps.
According to the story popular in South India, Lord Krishna had killed the demon Narakasura who was causing great destruction. People are celebrating the day of his death like a festival.
However, according to Pandit Ayodhidasar, "Diwali is a festival of Buddhism. It was adopted by Brahmins."
Ayodhidasar had written an article on Diwali on 13 November 1907. The title of that article is 'Deepavati Snanavaram'. In this he has described Diwali as a Buddhist festival.
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Pandit Ayothidasar writes that every year everyone used to prepare dishes with sesame oil. He used to take bath in 'Deepwati River'. Used to wear new clothes and donate food to the poor. It was celebrated as Deepvati Snan Day on Chaturdashi of Kartik month.
According to him, "When Buddhism was spread throughout the country, everyone from rich to poor used to celebrate this festival with great joy."
"Later people from other communities came and settled here."
Ayothidasar says that after this Buddhism started weakening and liquor shops started opening. There was lack of education among the people.
"They did not do much questioning or research. Because of this they could not know the real history of this festival."
Ayothidasar further writes that when people asked their gurus about this festival. So even the gurus did not have correct information about it.
"Then this story was made popular that there was a huge demon who troubled the gods. Then a god killed him. This brought happiness and peace to the gods. In this happiness, people take bath, wear new clothes and prepare dishes and eat them."
Ayothidasar says that this was a fabricated story.
belief in jainism
MS Venkatasamy believed that Diwali was originally a festival of Jainism. He writes that Vardhaman Mahavir, the last Tirthankara of Jainism, was staying in the palace of a king in Pawapuri city. There he preached religion and morality to the people.
"This sermon continued the whole night. It ended in the morning. People did not return to their homes because they stayed awake the whole night. They slept at different places there."
According to Venkatasamy, "During this time Mahavir attained Nirvana on his seat itself. When people woke up, they came to know that Mahavir Swami had attained Nirvana. This was informed to the king."
"After this the king discussed with others. He decided that lamps should be lit in every house to remember Mahavir Swami. Since then people started celebrating this festival by lighting lamps."
Venkatasamy says that after the decline of Jainism, a large number of Jain people joined Hinduism. But they did not leave their old tradition of celebrating Diwali. They continued celebrating this festival as before.
"Even the Hindu society could not completely end this tradition. That's why it also adopted it."
However, according to Venkatasamy, a new mythology was added to it. It mentions the killing of Narakasura and Diwali is celebrated in his memory.
But Venkatasamy does not consider this story logical.
He says that due to non-acceptance of Diwali, this story of Narakasura was created later.
'There is no mention of Diwali in Tamil history'
All these things are stories related to the origin of Diwali. But this is not proof that Diwali was actually celebrated at that time.
If we look at the records related to this, there is very little mention about Diwali in Tamil language.
Researcher Professor Velsamy says that there is no mention of Diwali in Tamil history till the 19th century. Tamil litterateur Veeramamunivar's 'Sadurkaradi' Tamil dictionary was published in 1732.
"But the word Diwali is not found in it."
"Even in Tamil literature, there is no mention of Diwali till the 19th century. However, this word is found in Manippaya Tamil, a Tamil dictionary published in Sri Lanka in 1842. It also gives mythological explanations related to Diwali."
Velsamy believes that it is possible that this festival may have become familiar to Tamil society during this period. He also says that in Tamil tradition, most of the festivals are celebrated after the harvest. But there does not seem to be any such connection with Diwali.
According to Velsamy, even in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, it cannot be said that Diwali was a very popular festival.
He also gives the example of Saminath Iyer's autobiography 'En Sarittaram'. He says that there is no specific mention about Diwali in this book.
Apart from this, there is no mention of Diwali in the accounts of foreign travelers who came to Tamil Nadu and wrote about its society, customs and their travel experiences.
However, Velsamy admits that some religious and social rituals were performed by lighting lamps in the month of Kartik.
But he says that those traditions have no direct connection with the Diwali celebrated today.
festivals in tamilnadu
Cultural researcher Paramshivan also believes that there was no festival named Diwali in ancient Tamil Nadu. He has written in detail on this subject in an article titled 'Festivals from the viewpoint of social history'.
According to Paramasivan, "Most of the traditional festivals of Tamil Nadu were celebrated between the Tamil calendar months Tha and Aadi months.
"Tamil Nadu is a region with a hot climate. Therefore, festivals here were usually celebrated at a time when agricultural work was less."
According to Paramasivan, "Festivals of the folk deities of Tamil Nadu were also organized during this period. He further says that Diwali, which is celebrated on a large scale today, reached Tamil Nadu through the Telugu Brahmins during the period of Vijayanagara rulers."
According to him, it was originally a festival related to Jainism in North India.
However, folk culture researcher Sivasubramaniam looks at this debate from a different perspective.
He says that when most people are celebrating a festival with joy, then it is not necessary to debate where that festival came from or whether it should be celebrated or not.
They believe that whoever likes to celebrate a festival should celebrate it. And whoever does not want to be convinced, should not convince him.
Sivasubramaniam says, "When people are happily bursting crackers, wearing new clothes and celebrating festivals, then what will be achieved by criticizing it or making people sad."
He says, "Those who wish should celebrate Diwali, those who do not wish should stay at home peacefully."
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
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