Diwali.. a very spirited festival of India! Perhaps Kerala is the only state of India which does not celebrate Diwali. I wonder why..
Sitting in an isolated office floor, hearing the distant booms of fireworks, I was tempted to find an answer. Whom do I ask? Who else than the big G who is omnipresent, omniscient & omnipotent? Yes, I prayed to 'Google.com' and lo, I was heard and answered immediately.
I read someone's opinion on this. It reminded me that Kerala thrives on the peaceful and prosperous rule of Mahabali, the king of Asuras. He was strong and righteous ruler and a true devotee of Vishnu. When he defeated the Devas in battle and became the leader of the entire realm i.e. the bhoomi, swarga and pathala, the Devas ran to Vishnu for help. To help them, Vishnu, adopted the avatar of Vamana, a small Brahmin boy, and approached Bali with a request for grant of land – only as much land as he could cover with three paces.
Despite the warnings of his advisor, Bali granted this boon. Vamana then grew to an immense size, and, with his first pace, traversed the all of the earth and the underworld. With his second pace, he covered Heaven in its entirety. Seeing that Vamana has no more room for his last step, Bali offered his own head as a stepping-stone. At this time asuras led a war. Bali blocked them and told these all living and non living things are of Vishnu's creation. He Himself gave all this to us and He, Lord Vishnu, now came to take this back. Seeing Bali's strong devotion Lord Vishnu blessed him and raised to Suthala, the supreme position than Indra's heaven. Bali was thus banished to the underworld. Due to his selfless devotion and unwavering dharma he was granted permission to visit his subjects once every year and that is the grandest festival of Kerala.. Onam!
Now coming back to Diwali.. It is actually a celebration of victory of Devas over the Asuras. And keralites are still not very happy with the way our dearest Asura king was cheated by the Devas and we were deprived of his golden rule. Hence it seems Kerala does not celebrate Diwali along with the rest of India.
I don't know how true the mythologies are, but the answer seems reasonable to me. ;) Having said that, its still difficult to stay away from the spirit of Diwali since I love celebrations of every kind. So I will celebrate Diwali.. I will light Diyas along with everyone.. I will burst crackers along with everyone.. I will make and eat sweets along with everyone.. But I will do it all for our great king Mahabali. He'll be happy, I hope. I will celebrate two festivals for him.. And I am sure he also loves celebrations like me! :D
Sitting in an isolated office floor, hearing the distant booms of fireworks, I was tempted to find an answer. Whom do I ask? Who else than the big G who is omnipresent, omniscient & omnipotent? Yes, I prayed to 'Google.com' and lo, I was heard and answered immediately.
I read someone's opinion on this. It reminded me that Kerala thrives on the peaceful and prosperous rule of Mahabali, the king of Asuras. He was strong and righteous ruler and a true devotee of Vishnu. When he defeated the Devas in battle and became the leader of the entire realm i.e. the bhoomi, swarga and pathala, the Devas ran to Vishnu for help. To help them, Vishnu, adopted the avatar of Vamana, a small Brahmin boy, and approached Bali with a request for grant of land – only as much land as he could cover with three paces.
Despite the warnings of his advisor, Bali granted this boon. Vamana then grew to an immense size, and, with his first pace, traversed the all of the earth and the underworld. With his second pace, he covered Heaven in its entirety. Seeing that Vamana has no more room for his last step, Bali offered his own head as a stepping-stone. At this time asuras led a war. Bali blocked them and told these all living and non living things are of Vishnu's creation. He Himself gave all this to us and He, Lord Vishnu, now came to take this back. Seeing Bali's strong devotion Lord Vishnu blessed him and raised to Suthala, the supreme position than Indra's heaven. Bali was thus banished to the underworld. Due to his selfless devotion and unwavering dharma he was granted permission to visit his subjects once every year and that is the grandest festival of Kerala.. Onam!
Now coming back to Diwali.. It is actually a celebration of victory of Devas over the Asuras. And keralites are still not very happy with the way our dearest Asura king was cheated by the Devas and we were deprived of his golden rule. Hence it seems Kerala does not celebrate Diwali along with the rest of India.
I don't know how true the mythologies are, but the answer seems reasonable to me. ;) Having said that, its still difficult to stay away from the spirit of Diwali since I love celebrations of every kind. So I will celebrate Diwali.. I will light Diyas along with everyone.. I will burst crackers along with everyone.. I will make and eat sweets along with everyone.. But I will do it all for our great king Mahabali. He'll be happy, I hope. I will celebrate two festivals for him.. And I am sure he also loves celebrations like me! :D
