Bright Lights, New Beginnings
By: Tanya Mukhi
12th September, 2013
My family and I ready for the Diwali ceremony. Ready with Indian dresses and the accessories that go with it. Diwali ceremony taking place in the office, since it occurs in every place you own.
One day of a year, every Indian home is practicing the same prayer and ceremony. Indians, who are from different regions and speak different languages, are all together celebrating this day full of prayers, lights and happiness. It is not the same day every year, but it’s around the same time.
History
There are different stories that are believed in different regions in India, but the most famous one is the one of Lord Rama
The King of Ayodhya – an ancient city in India, King Dashrata had three wives. His third wife wanted her son to be next to the throne, instead of Rama, who was the son of the first wife. The third wife insisted the King to send Rama to the forest for fourteen year and so he did, Rama, with his wife Sita (who is considered as a reincarnation or a form of Lakshmi) and one of his brothers, Lakshman. During his exile, Rama defeated the demon Ravana and returned home to Ayodhya, where he was welcomed with lighting clay lamps in honor of victory over evil, and he was crowned king of Ayodhya.
Five-Day Ceremony
Diwali is celebrated in five days. The first day we spring clean our home and buy some new things for the house. We change bed sheets and clean every corner preparing and making the homemade sweets, like jamus and mithais needed for the next day’s prayers.
The third day is Diwali, where dressing up with new clothes, prayers ad eating sweets happens. The fourth and fifth day is the start of the New Year. It also signifies the start of a new financial year, full of good luck.
The Day of Diwali
The day starts with warm wishes from family and friends. There are lit candles all over the house and the lights are turned on, even with daylight. It signifies inner light that protects us from spiritual darkness. We eat a bhaji (a mix of seven vegetables in a sauce) for lunch, representing seven days of the week.
We get dresses in a whole new wardrobe, and we wear Indian dresses and the accessories that go with it, ready for the ceremony, which is repeated in every property you own, or consider yours, like your house, your office, etc.
We do a ceremony where we clean and praise Lakshmi and Ganesh. Lakshmi is represented by many gold coins and Ganesh is represented with a coconut with a Ganesh sign on it. Each person puts milk, water, flowers, and rice on each of the ritual items. We also put for them a fruit and a sweet, which after that is considered holy and sacred.
After that, we do aarti to a Lakshmi song, towards the symbols representing Gods. Not long after, we take the fire used for the aarti and lets its smoke go all over the home, for t he good spirits to go all over the house and to now tell Lakshmi she is welcome in our house. You also take the remainder of the water used for the ceremony and sprinkle it all over the house, for the same purpose. Finally, we get to eat the sweets and enjoy the New Year and kids usually get a gift, but its usually money.
Bibliography
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/peopleplaces/diwali/
Tanya M 
The article is written clearly. You utilize the text features to your advantage. The article has a progression that shows us the details of the Diwali tradition. Your title is particularly nice as it gives us insight into the meaning of the ritual. Well done.
Excellent details.