{"id":1542,"date":"2021-11-01T21:07:21","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T01:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poiseddevelopers.com\/vertex-old\/?p=1542"},"modified":"2023-02-28T10:58:31","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T15:58:31","slug":"learning-about-diwali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poiseddevelopers.com\/vertex-old\/blog\/learning-about-diwali\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning About Diwali"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As an American with few Indian acquaintances, I knew little about Diwali. In my ignorance, the lighting of candles, the food, the sending of cards, and the gathering of family and friends caused me to view it as something akin to our Christmas celebrations.<\/p>\n<p>In reality, Diwali is closer to a New Year\u2019s type celebration. Though it has\u00a0its origins in\u00a0a number of\u00a0harvest festivals,\u00a0the\u00a0celebration represents a symbolic victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil.\u00a0The festival typically takes place over five days, starting on Tuesday, November 2nd\u00a0with Dhanteras,\u00a0and ending on the\u00a06th\u00a0with Dwitiya. The high point of the celebration is\u00a0really\u00a0Amavasya, which takes place this year on Thursday, November 4th.<\/p>\n<p>Amavasya is significant as it coincides with the new moon \u2013 the darkest night of the month. Therefore, Indians celebrate the festival by lighting diyas (clay lamps fueled by sesame oil) and welcoming the Goddess Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, into their homes. They don new clothes, light firecrackers, exchange sweets, and enjoy delicious food. I\u2019m told that Indians have a weakness for sweets in all their shapes and forms (maybe that makes me part Indian!?!).<\/p>\n<p>Dhanteras, the first day of the festival, is considered a particularly lucky day to make new beginnings or invest in new businesses. People generally buy gold and silver\u00a0jewelry\u00a0or buy new utensils as a symbolic gesture to welcome Goddess Lakshmi into their homes.<\/p>\n<p>It is believed that purchasing any new item brings good luck. Hence, you will often see markets\u00a0in India\u00a0bustling with customers on Dhanteras and lighting\u00a0diyas\u00a0all night to welcome Goddess Lakshmi into their homes.<\/p>\n<p>On behalf of all of my American compatriots, I wish our Indian peers a blessed, healthy, and prosperous Diwali! With the light of beautiful diyas and holy chants, may happiness and prosperity fill your life forever!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1543 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/poiseddevelopers.com\/vertex-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Diwali-2021-1-1024x579.png\" alt=\"happy Diwali\" width=\"1024\" height=\"579\" srcset=\"https:\/\/poiseddevelopers.com\/vertex-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Diwali-2021-1-1024x579.png 1024w, https:\/\/poiseddevelopers.com\/vertex-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Diwali-2021-1-300x170.png 300w, https:\/\/poiseddevelopers.com\/vertex-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Diwali-2021-1-768x435.png 768w, https:\/\/poiseddevelopers.com\/vertex-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Diwali-2021-1.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As an American with few Indian\u00a0acquaintances, I knew little about Diwali. In my ignorance, the lighting of\u00a0candles, the food, the sending of cards,\u00a0and the gathering of family and friends caused me to view it as something akin to our Christmas celebrations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1544,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[73],"tags":[74,75,76,77,78],"acf":{"title_color":"black","select_cta":"","header_size":"large","default_content":"center"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.2.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Learning About Diwali - Vertex Computer Systems<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Diwali - candles, food, cards, and family gathering. Similar to Christmas. 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