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This is my second post here in #boi and I'm very happy to share my post for the ongoing contest "My Favorite Festival."

DIWALI (The festival of lights)

Diwali is the most famous festival in our country but is recognized by the whole world. Countries like Canada, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, UK, Nepal, Sri Lanka, etc also celebrate Diwali. As the name itself is called Deepavali(deep mala); people blow Diyas, wax candles to lighten up their houses. This festival generally falls in late-October or early November.

Electric lights are mostly used nowadays for house decor purposes. people distribute sweets and gifts among their relatives and neighbors.

RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND

Diwali comes 20 days after Dusseehra. Lord Rama came back to AYODHYA on this day after 14 years of exile. people light Diyas on their return to show their love and happiness and that's how Diwali became a festival. we celebrate Good over evil on this day.

In PUNJAB we celebrate Diwali for two reasons. one I'd already mentioned above and second is that '' On this day, The SIXTH Guru of SIKH Community SHRI GURU HARGOBIND JI was set free by the Mughal Emperor along with 52 other Kings. Golden temple is a must-visit on Diwali.

^{Source:- https://yespunjab.com/golden-temple-to-see-symbolic-fireworks-in-diwali-2020/https://yespunjab.com/golden-temple-to-see-symbolic-fireworks-in-diwali-2020/}

On this Day

Everyone is very happy on this day. people buy sweets for puja and for gifting purposes. dry fruit boxes are more common in my locality and we don't need to buy dry fruits for half the winter. People purchase home appliances in Diwali week and decorate their homes. Festival Sales can be seen both online and offline.

On this day, people worship the goddess Laxmi(लक्ष्मी). She is the goddess of wealth and prosperity. WE INDIANS refer to our girls as Laxmi and when there is a daughter born people say Laxmi has entered your house.

Why Diwali is my favorite festival

The first reason this is my favorite festival is that sometimes it occurs on the same day as my birthday (3rd of November)
we already got sweets and new clothes and on top of that, I get gifts.

In my school, we do puja and enjoy our day by making rangoli and eating sweets. At home, we do puja and pay tribute to our forefathers. we donate food and blankets to the poor and make our day a good day. At Night we watch the fireworks and enjoy our food. It's been 3 years since we blow any crackers, my brother @educator23 is very serious about the environment and hardly celebrates any festival which causes any sort of environmental cause. from last year we started planted plants on every occasion.

Another side of DIWALI

some people gamble on this day and fights can also be seen. some people show their cruelty to animals by tying crackers to them for fun. air becomes unbreathable and dust ppm(parts per million) increases which cause many health hazards, cough and cold are very common these days.

thanks, @bestoofindia for organizing such a great contest. looking forward to the new experience in the #boi community