By: SocialStatusDP.com
Diwali, the festival of lights! Deepawali is the festival of lights which is celebrated as a tribute to defeating darkness with light.
Diwali falls in the Hindu calendar month of Kartik, and to enjoy this festival of lights, which occurs on a new moon (moonless night). And the walls and entrances of houses are lit with lamps and crackers are lit.
This festival is celebrated to commemorate the return of Rama and Sita to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile. It is believed that to welcome him back, the residents of Ayodhya lit thousands of diyas (earthen lamps). That practice still continues.
It is believed that Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, was born on the day of Deepawali from the great churning of the ocean of milk known as the Samudra Manthan.
The month of Kartik marks the end of the harvest season in India and farmers offer their crops to Goddess Lakshmi for prosperity.
Annakoot is celebrated on the fourth day of Diwali which is the first day of the new year according to the Hindu calendar. It is a day to offer gratitude for Krishna's favor with a mound of food in the shape of Mount Govardhan.