Diwali 🪔Festival 🌟

🪔  Diwali Festival 🪔

Diwali or Dipawali, often written Deepavali is a significant festival and an official holiday in India. While Diwali is popularly known as the "festival of lights", the most significant spiritual meaning is "the awareness of the inner light". 
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Diwali is celebrated through festive fireworks, lights, flowers, sharing of sweets, and worship of Godess Laxmi and Kali.  It is one of the Indian festivals celebrated all over India, with equal enthusiasm and zeal.

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The word 'Diwali' is the abbreviation of the Sanskrit word 'Deepavali', which means 'rows of lights'. 

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One of the major Hindu festivals, it is celebrated to commemorate the victory of Good over the evil, when Lord Rama defeated Ravana and rescued his wife Sita from his custody.

It is predominantly a five-day festival, with a number of customs and rituals followed during each day. People prepare themselves for the festival weeks ahead, by cleaning and decorating their premises.

The main festival day falls on the no-moon day of the dark half of Kartik, according to the Hindu lunar calendar. 

Celebrated with vigor and gaiety by people of every religion, the magical effect of Diwali creates an atmosphere of joy and festivity. Innumerable lamps are lit on the roofs and windowsills of the houses, thus, giving a divine look to the whole scenario. It is said that Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth, roams the earth on this day and enters the house that is pure, clean and brightly illuminated. Therefore, people, before exchanging gifts and bursting crackers, offer prayers to the deity.

Young and old, men and women, all dress up in new clothes on this day to illuminate their home with diyas. 

The deities of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha are worshipped on Diwali, 

after which, the people share Sweets and Gifts with their relatives and friends. 

Fireworks, which attract the kids the most, form the highlight of the festival. The festive mood extends to the couple of days following the main day of the festival. 

Deepawali symbolizes the victory of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness.  It is the celebration of victory of good over evil - and the glory of light.

Diwali falls on a new moon day in the month of October or November.  Since the precise moment of the new moon falls on different dates depending on geographical location, the date of Diwali also depends on one's location. 

The picture shows some diyas, or Indian candles. 

In the scripture of the Ramayaan, such diyas (or divas) were used to light the way for Lord Raam (Rama) and his wife Sita back to their kingdom of Ayodhya, after a victory over the archdemon Ravan (Ravana). 

Since that day thousands of years ago, during Diwali, households light these divas to invite God’s blessings and luck upon their families.

There are two bowls of that sticky sweet and very delicious confection known as gulab jamun.  Made from milk curd and syrup, the jamuns can be best described as a syrupy cross between fudge and cake, and are a popular treat during the festival.

The preparations for Diwali are started before the 15 days.  People purchase new things as according to Hindu calendar, the day after Diwali is called as “New Year”. Lots of congestion or over crowding is everywhere before the 1 month of Diwali.

People do Laxmi puja in the evening time on Diwali. They lit lamps at houses and also lit the Diyas in different places in the home. They make beautiful Rangoli in the courtyard or in the front of the gate. Not only children but also younger and older, all fire the crackers at night on Diwali

There is great legend behind the celebration of Diwali. Lord Rama returned to his native land-Ayodhya with his wife Sita and brother Laxman after the 14 years of exile. For this reason, to express the happiness of returning their beloved prince Lord Ram.

People enjoy the days with full of joy. People prefer go for outing as in these days a mini vacation is there for everyone. In school, long vacation approximately 21 days holidays are declared.
People in all class and all age celebrate the festival of Diwali with joy.

 

Year     Date of Diwali

 It is predominantly a five-day festival
2026    Sunday, November 8
2027    Friday, October 29

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Diwali 🪔NASA 🚀Photo 🇮🇳 India

Maybe You’ve Seen This Photo

Claiming to be a

🚀NASA Photo India 🇮🇳During Diwali🪔

This Amazing Photo of Nighttime India

Is An Internet Sensation 

This stunning NASA photo has recently resurfaced and is making the rounds online

 

Speculation suggested the lights are a result of the Hindu celebration Diwali, or the celebration of lights, held from mid-October to mid-November.

Business Insider dug up some background on the image, and this is what they found!

The photo is an overlay of shots highlighting India’s burgeoning population over several years.

1. The white lights were the only illumination visible before 1992. 
2. The  BLUE   lights appeared in 1992. 
3. The GREEN lights in 1998. 
4. The  RED    lights appeared in 2003.

Diwali / Deepavali Observances Dates
2024    Thu    Oct 31     Diwali/Deepavali
2025    Mon    Oct 20   Diwali/Deepavali
2026    Sun    Nov 8     Diwali/Deepavali
2027    Thu    Oct 28    Diwali/Deepavali
2028    Tue    Oct 17     Diwali/Deepavali
2029    Mon    Nov 5    Diwali/Deepavali
2030    Fri    Oct 25      Diwali/Deepavali

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Diwali 🪔 Festival of Lights

DIWALI

The Festival of Lights!

The celebrations for this auspicious Hindu festival last for 5 days !

Because the festival is determined by the Hindu lunar calendar, it aligns with the darkest night of the lunar month (Kartik Amavasya) and changes dates annually on the Gregorian calendar.

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Diwali is one of the most enchanting festival of India. The Festival of Diwali is celebrated with gaiety and enthusiasm throughout the country. India looks resplendent on Diwali day as all streets and houses light up with traditional Diwali Diyas, candles and strands of small electric bulbs to mark the Festival of Light. Diwali Festival is supposed to lead us to the light of knowledge from the darkness of ignorance.

 

What Is Diwali?
Diwali (also called Divali or Deepavali) is a festival of lights that celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and the blessings of victory, freedom, and enlightenment. 
The name comes from Sanskrit Deepavali, meaning row of lights celebrating the triumph of good over evil
The holidays follow a lunar calendar, not the modern Gregorian calendar, so Diwali does not always have the same timing every year. The main celebration of Diwali takes place on the day of the new Moon when the sky is at its darkest, so a big part of the celebration revolves around light. On the evening of Diwali, celebrants light dozens of candles and clay lamps (called diyas), placing them throughout their homes and in the streets to light up the night.  

Diwali, the words comes from Sanskrit ‘Deepawali’, meaning ‘rows of lights’ is celebrated on the Amavasya or the no moon day in the Hindu month of Kartik (October - November). The festival of Diwali falls 20 days after the famous festival of Dussehra. Diwali is celebrated as a five-day-long festival and there are set rituals for each of the five days. Diwali Festival marks the coronation of Lord Ram as the King of Ayodhya on his return to the kingdom with wife Sita and brother Laxman after 14 long years of exile and slaying of Ravana - the demon King of Lanka. As the Hindus hold Lord Ram in high esteem, the festival of Diwali is celebrated with joy and charm that is unmatched in celebration with any other festival.

Importance Of Diwali
Diwali is a word that has been derived from the Sanskrit word Deepavali, which means a "row or a string of lights". The word is a conjugation of "deepa" or an earthen lamp and "vali" or a continuous row or series of something. The festival falls during the beginning of autumn and at the end of summer harvest. Diwali coincides with the darkest day of the year, also known as Amavasya. This day is the darkest of Hindu lunisolar calendar. Although the festival has been known as a predominantly Hindu festival, it's also celebrated by Jains, Sikhs and Newar Buddhists. However, the day marks different historical events and stories for all these religions.

On the day of Diwali, people spruce up their houses to welcome Goddess Lakshmi - the Hindu mythological Goddess of Wealth. People believe that Goddess Lakshmi visits only clean houses on Diwali. Womenfolk engage themselves in preparing festival special dishes like laddoos, mathri, dahi bade etc. People also visit friends and relatives during the day to greet each other the best of Diwali. They also exchange Diwali Gifts which usually is a box of sweets, a packet of dry fruit, a decorative item or other household goods. It is believe that exchange of gifts on Diwali Day helps to strengthen relationships.

In the evening earthen diyas, candles and layers of electric bulbs are lighted by people to mark the festival. People wear bright new clothes and women adorn themselves with heavy jewelry. All members of the family gather in the worship room to perform the traditional Lakshmi Puja on the occasion of Diwali. People pray for prosperity and happiness in the coming year. This is because Diwali marks the beginning of New Year especially by the Hindu business community. Businessmen start new account books on the auspicious day of Diwali.

A sumptuous family dinner follows the Puja and thereafter, it is time to burn crackers. Everybody gathers in the open area outside the house and indulge in a show of fire works Sky looks brilliant with the dazzling sparkle of crackers. Children enjoy playing with small crackers like phuljhari, anaar (flowerpot) and chakris. Some people also follow the tradition of playing cards and gambling on the day of Diwali.

Diwali is a Hindu equinox "festival of lights" celebrated at the new moon in the month of Kartika, around the time of the autumn harvest and the start of the winter sowing. 

Hiltebeitel mentions claims that the celebration of Diwali can be traced to A.D. 50-100 and that it comes from an autumnal festival for the dead.

The religious connotations of the festival are varied. Elements include: the return of Rama and Sita to the land where Rama ruled as king (Ayodhya in Northern India) and a symbolic re-enactment of the killing by Rama of Ravana and the freeing of Laksmi [Grottanelli).

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Small oil lamps or candles are customarily placed around the house. Sweet treats are exchanged, houses are whitewashed, new clothes worn, there's gambling, and fireworks highlight the bright light theme

Fast Facts: Diwali

• Short Description: Diwali (or Deepavali) is a four- or five-day celebration in October or November each year, held in honor of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth
• Location: In India and throughout the Indian diaspora
• Fun Fact: The date changes each year because the festival is scheduled according to the lunar calendar: Diwali celebrates the new moon of the first lunar month, Kartik.
• Fun Fact: As the festival of lights, Diwali is characterized by massive amounts of fireworks and firecrackers, intended to offset the cold, dark nights of the coming winter.

What Is Diwali?
The word "Deepavali" means "a row of lights" in Sanskrit, and its origins were likely as an ancient harvest festival. Today it is the "festival of lights," attached to various mythological stories, particularly tales about Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. The date of Deepavali on the new moon makes it the darkest night in the month of Kartik, when the nights are cold, long, and dark: all the lights make that darkness easier to bear.

Diwali is typically a four- or five-day event, starting two days before the new moon and extending two days afterward. It is traditionally a puja, or a celebration that worships, honors, and shows devotion to the divine. In India, while everyone celebrates Deepavali, people don't amass in public, but rather in small groups with their friends and families in homes, neighborhoods, and local temple communities. In the diaspora, all the countries in the world outside of the Indian subcontinent where Indian people have settled, Diwali is considered a public celebration open to Hindus and anyone else.

Large government-sponsored festivals are held in London, Sydney, Toronto, and Edinburgh, and they are often a showcase for Indian culture, music, dance, fashion, food, crafts, and fireworks. The incredible amount of fireworks and firecrackers set off during the five days of Diwali have become an issue in many Indian cities, to the point that ambient air and noise during Diwali are considered somewhat of a health hazard.

History of Diwali
The Diwali festival dates back to ancient times in India. It is mentioned in Sanskrit texts dating from the fourth century CE but was likely practiced for many hundreds of years before that. Although most important for Hindus, the festival is also observed by Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists. While different historical events are observed in different regions and by different faiths, Diwali represents the triumph of light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance for all the cultures that celebrate it.

https://www.learnreligions.com/when-is-diwali-1770209

 

When Is Diwali / Deepavali ?

Diwali 2026 begins on Friday, November 6, and ends on Tuesday, November 10, with the main day of celebrations (Lakshmi Puja) on Sunday, November 8, 2026.
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Five-Day Diwali Schedule (2026)
• Day 1 (Friday, November 6): Dhanteras (worship for health and prosperity)
• Day 2 (Saturday, November 7): Choti Diwali / Kali Chaudas (purging negative energy)
• Day 3 (Sunday, November 8): Main Day of Diwali / Lakshmi Puja (festival of lights and feasts)
• Day 4 (Monday, November 9): Govardhan Puja / Padwa (honoring Lord Krishna and nature)
• Day 5 (Tuesday, November 10): Bhai Dooj (celebrating sibling bonds)
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 Future Main Dates
• 2027: Friday, October 29
• 2028: Tuesday, October 17

http://www.when-is.com/diwali-2014.asp

 https://www.almanac.com/content/diwali

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Diwali / Deepavali Observances Dates
2026    Sun    Nov 8     Diwali/Deepavali
2027    Thu    Oct 28    Diwali/Deepavali
2028    Tue    Oct 17     Diwali/Deepavali
2029    Mon    Nov 5    Diwali/Deepavali
2030    Fri    Oct 25      Diwali/Deepavali

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The Columbian ⛵Exchange 🌎

The Columbian ⛵Exchange 

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The Columbian exchange, also known as the Columbian interchange, was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, precious metals, commodities, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the New World (the Americas) in the Western Hemisphere, and the Old World (Afro-Eurasia) in the Eastern Hemisphere, in the late 15th and following centuries. It is named after the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus and is related to the European colonization and global trade following his 1492 voyage. Some of the exchanges were purposeful; some were accidental or unintended. Communicable diseases of Old World origin resulted in an 80 to 95 percent reduction in the number of Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the 15th century onwards, most severely in the Caribbean. The cultures of both hemispheres were significantly impacted by the migration of people (both free and enslaved) from the Old World to the New. European colonists and African slaves replaced Indigenous populations across the Americas, to varying degrees. The number of Africans taken to the New World was far greater than the number of Europeans moving to the New World in the first three centuries after Columbus.

The new contacts among the global population resulted in the interchange of a wide variety of crops and livestock, which supported increases in food production and population in the Old World. American crops such as maize, potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, cassava, sweet potatoes, and chili peppers became important crops around the world. Old World rice, wheat, sugar cane, and livestock, among other crops, became important in the New World. American-produced silver flooded the world and became the standard metal used in coinage, especially in Imperial China.

The term was first used in 1972 by the American historian and professor Alfred W. Crosby in his environmental history book The Columbian Exchange.  It was rapidly adopted by other historians and journalists. 

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 The Columbian Exchange

Crash Course World History #23 

In which John Green teaches you about the changes wrought by contact between the Old World and the New. John does this by exploring the totally awesome history book "The Columbian Exchange" by Alfred Crosby, Jr. After Columbus "discovered" the Americas, European conquerors, traders, and settlers brought all manner of changes to the formerly isolated continents. Disease and invasive plant and animal species remade the New World, usually in negative ways. While native people, plants, and animals were being displaced in the Americas, the rest of the world was benefiting from American imports, especially foods like maize, tomatoes, potatoes, pineapple, blueberries, sweet potatoes, and manioc. 

Was the Columbian Exchange a net positive? 

It's debatable.   So debate.

https://youtu.be/HQPA5oNpfM4?si=HxY29-ObgXtNZOR3

 Etymology

In 1972, Alfred W. Crosby, an American historian at the University of Texas at Austin, published the book The Columbian Exchange,^[4] and subsequent volumes within the same decade. His primary focus was mapping the biological and cultural transfers that occurred between the Old and New Worlds. He studied the effects of Columbus's voyages between the two – specifically, the global diffusion of crops, seeds, and plants from the New World to the Old, which radically transformed agriculture in both regions. His research made a lasting contribution to the way scholars understand the variety of contemporary ecosystems that arose due to these transfers.^[5]The term has become popular among historians and journalists and has since been enhanced with Crosby's later book in three editions, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900–1900. Charles C. Mann, in his book 1493 further expands and updates Crosby's original research.

 

Background

The weight of scientific evidence is that humans first came to the New World from Siberia thousands of years ago. There is little additional evidence of contacts between the peoples of the Old World and those of the New World, although the literature speculating on pre-Columbian trans-oceanic journeys is extensive. The first inhabitants of the New World brought with them domestic dogs and, possibly, a container, the calabash, both of which persisted in their new home. The medieval explorations, visits, and brief residence of the Norsemen in Greenland, Newfoundland, and Vinland in the late 10th century and 11th century had no known impact on the Americas. Many scientists accept that possible contact between Polynesians and coastal peoples in South America around the year 1200 resulted in genetic similarities and the adoption by Polynesians of an American crop, the sweet potato. However, it was only with the first voyage of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus and his crew to the Americas in 1492 that the Columbian exchange began, resulting in major transformations in the cultures and livelihoods of the peoples in both hemispheres.

Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_exchange

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The Columbian Exchange
Khan Academy

Columbus's voyage connected the Americas, Europe, and Africa in a web of exchange that transformed the environments of the Old World and the New World. In this video, Kim Kutz Elliott discusses the impact of the Columbian Exchange.

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https://youtu.be/pLijVYVDKlc?si=iO-U8HEniOn0alp0

About Khan Academy: Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. We tackle math, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics, and more. Our math missions guide learners from kindergarten to calculus using state-of-the-art, adaptive technology that identifies strengths and learning gaps. We've also partnered with institutions like NASA, The Museum of Modern Art, The California Academy of Sciences, and MIT to offer specialized content.

 US history on Khan Academy: From a mosquito-ridden backwater to the world's last remaining superpower, the United States of America is a nation with a rich history and a noble goal: government of the people, by the people, for the people. Its citizens' struggle to achieve that goal is a dramatic story stretching over hundreds of years

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List of Food Plants

Native to the Americas

A number of popular and commercially important food plants are native to the Americas. Some are endemic, meaning they occur naturally only in the Americas and nowhere else, while others occur naturally both in the Americas and on other continents as well.

When complete, the list below will include all food plants native to the Americas (genera marked with a dagger ^† are endemic), regardless of when or where they were first used as a food source. For a list of food plants and other crops which were only introduced to Old World cultures as a result of the Columbian Exchange touched off by the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, see New World crops.

Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_food_plants_native_to_the_Americas

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Indigenous Peoples' Day may refer to:

• International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, a United Nations event recognized as a public holiday in various countries observed annually on 9 August
• Indigenous Peoples' Day (United States), a day recognizing Indigenous Peoples in the United States, observed annually on the second Monday in October
• National Indigenous Peoples Day, a day recognizing First Nations in Canada, observed annually on 21 June
• Indigenous Peoples Day (Brazil), annual celebration honoring the indigenous peoples of Brazil, observed annually on April 19

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Indigenous Peoples' Day.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

 

Category:

Disambiguation pages

This page was last edited on 9 October 2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Peoples%27_Day