History
The Diwali
festival is likely a fusion of harvest festivals in ancient India. It is
mentioned in Sanskrit texts such as the Padma Purana, the Skanda Purana both of
which were completed in the second half of the 1st millennium CE. The diyas
(lamps) are mentioned in Skanda Kishore Purana as symbolising parts of the sun,
describing it as the cosmic giver of light and energy to all life and which
seasonally transitions in the Hindu calendar month of Kartik.
King Harsha
refers to Deepavali, in the 7th century Sanskrit play Nagananda, as
D─лpapratipadotsava (d─лpa = light, pratipad─Б = first day, utsava = festival),
where lamps were lit and newly engaged brides and grooms received gifts.
Rajasekhara referred to Deepavali as Dipamalika in his 9th century
Kavyamimamsa, wherein he mentions the tradition of homes being whitewashed and
oil lamps decorated homes, streets and markets in the night.
Diwali was
also described by numerous travellers from outside India. In his 11th century
memoir on India, the Persian traveller and historian Al Biruni wrote of
Deepavali being celebrated by Hindus on the day of the New Moon in the month of
Kartika. The Venetian merchant and traveller Niccol├▓ de' Conti visited India in
the early 15th-century and wrote in his memoir, "on another of these
festivals they fix up within their temples, and on the outside of the roofs, an
innumerable number of oil lamps... which are kept burning day and night"
and that the families would gather, "clothe themselves in new
garments", sing, dance and feast. The 16th-century Portuguese traveller
Domingo Paes wrote of his visit to the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire, where
Dipavali was celebrated in October with householders illuminating their homes,
and their temples, with lamps.
Islamic historians
of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire era also mentioned Diwali and
other Hindu festivals. A few, notably the Mughal emperor Akbar, welcomed and participated
in the festivities, whereas others banned such festivals as Diwali and Holi, as
Aurangzeb did in 1665.
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| Happy Diwali |
Publications
from the British colonial era also made mention of Diwali, such as the note on
Hindu festivals published in 1799 by Sir William Jones, a philologist known for
his early observations on Sanskrit and Indo-European languages. In his paper on
The Lunar Year of the Hindus, Jones, then based in Bengal, noted four of the
five days of Diwali in the autumn months of Aswina-Cartica [sic] as the
following: Bhutachaturdasi Yamaterpanam (2nd day), Lacshmipuja dipanwita (the
day of Diwali), Dyuta pratipat Belipuja (4th day), and Bhratri dwitiya (5th
day). The Lacshmipuja dipanwita, remarked Jones, was a "great festival at
night, in honor of Lakshmi, with illuminations on trees and houses".
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