Diwali As A Harvest Festival

A numerous stories are associated with the origin of the festival of Diwali. The harvest season indicates the sign of auspiciousness. The return of Lord Rama to his hometown Ayodhya reinforces the same fact more than an incidental occurrence. While the entire Hindu community is lost in merriment of the festival, the occasion holds a special importance for the agrarian society in rural regions of India.

For people living in urban belts of India, the festival reaps monetary benefits mainly, whereas, for the agrarian society the festival of Diwali marks the prosperous time of the year when the harvest season begins. It is the time of the year when farmers would be getting results of their hard work on farm land. They cut their crops and indulge in celebrations as their day and night labor is getting payed off. It is the beginning of the season called 'Kharif'.

The harvest festival is observed a day after Diwali. They worship Goddess Lakshmi to keep showering her blessings over them. The rituals of performing Lakshmi Pujan is not very different from that of Diwali Puja. Womenfolk of the household prepare delicious delicacies to treat their loved ones. Special importance is given to yellow dishes. 'Pawa' or 'Poha' from the rice freshly taken from the fields, is a must to be included in the feast on the Harvest Festival.

Thus, not only Diwali holds a great importance in symbolic terms but it brings along the opportunity to gain in material terms too. Since India is basically based on agrarian society, the significance of the festival increases to a greater extent. The beautiful festival of Diwali, thus, exhibit manifolds when it comes to celebrations. There is an atmosphere of festivity all around for not only events that happened thousands of years ago, but for the sake of existing happiness. This reflects immense belief of Indians in the deities.