This Is the Decor Piece That Defines Diwali for Me
As fall nips at the air, everyone is gearing up for spooky season — but in between deciding my costume for this year, I’m also looking for garlands, tea lights, and sweets. This year, two of my favorite festivals coincide on October 31: Halloween, obviously, and Diwali.
What Is Diwali?
Diwali, otherwise known as the Festival of Lights, is a religious festival celebrated by Hindus and certain other religions in India and various parts of South Asia as well as across the world in the diaspora. Since it’s celebrated on the lunar calendar, Diwali doesn’t fall on the same day every year, but it’s usually somewhere in the months of October or November. The word originates from the Sanskrit word “deepavali,” which means “row of lights.”
While the light symbolizes knowledge and the triumph of good over evil, it also celebrates an event from the mythological epic, The Ramayana. In the story, Rama, an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, is exiled to the forest for 14 years by his father, King Dasaratha, acting on the demands of his second wife, Kaikeyi. Kaikeyi wished for her son to be the heir to the throne instead of Rama, and so Rama left the kingdom of Ayodhya with his wife, Sita, and his brother, Laksmana. Diwali signifies their return to Ayodhya after exile, when the citizens lit so many lamps to welcome them back that it created rows of light.
Decorating for Diwali
Of course, lights aren’t the only decor you’ll see around Diwali — you’ll also see garlands of fresh flowers hung up on doors, rangolis (designs made on the floor out of powder), and colorful banners and streamers. For me, however, the defining decor of Diwali has always been the diyas, or lamps.
Diya, originating from the Sanskrit word “deepa,” meaning light, were originally simple, small clay lamps filled with oil and based on the lamps that welcomed Rama back to Ayodhya. Nowadays, for fire safety reasons, the clay lamps are more often filled with tea lights and feature gorgeous, often hand-painted designs.
Since Diwali is technically celebrated over several days, each auspicious day requires a different number of diyas set up around the house. The actual number differs according to tradition, though Dhanteras (two days before Diwali) usually requires 13, while Choti Diwali (the day before Diwali) usually requires 14.
Growing up, lighting the diyas was always my favorite part of Diwali and the one task I insisted on doing. I was told that lighting the lamps (and keeping them lit all night) was important, as it welcomes luck and good fortune into your home for the next year. So while I don’t always go all out with decor for Diwali, I do make sure to buy a few diyas and leave them lit by the door or window for future good fortune. I don’t have the time these days, but I have fond memories of setting out my own hand-painted diyas when I was younger every year — and hope to get back to that someday!
As the day gets closer, I’ll be heading down to my local Indian store to grab diyas for Diwali this year. If you don’t have one of your own and want to set some up for Diwali (or any other times of the year), you can also get pretty options online — something I definitely hadn’t imagined growing up!
Further Reading
We Tested (and Rated!) Every Sofa at West Elm — Here Are the Best for Every Type of Need
See How a Stager Used Paint to Transform a 1950s Living Room
We Asked 8 Pro Travelers What They Never Pack in Their Carry-On, and Here’s What They Said
