Q: Only Hindus in the world observe this brightly lit festival called Dewalee (sorry for my spelling this way; I know majority of you spell Diwali). Have you noticed a similarity between dewalee & another fest of the Muslims in India, Bangladesh & Pakistan? Which one?
A: Deep means oil lamps. Deepawali, means a row of lamps. 'Boli' in Bengali is the same as 'wali' of Hindi/ Sanskrit as there is no 'w' in Bengali. Diwali : Durga Puja, Navaratri and Diwali is all connected in some way. And the main connection is Lord Rama and Ramayana. Here we will talk of Diwali. Ayodhya was all lit up the day Lord Rama returned from his exile after defeating Ravana. It is said that all the houses were lighted with rows and rows of lamps.Mala of lamps. This is Deepawali. They also lit crackers for his welcome. It is a day for Maha Lakshmi Puja. This dates back to the Puranas and Samudra Manthan. When they churned the Ocean for the Amrit, Goddess Lakshmi emerged. She became Vishnu's consort. And all prayed to her for Wealth. Next is Kali Puja. As we all know, this Navaratri is "Akale-bodhan" ; Rama worshipped and invoked Ma Durga for Shakti to win over Ravana. Otherwise, Navaratri is in Vaishakh. Durga was created by the Gods to destroy Asuras. When she killed them, she had to drink the blood so no blood was spilt on the Earth. As each drop of blood on Earth would become another Demon or Asura. Doing this she became intoxicated and only Lord Shiva, her consort, could save her by lying on the ground. When she tread on him, she came to her senses. This was the dark Amavasya night of Kartik. That is Diwali day. Diwali, also called Tihar and Swanti in Nepal (Markiscarali) is a major Indian and Nepalese festive holiday . Eid is like Diwali. This is quoted from Mir the famous Humorist on TV : Agar Diwali mein hai Ali Aur Ramzaan mein Ram ka naam To Hindu aur Musalman ke beech Nafrat ka kya hai kaam? If Diwali contains Ali And Ramadan the name of Ram Then what place has hatred Between Hindu and Muslim?