As many people in the America celebrate christmas, kwanzaa, hanukah, etc. I similarly celebrate Diwali. Diwali is a festival in which we Indians ( Hindus, Jains, sikh, etc) start a new year by celebrating the history of your religion. More specifically, it is related to an event.

Diwali today is the homecoming of King Rama of Ayodhya after a 14-year exile in the forest.^[1] The people of Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) welcomed Rama by lighting rows (avali) of lamps (deepa), thus its name, Deepawali, or simply shortened as Diwali.

Some view it as the day Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura or in honor of the day Bali went to rule the nether-world by the order of Vishnu.

In Jainism it marks the nirvana of Lord Mahavira, which occurred on Oct. 15, 527 B.C.

Hope you all have a happy and prosperous new year.

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