Happy Deepavali

Happy Deepavali
Today is our biggest festival - Deepavali or Diwali
"Deepa" means lights or lamps and  "vali" means necklace.
On this day people wake up early in the morning- before the sun comes up -like 3 or 4 A.M and take oil bath
and wear new dress and pray to God. And fun of all eat sweets and savories (prepared a day or two before) and fire crackers. And in the evening small "deepas/deeyas - oil lamps" are lit and the whole city lights up. And after that for 10 more days - lamps (though in smaller numbers) are lit. It is a beautiful sight to see.
This day as dependent on Hindu calender changes each year on Roman calender and this year it  is today.
The legend behind it
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There is even an interesting legend behind this festival. The story goes that Narakasura, a demon, ruled the kingdom of Pradyoshapuram. Under his rule, the villagers suffered a lot of hardship as the demon tortured the people and kidnapped the women to be imprisoned in his palace. Seeing his wickedness, Lord Khrishna set out to destroy the demon and the day Narakasura died was celebrated as Deepavali, the triumph of good over evil!

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And here are some lovely links

http://www.deepavali.net/

http://www.chron.com/channel/houstonbelief/photogallery/Diwali.html

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/10/diwali_2009.html?ref=nf