Celebrate Diwali Panch Parva 2024 the Glorious Festival of Prosperity

Guidance For Diwali Panch Parva Celebration And Importance

Deepawali the glorious festival of prosperity – Panch Parva

The land of India is one of the greatest of cultures; it has many diverse traditions which give fulfillment to the human life.  Where festivals and carnivals are celebrated in accordance with the changing seasons. These special occasions keep coming like a stream of water. It gives a feeling of satisfaction and sanctification to those who are tired, unsatisfied and consider themselves unholy. Such great tradition is a guiding star for the whole world in form of the Sanatana Dharma. Such a glorious tradition is overwhelming, not only for India but for the whole world.  Kartik is one of the most sacred and special months, which is also called as Purushottama Maas, brings a series of five major festivals. These five major festivals comprise of, Dhantrayodashi, Naraka Chaturdashi, Deepawali, Govardhana Pooja and Bhaiyya Dooj. These five together are also known as “Pancha Maha Parva or 5 Days Diwali Lakshmi Puja”. These occasions hold a very special place in your lives. These festivals are as important as the Pancha tatwas, Pancha tithis (Nanda, Bhadra, Jaya, Rikta, Poorna etc). Deepawali is the major festival among these Diwali Panch Parva Festival.  Celebrate Diwali Panch Parva the Glorious Festival of Prosperity.

Here you can find the information regarding the importance and significance of these five festivals, the ritualistic procedures to be followed during the occasions and the days when they are to be celebrated etc. Dhantrayodashi is the first amongst the five festivals. It enhances the wealth earning capabilities of an individual.

Dhantrayodashi/Govatsa Dwadashi opens the doors of monetary gains

As the winter season slowly arrives, it gives us the feeling of a wintry climate. The most famous Diwali Festival arrives in the month of Kartika and brings joy to this lush green earth. The important festival of Dhantrayodashi falls two days before the Deepawali. The special occasion of Deepawali is celebrated with special worship to Goddess Lakshmi. So, before the arrival of Goddess Lakshmi, the day of Dhantrayodashi is celebrated for a gaining a healthy mind and body. This day is very important as Lord Dhanvantari manifested this day before gods and demons from the churning of the oceans. 

Lord Dhanvantari, for the welfare of the human beings, presented us the key principles of Ayurveda and effective use of medicines. He is known as the Physician of divine beings. This day, Lord Dhanvantari granted immortality and eternal health to the divine beings with the help of the divine nectar. Because of this divine event, this day is very famous and every year people celebrate it as “Dhanvantari Jayanti”.  Worshipping Lord Dhanvantari this day would bring name and fame to the medical professionals. This day is not only for the physicians, but every health conscious person also worships Lord Dhanvantari this day. People can be seen actively engaged in cleaning their houses for welcoming Goddess Lakshmi. One can witness cleanness in the surroundings and also a pleasant atmosphere in the household life. People purchase new vessels today in order to make their life comfortable and prosperous.

There is also a tradition of worshiping Lord Dharmaraja who is also known as God of Death and Yamaraaj. Pleased with the worships, he saves one from accidental death. Hence poojas are prescribed this day for Lord Yama. According to some regional customs, an earthen lamp is lighted and placed at the main entrance of the house on the day of Dhantrayodashi. In the night, a four-faced lamp is lighted as “Deepdaan” with cleanliness along with the worship of Yamaraja.  Dhantrayodashi should be celebrated with faith and sincerity for gaining wealth, healthiness, and longevity.

Like every year, the festival of Dhantrayodashi (Dhan-teras)/ Govatsa Dwadashi falls on 29.10.2024 (29 October), Tuesday, Pradhosam of Kartik Krishna Paksha. It will be celebrated as Dhan teras or Dhanvantari Jayanti. Hence, one should donate food, medicines (herbs), and lamps. This would remove the fear of untimely, accidental death. Purchasing gold or silver vessels this day is considered to be very auspicious. This first and foremost event of the five festivals is certainly very beneficial.

The significance of Dhantrayodashi

Second of the five maha parvas is the occasion of Dhantroyadashi, which is celebrated every year on the fourteenth day of Krishna Paksha in the month of Kartik. Puranas talk of stories related to enhancing the beauty of this festival. During the winter, there are chances of getting dry skin, blood disorders, and cracking of the skin. To prevent this skin problem, people are made aware of this during the fourteenth day of Kartika Krishna paksha every year. People are encouraged to use more oil-based products for the skin to maintain the facial beauty. Due to this reason, Naraka Chaturdashi is also celebrated as Dhantroyadashi. This is the second main occasion of the five major festivals.

This day, people take holy bath in the sacred places like banks of Ganga, Yamuna, Kaveri, Narmada etc and apply oils during this holy bath. This enriches the beauty and softness of the skin. Since the upcoming time would make the skin very dry. Hence people adopt holy baths at pilgrim places and use oils to prevent the problems of the skin.

As per the legends of the Puranas, Lord Srikrishna killed Narakasura on this day. This gave a lot of relief to the people and they started celebrating this day every year. The festival of Dhantroyadashi is on Chaturdashi of Kartika Krishna paksha on 29 October 2024 (Tuesday). This is to be celebrated only if this tithi prevails during the sunrise or moonrise. There is a custom of performing Tarpan for pitrus, devas, yama and performing Vedic worship of Lord Krishna for fulfilling all desires.

Deepawali worship brings grace of Goddess Lakshmi (Diwali Poojan)

The most important of the five major festivals is the Deepawali. It is celebrated on the Kartika Krishna Paksha Amavasya with love, devotion, and faith. It is also called as Purushottam maas. As this month is related to Sri Vishnu, the manifestation of Goddess Lakshmi occurred in this month. The divinity and illumination of this month are so high that in the night time of the Nisheeth Kaal it destroys darkness and fills every corner of the house with divine light and energy. On the darkest nights of the new moon, the earth gets illuminated with small series of lamps of every house. Goddess Lakshmi enhances the divinity of this light and removes the darkness from the life of members of the house.

Not only India but the whole world is influenced by the greatness of this divine festival of light. There is a great deal of interest throughout the world in adopting this unique festival of light. The popularity of this festival is ever growing in many countries. Be it the darkness of the new moon night or the pollution of mind due to superficiality and shady thoughts, it is not possible to get rid of these without the divine light and divine wisdom. 

There is a mention in the Puranic scriptures that this day Lord Sri Rama returned back to his native town of Ayodhya after becoming victorious in the battle with Ravana. The safe return of Lord Rama after a long period was a moment of joy for the residents of Ayodhya. The enthusiastic people of Ayodhya celebrated this day in a grand manner by lighting the lamps of ghee in their houses and preparing various sweets and delicacies and enjoying it cheerfully.

According to another legend, Lord Vishnu ended the rule of Daitya king Bali and released Lakshmi (prosperity) from his place. Extremely pleased with this, the Devas celebrated this day on the occasion of regaining their empire. This is one of the reasons for celebrating Deepawali festival. In reality, this is not an occasion of the mere lighting of lamps. This day, not only humans but even the celestial beings were blessed with glory, wealth, and kingdom due to the grace of Goddess Mahalakshmi. Hence the importance of this festival is even enhanced. The meaning of this great festival of light is “Asato ma sadgamaya, Tamaso ma Jyotirgamaya”. Meaning: this festival may always guide us towards the light from the darkness and towards truth from the falsehood. This is an extremely auspicious and propitious event which illuminates our lives. It is the event of great mysteries. Hence, this festival is also referred as Maharatri, Tamoratri, Prakasha Parva, Ghor Nisha etc. In the darkest nights of Amavasya, this great festival comes as a ray of light and guides us towards the progress.

Deepawali: Small chains of lamps bring light to the life of a common man and transform him into a different person. Those who are already special are elevated to further highest levels. This is the reason why yogis perform scientific and tantric procedures towards attaining higher levels in the yoga sadhana. These sadhanas enhance their capabilities in a dramatic manner. On the other hand, Vedic pundits perform Vedic rituals and scholars, businessmen, industrialists, producers, soldiers, Astrologer, doctors, and students also take a strong resolution that like the lamps their life also may get brightened and they would progress in their respective areas with the grace of Goddess Lakshmi.  During Deepawali, there is a custom of worshiping Sri Mahalakshmi, Kubera, pen, account books, Sri Mahakaali, Mahasaraswati etc. which gives us wealth, fame, physical and mental strength. Without money, power, and intelligence, nothing is possible in this world. Hence, apart from the worship of Mahalakshmi, the worship of Tridevis is also very essential.

Importance of Deepawali and Pooja

Rules for maintaining holiness and cleanliness: For the five major festivals viz. Dhantrayodashi, Naraka Chaturdashi, Deepawali, Govardhana pooja, Bhaiyya Dooj; there are some common rules. The rules comprise of cleaning the residential premises, maintaining bodily cleanliness, the sacredness of the mind, place, exchange of gifts, donation of food, money etc, holy baths at pilgrim places, lighting lamps at the temples and residence. These are as follows:

1. Cleanliness: The first rule for the celebration of these five Mahaparvas is the cleaning of every corner of the house and its surroundings. It is important that one must try to maintain cleanliness in the surrounding areas of your residence as well as in the nearby temples, schools, ponds, offices, and public places.
2. Bathing at the pilgrim places: On this day, Ganga, Yamuna, and other sacred places should be visited for a holy bath in accordance with the customs. Those who are not able to visit these places can use the sacred waters of these places and take the holy bath in their houses itself. They can also use Kusha grass with water to make it sacred.
3. The tradition of Deepdaan: As this festival is on the day of Amavasya (new moon), one should perform tarpan, shraddh towards the pitrus and donate food, money, garments, and warm clothes. On the occasion of the major festival of Deepawali one must do Deep Daan (lighting the earthen lamp) with pure ghee firstly for Lord Ganesha, followed by Ishta devata, kula Devi-devata in a pilgrim place or at a nearby temple. Later in the evening, one must to Deepdaan first in the worship place of the house followed by entire building, office, and in other shops or properties.
4. Exchange of gifts: This day one should give and receive gifts according to one’s capability. One should offer gifts to elders, gurus, Brahmins, younger, financially weak, dependants, close friends, and colleagues. This will enhance the wealth, status, fame of the giver with the grace of the goddess. As it is a famous festival, one should give good gifts in order to gain desired things. The core of Indian tradition is that sharing happiness would bring more happiness, satisfaction would yield satisfaction, and wealth would bring more wealth. Hence we must offer the things which we desire to gain. If you would not do this liberally, it would limit and weaken the particular sector of interest. As a result, you might miss those precious things in your life. So it is recommended that one should serve the elders and give them gifts and receive blessings from them.
5. Procedure for Sri Mahalakshmi Poojan: Scriptures have given heavy importance towards the worship of Sri Mahalakshmi. Hence, one must worship Goddess Mahalakshmi during the auspicious time (muhurta). Pradosha Kaal is considered very auspicious for the puja or Goddess Mahalakshmi. If Amavasya is not occurring during the Pradosha time, there is also a tradition of performing the pooja before the pradosha kaala.

After collecting all the materials for Sri Lakshmi poojan, one must sit on a holy mat (asana) and with the help of a learned Brahmin (who is well versed in the pooja procedures) should perform poojas for Sri Mahalakshmi along with dev and devis. There is a special significance of pooja with Sodashopachara (16 upacharas). One must chant Sri suktam, Purusha suktam and Lakshmi suktam or it should be performed by a priest. This would enable one to obtain blessings of Sri Lakshmi. Hence one should perform pooja with sodasha upacharas and offer dakshina to the priest and get blessings from him. It is auspicious to light a lamp in the residence or office which would burn throughout the night. Deepawali pooja can be performed anytime from Pradosha kaala until midnight. But some scholars have an opinion that if Amavasya is not conjoining the pradosha kaala then one should perform pooja on the other day. It is always better to give importance to a special time for a special occasion. Book your Lakshmi Puja.

Muhurta for Deepawali Pooja

The festival of Deepawali will be celebrated this year on 1st November 2024 on Friday, Amavasya of Kartika Krishnapaksha all over India and throughout the world.  Deepawali falls with Swati/Vishakha nakshatra and Pradosha kaala combined with Preeti yoga. Further, Nisheethkaal and short duration of Mahanisheethkaal during the Amavasya makes it very inclusive and auspicious.

Deepavali Lagna Puja on Friday, November 1, 2024

Muhurat (evening) – 5:35 PM to 6:16 PM
Duration – 00 Hour 41 Mins

Amavasya Tithi Begins – 3:52 PM on October 31, 2024
Amavasya Tithi Ends – 06:16 PM on Nov 1, 2024

For gaining the blessings of Goddess Mahalakshmi, sadhakas, businessmen, students and householders should make arrangements for performing the anusthana of Sri Suktam, Sri Lakshmi suktam, Purusha suktam, Rama raksha stotram, Hanuman ashtakam, Gopala sahasranama etc. By performing this one gets his desires fulfilled with the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi. One must remember that japa, anushthana should be performed with happiness, cleanliness, and faith. One must give best items, money, garments etc as Dakshina to the performing priests with faith. During the process of pooja and donation, one must make sure not to let laziness, anger, greed, ego, miserliness etc come in the mind as it could be a hurdle towards gaining the results.

Results of Annakut Govardhan Poojan

This is the fourth important festival of Pancha Parva known as Annakut Govardhan. There are plenty of references to the excellence in education and spirituality of Indian people in the ancient texts of Vedas. Govardhan and Annakut pooja are an example of this, which falls on the next day of Deepawali. Our tradition never supports harming the nature of selfish gains. It always encourages people to strive to protect the nature. This is the reason that nature worship in an integral part of our culture. This principle was supported by Lord Krishna and he explained to men that trees, plants, rivers, mountains, water bodies etc have come from him itself. He urged people to worship nature and this worship would grant wealth, food and health. Harming the nature is like harming the existence of the earth. Govardhan and Annakut are the best examples of the fact that Indian tradition has a unique place for nature conservation.

Whole of India performs Govardhan pooja and Gau pooja on Kartik Shukla Pratipada. This year it will be celebrated on 2 November 2024 (November). In this festival, 56 types of royal delicacies are specially made. This is known as Anna Kut (Anna means food and kut mean peak). These food items are offered to Lord Krishna and pooja is performed to the Govardhana Mountain. This mountain is located in the Mathura-Vrindavan area of India. There is also a custom of worshipping Daityaraj Bali.

In this context, there is a puranic story that people used to worship Lord Indra with 56 types of special delicacies. But in the Dwapara Yuga, Lord Krishna himself pleased the people of Mathura and nearby areas with his divine leelas. Since then the system of worship of Lord Krishna started. On this day people do Govardhan Annakut pooja by making mountain like structures from cow dung and worship it along with Lord Krishna. There is a huge public gathering this day and various delicious food items are offered to the lord in large quantities.

Importance of Bhaiyya Dooj or Yama Dwitiya

This is the fifth and very special festival of the Panch Mahaparva which is known as Bhaiyya Dooj or Dwitiya, which falls on the dwitiya of Kartika Shukla Paksha. An embodiment of the love between brother and sister, this occasion is very unique. The main objective of this occasion is to enhance the sanctity between brothers and sister; hence it is named as “Bhaiya Dooj”. Through the means of this festival, sister prays for longevity, healthiness, prosperity, and fame for her loving brother.  This day the sister invites her brother to her house, applies kumkum on his forehead, and serves him delicious meals. Even if the sister is residing with the parents, it is prescribed that she should observe this occasion for her brother.

Bhai Dooj will be celebrated this year on 3 November 2024 on Sunday.

In regard to this vrata, there is a famous puranic story that Lord Surya’s son Yama and his sister the Yamuna met each other on this day after a long time. The Yamuna had arranged special feasts for her brother Yama and treated him with the utmost respect. Pleased with Yamuna’s efforts, Yama asked the Yamuna to ask for a boon. Yamuna said that if you are really happy with my efforts then grant me the boon that whoever takes the holy bath in the Yamuna River and visits his sister with great respect, accepts the offerings of his sister and gives her gifts according to his capacity would never face accidental deaths and he would not be tortured in the Yamaloka. Having heard these words from his sister, Yama readily accepted her wishes. Since then this day is of great importance.

With the above five festivals, the occasion of Deepawali panchaparva concludes.

Warm wishes on the occasion of Deepawali panchamahaparva to all of you. May you always receive the grace of Goddess Lakshmi.

Your good wisher, Pt. Umesh Chandra Pant

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