Grandma’s stories:Why do we celebrate Diwali?|By Alia,8,Bangalore
We love it when our grandparents tell stories. 8 year old Alia from Bangalore shares the lovely stories her grandmother told her about Diwali.
My grandmother told me the story of Ramayana, which is a story of a kind-hearted king, who leaves his kingdom and lives in exile for 14 years. It was in the forest, where Ravana took Sita away from Rama. Because of this, Rama became angry and swore revenge upon Ravana. After defeating Ravana, Rama, Sita along with Lakshmana returned to Ayodhya and this day is celebrated as Diwali. The people of Ayodhya decorated their houses with diyas, flowers and rangol
Similarly, we decorate our houses to welcome Lord Rama to our homes. Diwali is also called the festival of lights. We worship Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh on this festival. Diwali is my favourite festival because my family and friends get together to celebrate on this day. We decorate the puja room and pray to Gods and Goddesses in the evening. After the puja, we eat payasam as prasad. Our elders prepare delicious food and the entire family sits together to enjoy the meal. We spend time together by dancing and bursting crackers on this lively day. We also wear new clothes and exchange gifts with our friends and neighbours.
Diwali is the most loved festival in our house, and we enjoy it very much. My grandmother also tells me that just like in Ramayana where Rama was good, and he wins over Ravana, who was evil, we should also be kind and compassionate towards others as there is always an end to evil.
