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India is a land of various festivals that lighten up the country almost through the year, thanks to its’ truly cosmo culture! Each festival has its meaning and charm! Of these, in the month of Nov/December, down south Tamilians celebrate a festival called ‘karthigai deepam’ – a festival of lights. Traditionally, though a tamilian festival, it is celebrated by other South Indians as well, mainly if they live in any parts of Tamil Nadu.
During this festival, we light up rows of oil lamps – different shapes, make, and sizes – but most used is the ‘agal’, made of mud like pots. The entire house (inside and outside) is lighted by these rows of oil lamps. Outside the house, we make rangolis (kolam) and arrange the lamps/diyas/agals. Any balcony, open space, and internals of the house are also decorated by these agals/diyas. It’s a sight to watch. More than the visual beauty, a lighted lamp/diya is an unparallel source of positive energy… I love this festival for its aura! In fact, in south, it’s a norm to light an oil lamp every evening just after sunset. Try it @ ur end and feel the power / aura!
I couldn’t capture much but here is a bit of what I could after decorating my house:)
Interested? Wikipedia, our best source of knowledge, says ‘This festival occurs on the day when the moon is in conjunction with the constellation Karthigai (Pleiades) and purnima. This constellation appears as a group of six stars in the firmament in the shape of a pendant from the ear.’ Read up - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karthikai_Deepam.
