Dev Deepawali- The Deepawali Of Gods

                                                                                           Image Source: Google

Dev Deepawali or the Diwali of Gods is the festival celebrated on the full moon day of the Karthik (a month in Hindu calendar) on the day of Karthik Purnima, Karthik Poonam , Tripurari Poonam, fifteen days after Diwali celebrations. It is believed that on this day, the Gods descend on this earth to bathe in the holy rivers of Ganges. It is one of the famous festivals of Hindus celebrated on the banks of holy river Ganga at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh (Kashi, one of the important traditional place of Hindus) on the full moon day, Karthik Purnima and the whole Varanasi is decked up with innumerable lights or “Diyas” illuminating the place and the whole place looks heavenly & pleasing to the eyes. 
It starts with the chants of holy Vedic mantra chants, by the priests on the banks of sacred river, Ganga, sparkling fire crackers and lighting bunches of Diyas, paying tribute to the Ganga river, as believed.  A strong aroma of incense envelopes the entire atmosphere of Varanasi, adding more holiness to this holy place and it is celebrated with great fervor & blast and it truly appears God has descended on this earth.

                                                  Image Source: Google


Varanasi is a place of tourist attraction for its holy & historical importance, temples and ghats and on this day, people and pilgrims from varied regions & abroad flock to this place to have a glimpse of this place and capture the beautiful views. The number of pilgrims begins to increase in manifolds and most of the pilgrims or tourists camp by the riverside. The steps of all the ghats on the riverfront of the Ganges River, from Ravidas Ghat at the southern end to Rajghat, are lit with more than a million earthen lamps, “Diyas” in honor of holy river, “Ganga”, the Ganges, and its presiding goddess.

                                                      Image Source: Google

The main ritual of this day is the “Karthik Snan”
or “Ganga Snan” taking a holy dip bath in the Ganga river
& it has immense value from religion perspectives and swarms of pilgrims
flock to this place to take a dip in the Ganga throughout the day with a belief
of purification of body and soul and one who worships and take dip in Ganga
acquires  Kama, Artha, Dharma and Moksha (salvation).There is a belief
that donating anything on this day is equivalent to 100 Ashvamedha Yagyas. Charity on this day leads the individual toward the way
of salvation and such pious deeds bring the devotee closer to Lord Shiva and
get blessings of good health as well as wealth.

                                               Image Source: Captured by Sony Camera

The evening starts with the prayer of Lord Ganesha by presenting Ganpati Vandana, followed by laying of flower garland. Dev Deepawali ceremony is presented by 21 Brahmins and 41 girls sounding the Vedic mantras in the background. “Deepdaan”, offering of oil lighted lamps or “Diyas” floated in Ganga in evening and the Maha Aarati, held at Dasaswamedha Ghat is the main attraction of this place. Huge lamps are lighted and the priests hold forth the lamps, the holy mantra chants by them, rhythmic drum beats and conch shell blowing envelopes the whole atmosphere of Varanasi. It is performed with a belief that the Gods descend on this holy banks of river, Ganga. and in whole, this episode is a treat to the eyes and soul, energizing the five elements of this Universe. (It’s my belief). It’s all a matter of faith and these rituals are carried with full faith, gaiety and fervor. Lacs of people gather from all over to take a glimpse of this enchanting view of shimmering lamps, which leaves us mesmerized at heart, & It compels to believe that “The faith has the power to move mountains.”

Image Source: Captured by Sony Camera

The tourist take boat rides along the river front in evenings to watch the enchanting views of million- zillion of lights illuminating the entire Varanasi and the famous Ganga Aarti. The cultural programmes of dance and music, art & craft fair, sculptures display etc are the major attractions.

Legends & Myths:

1. Lord Vishnu returned to Vaikunth, his abode on this day after the Vamana incarnation & visiting King Bali.

2. Karthik Purnima is the birthday of Matsya, god Vishnu’s fish incarnation or avatar.

3..It is also believed that Radha and Krishna danced Rasa and Krishna worshiped Radha on this day.

4. On this day, Demon Tripurasur was killed by the Gods, so it is named as Dev Deepavali and celebrated as a victory day of the Gods at the Karthik Purnima. Lord Shiva killed the three demons, who were killing the gods & human on this day and destroyed the three cities built by them.The victory of Shiva over them on this day and so it is also known as Tripurari Poonam and the gods were liberated from the clutches of these powerful demons, hence, the victory over demons is celebrated as Dev Deepawali on this day.

The day Karthik Purnima and Dev Deepawali day is considered as one of the sacred day in Hindus calendar and there is a great importance attached to this day and the people from all place celebrate piously.

Varanasi is decorated enormously on this day and the experience to watch Varanasi on this day is awesome. It fills the air with spiritualism amongst holy bath,holy sacred chants of Mantra,illumination of Diyas and many more.

                                                 Image Source: Captured by Sony Camera                                    

Moksha means “liberation”or Mukti means “release” is liberation from sansara, the cycle of death and rebirth or reincarnation and all of the suffering and limitation of worldly existence. It is a state of absolute freedom, peace and bliss, attained through Self-Realization. This is the supreme goal of human endeavor, the other three being, dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth and power) and kama (sense-pleasure). It is seen as a transcendence of phenomenal being, a state of higher consciousness, in which matter, energy, time, space, karma (causation) and the other features of empirical reality are understood as Maya.

(Inputs are from the self experiences and data validated from online web data and the photos added are from google and few captured by my lens.)