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Lore has it that as winter commences; the
fiery sun’s warmth diminishes, so people light rows and rows of small
lamps to invigorate it. This was the beginning of illuminations, which
later came to mark auspicious events like coronations, inaugurations,
weddings, victories, birth of a regent, birthdays, welcome ceremonies,
festivals, etc. This practice is followed till today. As a symbol, the diya
is a popular motif in wedding cards.
During the Gangamai Puja
at Hardwar, thousands of small lamps are lit, each is placed in a
leaf-cup and then set afloat in the tranquil river at night. The rath
yatras of Jagannath Puri and Karnataka are incomplete without
them being placed on the chariots. During meditation, a lighted diya
serves as the focal point for the mind’s concentration. Even when a
person dies, a diya is kept by the body’s side to show the soul
the way to Heaven so that it doesn’t flounder in darkness.
Lighting lamps during
Divali is linked with the welcome accorded to Lord Rama on his
triumphant return to Ayodhya. Rows and rows of small diyas make
the dark moonless amavasya night so beautifully bright, lending
aptness to its name ‘ Deepavali’ — row of lamps. The Festival of
Lights has been known by several names like Deep Mallika, Sukh Ratri,
Yaksha Ratri, Mahimani, Deepastava and Deepa Prati Padostava.
Some historians associate
Divali with Raja Vikramaditya’s victory over the Huns, which was
celebrated by lighting rows of clay lamps. His reign marked the onset of
the Vikrami calendar.
However, the romance of
the lamp dates back to before Divali. It is perhaps as old as the
primitive man. Man in the early age rubbed two stones together to get a
spark of light. Ancient paintings have been discovered in dark caves.
Obviously, man could not have painted them without lights. Apparently,
it was the caveman that lit the first lamp. Skulls and hollowed stones
in which wicks of dry grass or moss were dipped in animal fat, formed
the early lamps. Sea shells filled with melted animal fat with a twisted
thin bark fixed in it as a wick lit by flintstones, were the later ones.
Such lamps have been unearthed in Kosambi and Patliputra. Taxila
University had pillars topped with lamps.
With the advent of
pottery, clay lamps became popular. Harappa and Mohenjodaro excavations
unearthed such lamps. Imaginative potters made clay diyas with
spouts and those shaped like cocks, peacocks, birds, leaves, elephants,
buffaloes, women, tiered ones, those that forked out like branches, etc.
As the years rolled by,
lamps began to be made of metals like brass, copper, silver and gold,
some embossed with enameling and made to look extremely ornamental.
Undeniably, they added to the decor of palaces, temples and mansions of
the rich. Rattandeepam were lamps studded with precious gems.
There were specially designed aartideepams for prayers apart from
the archanadeepam meant for offering. Ratrideepam were dim
lamps suggestive of love-making. Some lamps were hung from trees —the vrikshadeepam.
Lamps placed on paths to show the way to travellers were the margdeepam.
Dwardeepams were hung from doorways or at entrances as a sign of
welcome. Ancient texts mention akaashdeepam, the tradition of
carrying bamboo poles with lamps at one end to show the way to the souls
of ancestors, usually carried in November. South Indian households have
silver or brass lamps with a central stand called vellaku. A
silver diya is a must in many South Indian brides’ dowry.
Social history informs of
tribals’ singing and dancing in groups to offer lamps to please their
deity, lamps being lit amidst the rangoli and dancers twirling
with diyas in their palms, etc. In Kashmir, peacocks were
worshipped with lamps. So really, Divali is not the only time when lamps
are lit!
The journey of light saw
the advent of candles, gas lights, hurricane lanterns and electric
lights. But the flame of the little diya continues to twinkle and
illuminate our lives.
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