Deepawali celebrated with festive splendour, religious fervour across J&K

Jammu, Nov 12: Festive splendour and religious fervour delineated the celebrations of the festival of lights- Deepawali across Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.
Dazzling décor lighting amid a scintillating show of fire-crackers had created a heavenly ambience during night.

The view, in particular, becomes fascinating as the festival is celebrated on ‘No-Moon’ night of the eighth (Kartik) month of Hindu calendar.
Deepawali celebrations continue for five days beginning from Dhanteras, followed by Chhoti Deepawali, Deepawali, which falls on Amavasya (new or no moon day), Goverdhan Puja and Bhai Dooj.
Well illuminated temples, houses, shops and major landmarks imbued festive ambience across Jammu region. Festival is celebrated with equal fervour by Sikhs, Jains and some other sects also besides those professing Hindu faith.

In Kashmir also, Kashmiri Pandits, the members of Hindu community celebrated the festival with fervour. As the valley is witnessing a brisk turnout of tourists, the latter too could be seen joining the festivities with the locals with great enthusiasm.

Temples were well-lit. In Srinagar, some of the landmarks illuminated with fluorescent lights were major attractions among the tourists and locals alike, in consonance with the spirit of Deepawali.
In both Jammu and Kashmir regions, the celebrations of the big day began with the members of the community visiting temples and paying obeisance there. Mainly Lord Rama, Goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati and Lord Ganesha are worshipped on the day.

Visiting relatives and friends to extend Deepawali greetings and exchanging gifts and sweets continued throughout the day. The members of Muslim and Christian communities too joined the festivities with their friends and neighbours, keeping alive the traditions of communal amity.

In the evening, special Pujas (Lakshmi Pujan) were performed after lighting candles and Diyas, both designer and earthen lamps.
Heartening aspect was that earthen lamps made by the local potters and even eco-friendly cow-dung Diyas were preferred over fancy Diyas.
Kaka Ram, who was selling earthen lamps at Gole Market, was happy with his brisk sale. “When people buy earthen lamps, they ensure that we too can illuminate our houses,” he said, while referring to the festival's relation to the boom in the local economy.

During the night, men, women and youngsters decked up in all their finery celebrated the festival with their families and friends bursting crackers and savouring sweets and other delicacies. Children, as usual, enjoyed bursting fire-crackers the most.

Tastefully decorated markets remained bustling with the shoppers today also with sweet shops, gift and toy houses and fire-crackers stalls drawing the maximum crowd. While buyers imbued festive spirit making purchases; beaming faces of shopkeepers manifested their happiness directly related to brisk business.

The festival underlines the triumph of light over darkness; good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.
Those dealing with flowers, garlands, candles, buntings, lanterns and idols of Goddesses Lakshmi, Lord Rama and Ganesha and other Puja accessories registered a brisk sale. Traffic congestion was witnessed at some places in old Jammu city.

The police administration had ensured adequate security arrangements in the busy markets.