The other Diwalis! Storytellers narrate legends beyond Ram's return

Gold saved young princes life on DhanterasTHE dhan of Dhanteras or Dhanatrayodashi is leading triggering tiny tales around it On this day Goddess Lakshmi is said to have emerged from the samudramanthanmdashthe churning of the ocean of milkmdashand hence she the dhan as the Goddess of good fortune is worshipped in all its forms of wealthAnother story dedicates Dhanteras to Dhanvantari the divine doctor who also arose from the samudra manthan holding an urnmdashkalasha of amrit the elixir of life in one hand and the sacred text about Ayurveda in the otherKavita Kane Mythologist and author of Karnarsquos wife the Outcast QueenThe reason for buying gold and silver on this day is connected to an ancient legend The young prince of King Hima was prophecised to die of a snake bite on the fourth day after his wedding The bride decided to put up a clever fight to save her husband On the fateful night she did not allow him to fall asleep by recounting to him a series of stories and singing songs Meanwhile she had piled a dazzling heap of gold coins jewels ornaments and silverware at the threshold of the bedchamber and lit the entire palace with oil lamps and sky lanterns When Yama the God of Death glided inside in the form of a snake he could not enter the place as he was blinded by the glitter He curled himself on top of the heap and instead listened to the stories and songs sung by the young wife all through the night and silently slithered away at the wake of dawn The time of death had passed thereby giving the prince a fresh lease of life That is why Dhanteras is also known as YamadeepdaanTo this day it is believed that new dhan wealth or some form of precious metal is a sign of good luckA washerwoman ditched poverty on Diwali nightThis is a popular folktale set around Diwali about goddess Lakshmi The story is set in autumn and the onset of winterLong ago in ancient India bordered by rivers and forests ruled a king in a fortified palace Each year for Diwali the king would gift the queen expensive giftsOne particular year he gave the queen a beautiful necklace made of pearls She was overjoyed It was the queens custom to bathe in the river that ran close to the palace grounds That Diwali morning while bathing in the river she took off the necklace and left it on the riverbank and asked her handmaidens to guard it A crow sitting on a nearby tree got attracted to the necklace swooped down picked it up and flew off from the manicured palace grounds to the poorest part of the kingdom and dropped the necklace outside a washerwomans hut while she was busy at workThe washerwoman did not live alone She lived with her constant companion povertyShe was collecting laundry in the village when she heard the kings men proclaiming that the queens necklace had gone missing Returning home she spotted something shining on the doorstep and ran to pick it up and realised it was the missing pearl necklace She wondered what to do with it She came up with a brilliant planUsha Venkatraman Storyteller and founder of Mumbai Storytellers SocietyThe washerwoman made her way to the palace She was escorted directly to the king after she disclosed that she had the pearl necklace Overjoyed the king praised her honesty The queen was delighted to have her necklace back When the king offered the washerwoman money as a reward she refused asking instead for a very unusual favourThe favour being Only her hut would be lit on Diwali night The entire kingdom and palace would remain in darkness The king agreedThat Diwali night the washerwoman lit lamps outside the hut and expectantly waited for Lakshmi Darkness fell and goddess Lakshmi walked through the land but there were no lamps to light her waymdashnone except the solitary light outside the home of the washerwoman Lakshmi ran to the washerwomans hut in fear and desperationThe clever washerwoman was waiting for just this moment to strike a bargain The condition was that Lakshmi would have to stay with her for seven generations to come Poverty meanwhile could not bear to share her home with LakshmiThus the clever dhobin got rid of poverty and multiplied her fortune for seven generations and welcomed Lakshmi into her home and was rewarded with happiness wealth and prosperity for generations to comeHistorical events were associated with Diwali over timeOriginally Diwali began as a fertility festival says Dr Satish Kapoor educationist and historian But as time passed a number of important historical events came to be associated with it Its popularity with the people at large gave birth to a number of legendsDr Kapoor adds that according to one account the festival is celebrated to commemorate the birth of goddess Lakshmi from the ocean of milk When the process of churning the ocean ended she arose to put a garland of wild flowers round the neck of Lord Vishnu as in a marriage and bestowed prosperity on the devas who had lost their kingdomThe earliest historical reference to Diwali he says occurs in Kamasutra where it is described as Yaksharatri A number of Puranas such as Nilamata Aditya Padma Varaha Brahma and Devi refer to the celebration of this festival According to Skanda Purana people worshipped Bali at night by drawing his image on the ground and then exchanged gifts and lit up their houses with earthen lamps In Rajmartanda Bhoja described it as sukharatri ie the night which bestows happiness and laid emphasis on the worship of Lakshmi The seventh century play Nagananda by Harsha gives a detailed description of a festival named Dipa Pratipadutsava which has been identified with modernday DiwaliDr Satish Kapoor Historian and educationistThe festival has also been considered an auspicious day to start new ventures And so emperor Vikramaditya ascended the throne on Diwali Various tribals of India regard Diwali either as a festival to invoke the blessings of gods or as a fit occasion for scaring away evil spirits from homes and fields Till the end of the 19th century farmers in certain parts of India observed a ritual which was similar to the Roman worship of God Stericulius Together they went to their fields bowed before crops sacrificed animals made offerings to dungheaps and prayed for their general wellbeingReferences to the celebration of Diwali occur in a number of historical works which include among others Soma Deva Suryas Yashasatilakachampu Merutungas Prabandhachintamani Hemachandras Deshinamamala and Jimutavahanas Kavyaviveka The best description of this festival occurs in Abul Fazals AiniAkbari which likens it to ShabiBarat the night of Prophet Hazrat Mohammads ascent to Heaven It is celebrated on the 14th of Shabban the eighth Arabic month Mughal emperor Jehangir took part in Diwali celebrations and even gambled on the occasion Shahjahan and Aurangzeb were however not interested in this festivalKapoor says that over the years the festival has gained prominence among different communities for a number of reasons The Jains celebrate it as the Nirvana day of Lord Mahavira The Sikhs view the day as holy because Sri Hargobind Sahib the sixth Sikh guru was released from detention from the Gwalior Fort on this day by Emperor Jehangir Again on this day Bhai Mani Singh was martyred by Zakaria Khan and Maharaja Ranjit Singh presented a costly silver gift to Darbar Sahib Arya Samajis celebrate it because Swami Dayananda attained mahasamadhi on Diwali Likewise Swami Ramatirtha left his mortal frame on this dayHeres why oil baths are a tradition on Naraka ChatutrdhashiNarakasura showed up in the Krita Yuga when Vishnu incarnated as the boar Varaha and rescued Bhumidevi from the clutches of the rapacious Hiranyaksha and restored her to her rightful position The only sign that Varaha had exerted himself on behalf of his consort was a single bead of perspiration which rolled off his tusk and fell on Bhumidevi A fully grown asura emerged from this precious drop Instead of being grossed out Bhumidevis heart burgeoned with love for her son She urged Varaha to grant him the gift of immortality The avatar demurred and wriggled his way out of the conundrum by declaring that Narakas life would be forfeit only if she herself chose to take it Mother and son were chuffedHis parents urged him to behave but like a typical spoilt brat he listened with halfanear and took off to do his own thing This included declaring war on the three worlds laying waste to everything in his immediate vicinity and amassing indecent amounts of treasure which he stored for purposes of personal enjoyment in his formidable kingdom of Pragjyotishapura Then sometime in the Dvaparayuga he took his marauding ways to new extremes when he raided Amaravati capital of the Devas and captured 16000 celestial damsels to round out his seraglio which was already filled to overflowing But even that was not the proverbial straw which did a number on the camels backEspying a pair of sparkling earrings suffused with splendid radiance adorning Aditi the mother of the Devas the miscreant snatched it right off her ears in a shocking display of unworthy behaviour even by his own execrable standards Led by Indra the Devas repaired post haste to Dwaraka where Krishna was chilling with his wife Satyabhama Too full of their own grievances to pay heed to their couple time the celestials moaned and groaned in earnest about the evils perpetuated by NarakaKrishna rose to his feet and promised to do the needful if only to get them to quit their infernal whiningAnuja Chandramouli Author of New Age Indian ClassicistSummoning Garuda Krishna was all set to teach Naraka a lesson in manners when he noticed Satyabhama sulking over their ruined date Playfully he yanked her by the waist and whisked her away on Garuda and they carried on romancing en route to Pragjyotishapura where Krishna proceeded to make short work of the formidable defenses encircling Narakas pad which included jagged rocks a ring of fire and circle of spears He even took out Narakas terrifying general Mura while Satyabhama reassured herself that it was not the most romantic of dates but certainly an exciting oneBummed beyond belief Naraka hurled a trident at Krishna which conked him out much to the anger of Satyabhama who was heartily sick of folks keen on pissing over her love life Attacking Naraka with a vengeance she inflicted a mortal wound on him Krishna recovered instantaneously and lifted the fog of her ignorance long enough for her to understand that she was an incarnation of Bhumidevi and therefore Narakas mum Naraka saw the truth too and they all decided it was best to celebrate the occasion with fireworks sweets new clothes and oil baths instead of mourning in unnecessarily melodramatic fashion And it has been so ever sinceKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates 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