Diwali - Festival of lights

The second day is celebrated as "Narak Chaturdasi". The story goes that Narakasur; the ill-famed king was creating devastation in the society by the excessive use of his powers. Lord Krishna had decided to destroy this evil dictator. This day is celebrated as freedom from the evil king. The SECOND day is called NARKA-CHATURDASHI or CHOTI DIWAL which falls on the fourteenth day of the month of Kartik. The story goes that the demon king Narakasur ruler of Pragjyotishpur ( a province to the South of Nepal) after defeating Lord Indra had snatched away the magnificent earrings of Aditi, the Mother Goddess and imprisoned sixteen thousand daughters of the gods and saints in his harem. On the day previous to Narakachaturdashi, Lord Krishna killed the demon and liberated the imprisoned damsels and also recovered those precious earrings of Aditi. As a symbol of that victory Lord Krishna smeared his forehead with the demon king's blood. Krishna returned home in the very early morning of the Narakachaturdashi day. The womenfolk massaged scented oil to his body and gave him a good bath to wash away the filth from his body. Since then the custom of taking bath before sunrise on this day has become a traditional practice specially in Maharashtra.

The day following New Year is celebrated as "Balipratipada". Bali was a famous king in ancient India. He ignored the divine thoughts of the Vedas and systematically removed the thousands of years old organized philosophy from the society. Inspite of his wrong doings, he had one good quality in him, i.e. he was a generous donor who gave from heart. To remember him on this day, his one good quality encourages us to perceive the goodness in others, even in our worst enemies. People who are blinded by "kanak" - gold or wealth and "kanta" - beauty or women become asur or demons. Lord Vishnu destroyed Bali and gave us unique outlook towards wealth and beauty. Another legend is about King Bali of the nether world mighty power had become a threat to the gods. In order to curb his powers Lord Vishnu in the guise of a Batu Waman- a small boy- visited him and begged him to give him only that much land which he could cover with his three steps. Known for his philanthropy King Bali proudly granted him his wish. That very moment that small boy transformed himself into the all-powerful

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