Diwali is an auspicious festival celebrated majorly by Hindus and is also celebrated by various communities across the world and brings a lot of enthusiasm, happiness and prosperity.
Diwali is a time of celebration. During this time of celebration, parents can give some very important values to their children which will always be useful for the children. They can remember them forever. What are those things that parents can teach their children along with the celebration of Diwali, we will discuss in this article.
Valuable Lessons Parents can teach Kids on Diwali- Parenting lessons
Victory of good over evil:
We all know that Diwali is a symbol of the victory of good over evil. We can teach this very well to our children.
We can tell the story of the reason why we celebrate Diwali. Lord Rama had killed Ravana. It is a symbol of how we can overcome bad things by eliminating them and adopting good things.
To teach this thing you can narrate these stories. The story will inculcate in the minds of children that right always wins and evil always loses. This will serve as a foundation for their entire life. In this way, you will teach them well that they should leave any negative emotions, negative things like jealousy, arrogance, greed and all these things and always follow the good path. This is the biggest advantage of celebrating Diwali.
Parenting lessons on Family Bonding
Diwali is a celebration in which the whole family celebrates together. Diwali starts with cleaning the house. Decoration is done, after that as the days of Diwali approach, shopping takes place and lights are put on in the house. Good food items are prepared. The whole family comes together to celebrate all these processes at home. This is an opportunity to make children understand that in this way we can spend any occasion very well with the family. One should always stay connected with the family because enjoyment happens only when the family is with them. Such things make it come to the mind of children that they always have to maintain a bond with their family. They have to be together on any special occasion. This will help them throughout their life.
Parenting lessons- Respect of elders:
It is a tradition in Diwali that we take blessings of elders after performing puja. Teach this thing to children also that why it is important for us to take blessings of elders. Why is it a custom to take blessings of elders?
This is because no matter how old our elders become, their wisdom will always be greater than ours. Having their blessings, having their hands on us, is a very valuable thing. Understand their importance. If children understand this then they will have respect and love for their elders. He will help a lot in uniting your family. Therefore, definitely take blessings from the elders of the house. It has great importance.
Parenting lessons on Importance of Cleanliness-
Everyone cleans their house very well during Diwali. This is our culture. There has always been a tradition that whenever Diwali comes, everyone gets their house either white washed or painted, and even if not, they clean it thoroughly.
The cleaning which is not done throughout the year is also done at this time. This shows that if we want to please God then our house should be completely clean only then he will come to our house. It is very important for children to understand this thing. Cleanliness not only makes the house look good but it is also a matter of personal hygiene.
On this occasion, you can also tell the children the importance of why we clean the house. Make them participate in this so that they too can help you in the work as per their level. Clean your cupboard yourself. By involving them in this process, they should also explain why we should keep the environment clean.
They should not throw any trash on the street side. Whenever it is Diwali, children burst crackers and many times leave their polythene and their wraps outside. Also tell them that just as we keep our houses clean, we should also keep the roads clean. We should not throw any trash here and there. Similarly, when Diwali comes, we do a lot of shopping.
When people give gifts, a lot of wrappers are collected. You should also teach children to manage that kind of waste properly. If something can be recycled, keep it separate and separate the things that can be wasted. With this, you can also teach children how to segregate and recycle waste. Because nowadays trash disposal is also a big issue. If we want to keep the environment healthy then it is very important to teach this thing to children.
Parenting lessons on Environment Responsibility-
During Diwali, everyone and especially children like to burst crackers because we always visualize Diwali and fire crackers together. It is good that children enjoy a little crackers too. But teach them how much pollution this increases in the environment. Ask for suggestions from the children as to what should be done on this. So that there is enjoyment and at the same time there is no bad impact on the environment.
For this you can bring green crackers. Also encourage them to cut down on crackers and enjoy other activities as well. So that pollution in the environment is reduced.
In this way, you can also teach children the responsibility related to the environment.
Parenting lessons on Value of Money:
During Diwali, you can also give very good lessons on value of money to children. During Diwali, the house is cleaned, gifts are received, some decoration items and food items are brought for the house. You make a budget for so many things and spend accordingly.
You can involve children in this activity and you can explain to them as per their level that you have made this much budget. Now you can discuss with them how much you have to spend on what and how much you should do. If you want to buy gifts then you should buy such gifts which are not beyond your budget. Or you should not bring such things which are not useful.
Similarly, you should not do so much lighting that later you will feel that you should not have done that much. When you go shopping, take your children along so that you can tell them how you can get the best deal. How can you do better shopping for the same amount?
If you involve children in this way, you will see that through this celebration you can teach everything from value of money, budgeting and shopping.
Concept of charity:
Diwali is a great opportunity when you can introduce the concept of charity to children. When you are making a budget, you can also allocate some portion for charity. What will happen from this is that children will also get the idea that there are some people who do not have that many things to enjoy. If you give him a little of your portion, you can make him happy too. Children will feel very good by doing this.
It has many benefits. Children become responsible and a feeling of gratitude develops within them. Inner strength is strong. Inner happiness comes. At the same time, their own self-esteem also increases because they feel important. They feel like they can help someone.
Therefore, you must take out a little something from your budget which you can give to people who actually need it. You must involve children in this work, they will enjoy it very much.
These are some tips which if you do and teach them to the children with celebration, then you will see that they will become very deeply rooted in the children year after year. If such things are taught in childhood then they last a long life. This will be a great role play for them forever. So keep this in mind.
About the Festival Diwali-
Diwali is important to Hindus as it marks the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, wisdom over ignorance and happiness over sorrow. It is a five-day-long festival that begins with Dhanteras and ends with Bhai Dooj.
People believe that this festival is celebrated in remembrance of the day when Lord Ram with Goddess Sita & Lord Lakshman returned to Ayodhya after an exile of fourteen years. People of Ayodhya welcomed them and celebrated the moments with joy by lighting the entire city with clay lamps.
Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha are mainly worshipped on this day. Diwali is celebrated every year on the new moon day of Kartik month. Diwali Puja is performed during the Pradosh period. It is said that the person who worships Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha on the day of Diwali with a sincere heart, all his sorrows go away.
According to the Puranas, on the new moon night of Kartik month, Goddess Lakshmi herself comes to the earth and roams in every house. During this time, the house which is clean and bright, Goddess Lakshmi stays there. That is why the work of cleaning the houses starts even before Diwali. So that Goddess Lakshmi can be pleased. Kuber deity is also worshipped on the day of Diwali.
Method of Diwali Puja:
Firstly, one should clean the entire house and decorate the house well and make Rangoli at the main entrance. And install the idol of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh on a wooden Chouki covered with a red cloth. Keep a Kalash filled with water near the Chouki.
Apply tilak on the idols of Goddess Lakshmi and Ganesh Ji and light a lamp of ghee in front of them. Offer water, molly, jaggery, turmeric, rice, fruits, abir-gulal etc. to them by lighting a lamp. After this, worship Goddess Saraswati, Maa Kali, Shri Hari and Kuber Dev according to the law.
After Mahalakshmi Puja, worship the vault, bookkeeping and business equipment. In the end, offer aarti of Goddess Lakshmi and offer sweets. Distribute the Prasad among all the members of the family.
As a token of love and blessings, people share gifts and sweets with family, friends and relatives. Children love to burst firecrackers after the Puja. People greet each other by saying Happy Diwali.
Five Day celebration of Diwali-
The lamps lit on this day are not just for decoration purposes. It symbolizes the inner light of spiritual knowledge & purity that protects us from the darkness of evil and bad practices.
All five days of the Diwali festival have their own special significance. There are different pujas and rituals for each day-
| Day one | Dhanteras or the day of fortune & good health. People buy gold or utensils to bring good fortune. |
| Day two | Naraka Chaturdashi or the days of knowledge |
| Day three | Diwali or the day of light, Laxmi pooja, crackers |
| Day four | Annakut Govardhan pooja |
| Day five | Bhai Duj or the day of affection between siblings |
This festival is widely associated with Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism as well. This festival of Deepawali comes on the 20th day of Dussehra. It falls on Kartik Amavasya, the 15th day of the month of Kartik according to the Hindu calendar. Diwali is considered to be the darkest night of the Hindu lunar calendar.
It usually falls in late October or early November according to the Gregorian calendar.
Safety and Precautions to be followed during Diwali-
In today’s time, we need to take some necessary steps to make the festival more joyful-
- Protect our environment by reducing the use of harmful firecrackers.
- Teach our children to handle firecrackers safely.
- Don’t make unnecessary purchases.
- You should try to avoid going to crowded places and wear a mask adequately when going to crowded places.
- Donate something for those who do not have the resources to celebrate the festival.
- Make some good commitments for the betterment of our society.
- If possible, at this festival, plant a tree and use paper bags.
This year 2023, one should celebrate the occasion but with discretion.
Wishing you all a very Happy Diwali. Good luck and best wishes. Lakshmi Pujan ki Shubh Kamnayein.
