Diwali is Hinduism's biggest festival and is even celebrated by people of other faiths throughout most of India. It is a night of joyous celebration that has many similarities in how Christmas is celebrated in the United States, with a doze of 4th of July fireworks thrown in.
Homes and other building's facades are beautifully decorated with oil lamps and candles,
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Diwali is Hinduism's biggest festival and is even celebrated by people of other faiths throughout most of India. It is a night of joyous celebration that has many similarities in how Christmas is celebrated in the United States, with a doze of 4th of July fireworks thrown in.
Homes and other building's facades are beautifully decorated with oil lamps and candles, gifts are exchanged, ceremonial prayers are offered, and then come the incredible fireworks that every family rejoices with!
Diwali's origins are based on the Hindu Epic, Ramayana. Lord Rama and his family returned to their ancestral land after 14 years of banishment, and the kingdom held a celebration unlike any seen before.
Varanasi is Hinduism's holiest city and is an incredible destination for explorers to experience at any time of year. Continuously inhabited for over five thousand years, the sights, experiences, smells and sounds of the city cannot be described in words. The countless rituals and ceremonies on the banks of the holy river are permeated with a spirituality that is seldom, if ever, experienced elsewhere.
Multiply the Diwali festivities by ten and you get Dev Diwali, the Diwali of the Gods. Celebrated 15 days after the countrywide festival, on the holiest night of the Hindu lunar calendar, this festival combines all the elements of the mainstream festival with the religious fervor of the holiest night of the year in Hinduism's most sacred city.
You will be witness to the spiritual intensity of the preparations, the passion of the pilgrims, and the colors of their rituals, while walking on the Ghats after your sunrise cruise on the Ganga. During your sunset cruise to view the main festival ceremonies, unlike Varanasi tours during other parts of the year, you will not walk on the main Ghats. You will experience this from the protected environment of your boat. This is because 3 to 4 million pilgrims visit Varanasi during Dev Diwali and the average rural pilgrim has no concept of personal space. Movement on the Ghats is only possible as a part of a sea of people, with each person completely sandwiched between the bodies around them.
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