Dīpāvali and Ancestor Worship
Dīpāvali is better known as the day Rāma, victorious, is welcomed by the people of his kingdom, Ayodhya, as the day of Viṣṇu’s defeat of Bali, and the victory of Vikramāditya over the Śakas. Like the day that precedes it, Dīpāvali is a day for performing rituals for ancestor worship. The worship of Yama, both the god of death and the world of the dead, is important during the Diwali season, since it is a celebration of the spiritual advancement of one’s departed ancestors.
Naraka in the name Naraka-caturdaśī, as seen by a detailed inquiry into the sources, meant hell and the things done on the occasion are said to be to ward off hell and avoid premature death. Naraka does not refer to the asura of that name. Naraka is ‘the kingdom of Yama’, the God of Death, and the ‘world of the Dead.’ In fact the Dīpāvali season is closely associated with Yama. It occurs at the end of the Mahālaya, the season sacred to our departed ancestors, who, during this time, are supposed to come and reside with us in our realm and receive our attention. We are enjoined to perform tarpaṇas (offering of water-libation) and śrāddhas to all our ancestors.
The end of this Mahalaya season is marked by worship and propitiation of the Yama-Dharmarāja. The second day after the Dīpāvali-amāvāsya is called Yama-Dvitīya and Bhrātṛ-Dvitīya; and tarpaṇa to Yama is enjoined by the dharmaśāstras and other texts. There is mentioned also a further association of the brother and sister, Yama and Yami, the latter becoming Yamuna in the Puranas, and their affectionate relationship; and in the North particularly, brothers and sisters exchange presents. The brother eats out of the hands of the sister, even as Yama ate out of Yamuna’s hands; this is said to conduce to wealth, access of wealth’ and long life. Our Pañcāṅgas too note the Bhaginī-hasta-bhojana on the day of the Yama-Dvitīya and Bhrātṛ-dvitīya.
Firecrackers are not a new addition to Dīpāvali, but perhaps among the most ancient and essential features of Dīpāvali. They are not, as popular imagination may assume, part of the merry-making, but rather, part of the religious beliefs behind the association of dead ancestors with this holy season. The pitṛs or manes who come down to earth during the Mahālaya pitṛ pakṣa are to go back now and it is to light their path along the firmament that lamps on tops of poles are set up and crackers are made to burst in mid air. In the texts, this is called ulkā-dāna. In a Sanskrit text called Dīpāvali-kṛtya (on the actions to be performed on Dīpāvali), it is said that after oil bath in the early hours of the morning, the setting up of images of Lakṣmi, Kubera and Indra and their worship, the ceremony called Dīpa-śrāddha, worship of ancestors with lamps, should be performed. Mantras are to be recited to the lamps and they are to be offered (ulkā-dāna) to the manes for lighting their path in the other world. One of the ślokas in the text translates to: “Leaving the realm of Yama, they who came down during the Mahālaya, let they, the ancestors, depart, making their way with the help of these brilliant illuminations.” This is the meaning also of the ākāśa-dīpa which is set up in some parts of North India.
It is evidently because of this that in Nibandhas we find the name Pretacaturdaśī, the features of which are mostly the same as those of the Dīpāvali. There is thus a parallel here to the All Souls Day, especially as celebrated in Mexico, where the dead join their old families once a year, at a particular part of the year (November 1–2) not too distant from the day of Dīpāvali; lights placed at cemeteries, crackers, dolls of the dead, a variety of confections, and fun mark the Mexican celebrations.
The Vedic Cāturmāsya rites included a cold season offering to Pitṛs, the ancestors, in which Keith Oldenberg saw the vestiges of an Indo-European Winter All Souls’ Feast.
While crackers exploded in mid air are intended for the above-said purpose, the purpose is also served by setting up lamps atop high poles. Such a practice is observed at the Pañcāṅgā Ghat in Banaras. In Bengal, they float lamps on the waters. In this form the Dīpāvali had spread over the Far East and South-East Asia. In Thailand, they float lamps on water as in Bengal, and also set them up on poles.
The floating of lamps on water is called ‘Loi Krathong’ in Thai, ‘loi’ meaning ‘to float’ and ‘Krat-hong’, a ‘leaf-cup.’ The cup is usually made of banana leaf but some people take a fancy to make this receptacle of the lamp into a bird or boat. It is connected with similar lamp floatations in other South East Asian countries like Cambodia and Burma. The Cambodian counterpart is an offering to departed ancestors and a ceremonial send-off to the ancestors after their visit to their descendents and partaking of the feast offered by them (similar to Hindu Sraddha). China has a Lantern festival on the first full-moon day. But the most striking parallel is found in Japan, where there is specialised ancestor-worship, that we see most clearly the counterpart of the Mahālaya and the Dīpāvali when once a year, the ancestors make a visit to their old habitations — they burn a fire called 迎え火 (Mukaehi) at the start of Obon to lead their ancestors back to their house — and to help them as ascend again, lights are placed on hills, lamps are lit all around, families flock to the cemeteries with lanterns in their hands or float them on the waters. The Japanese lamps-festival is called Bon Matsuri/Obon.
In Nepal, on the Dhanatrayodaśī preceding the Dīpāvali-Caturdaśī, along with Lakṣmi puja, they offer balls of rice (piṇḍas) to crows and also honour dogs. From these two acts, the day is called Kākatrayodaśī and Kukkuratrayodaśī. In our Śrāddha, the piṇḍa offered to the pitṛs is given to the crows and the Śrāddha is deemed well-performed if the crows take the piṇḍa. As for the honouring of the dogs, it is probably because of their association with Bhairava.
Probably, the different observances now seen in the festival-complex of Dīpāvali go to Vedic times when during this season, some pāka-yajñas and other yajñas were observed as rejoicings at the passing away of the darkness and the rains, and at the break of light, the onset of autumn, the resumption of cultivation and commerce and the activities of gain and pleasures. The lamps of Dīpāvali light the path not only of our ancestors, but also of those living, shining forth as symbols of the eternal prayer of the soul — tamaso mā jyotir gamaya.
Taken from (with minor edits): Festivals, Sports and Pastimes of India. India, Dr. V. Raghavan Centre for Performing Arts (Regd.), 2020.
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