As the festival of lights is approaching, we all are excited and making plans to make it successful and memorable! Diwali is one of the grandest festivals, celebrated all over India in different ways. In fact, apart from India, Diwali is celebrated in various parts of the world, with great fervor and zeal. The mere thought of Diwali itself, brings lights, diyas and lamps, sweets and celebration into our minds, making us feel blissful and happy!
There are so many elements that are involved in celebrating Diwali in its best possible way, a proper planning and execution are required. So, let’s delve into some amazing Diwali celebration ideas at home.
Five Auspicious Days Of Diwali
Diwali is not just a one-day affair, it is a series of celebrations starting from Dhanteras and ending at Bhai Dooj. It is this five-day celebration that makes the festival of Diwali complete and auspicious! So, let’s begin.
1. Dhanteras
Two days before Diwali, Dhanteras is celebrated. It is considered a very auspicious day for attracting wealth and pleasing Goddess Lakshmi. People buy coins, items in silver or gold or kitchen cookware items on this day, as it is considered extremely lucky for the year ahead. Oil lamps and diyas are lit throughout the night to attract wealth and prosperity. So, light up your homes with spiritual diyas and full devotion, offering your prayers to Goddess Lakshmi on Dhanteras.
2. Chhoti Diwali
Chhoti Diwali, also known as Naraka Chaturdashi, is celebrated just one day before Diwali. It is a very divine day that celebrates the triumph of good over evil, thus we need to clean our homes, getting rid of any negativity, as the day signifies. You can decorate your home with diyas, flower garlands, and fairy lights and offer your prayers to the deities.
3. Diwali
Now, comes the most awaited day, the day on which Diwali is celebrated with great zeal and enthusiasm. It is accompanied by home decor with fresh flower garlands, offering your prayers, sweets and fruits to the deities, socializing, feasting, playing games, and spending memorable time with family and friends!
4. Govardhan Puja
Govardhan Puja is celebrated on the next day of Diwali. It is believed that Lord Krishna lifted the huge Govardhan hill to shelter the Vrindavan villagers from heavy rains showered by Lord Indra as he was enraged by Krishna’s popularity. Thus Govardhan Puja symbolizes God’s protection over his devotees having full faith in him. A wide range of dishes is prepared for Lord Krishna and offered to him as a mountain of food. People do fasting, read the Katha, and do Govardhan Parikrama on this day.
5. Bhai Dooj
Bhai Dooj is celebrated two days after Diwali, marking the lovely bond between brothers and sisters. Sister will apply tilak on her brother's forehead and pray for his long life. Then she will offer betel nuts, fruits, and sweets to his brother. The brother in turn will give gifts to his sister, vowing to protect her in times of need.
Top 11 Diwali Celebration Ideas at Home
Thus, as we have seen above, Diwali is a five-day celebration starting from Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj. Let’s find out how to celebrate Diwali, this year at home, creating memories of a lifetime!
1. Diwali Cleaning The House
Every Diwali celebration starts with cleaning our homes thoroughly. Whether it is the entrance of your house, pooja room, living room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms or garden, make sure you clean every corner of your home before welcoming Goddess Lakshmi to your abode. All the family members can come together and get involved in decluttering the house and making it Diwali-ready. Nowadays, in our busy lives, we can also seek help from professional services for deep cleaning of our homes and making them sparkle!
2. Diwali Home Decor
Once the home is thoroughly cleaned, now we can move forward to home decoration. You can accessorize your home in the following ways, and elevate the aesthetic appeal of your personal sanctuary during Diwali.
- Illuminate your home with enchanting fairy lights hanging from top to bottom. Also light up earthen diyas, traditional oil lamps, paper lanterns, wall sconces and chandeliers to add galore to your home decor.
- Flowers play an important role in ornamenting our abode during the festival of lights. Hang flower garlands made of marigolds, jasmine, roses and lilies in your pooja room, entrance and other areas. You can offer flowers to the deities and even let them float in decorative urlis filled with water.
- Embellish the pooja room with deities, elegant pooja thali, silverware, and flowers.
- Make a vibrant rangoli in front of your home or the pooja room with rangoli colours or different flowers. Rangoli is a tradition that welcomes bliss and prosperity in our homes.
- Hang torans and windchimes at the entrance of your home, welcoming Goddess Lakshmi as well as your guests, on the occasion of Diwali.
- Make DIY wall hangings, beaded curtains, and a captivating backdrop with draperies as a focal point in your home decor.
- Add colourful textiles to your abode in the form of vibrant cushion covers, sofa covers, floral tablecloths, elegant runners, finest bed sheets and comforters.
- Spread out statement rugs to add a royal touch to your festivity.
- Accessorise your dining space with sparkling dinnerware and drinkware to accentuate the delicacy of your festive food and drinks!
- Add lively plants to your abode cocooned in exquisite pots and planters in ceramic or terracotta, offering a visual appeal to your Diwali celebration!
3. Diwali Dress Up!
Diwali is not only about cleaning and accessorizing your home, it is also a great time to doll up in your ethnic wear and flaunt your best looks in traditional style! Men and boys can go for typical kurta pajamas and look their ethnic best! Young girls usually wear ghagra choli or ethnic kurtas with matching earrings and footwear. Women love to wear their traditional sarees, salwar kameez or lehenga and deck up with matching jewelry and footwear. So, enhance the spirit of festivity this Diwali, with your best traditional attires and inspire others too to follow the trend!
4. Offer Your Prayers
Pooja is an integral aspect of Diwali. Any Diwali celebration has no meaning without offering our prayers to Goddess Lakshmi and other deities for showering peace and overall prosperity in our lives. Based on the auspicious timings of the pooja, you can arrange all the pooja items and offer your prayers, chant mantras, do the aarti and worship for a peaceful and prosperous year ahead with your family and friends.
5. Refreshing Drinks
Let drinks like mocktails, lemonades, juices, shikanji, badam thandai, sweet lassi, buttermilk, and more add fun to your celebration during Diwali. Prepare these drinks in advance and let them cool in your refrigerator. Serve them to your guests and enjoy every sip with bliss, fun and laughter! Welcome your guests with refreshing drinks that energise them to celebrate the festivity ahead.
6. Sumptuous Food Spread
Diwali is also about grand feasting with your loved ones. It is very satisfying to prepare different varieties of homemade food whether we are talking about different varieties of sweets like gulab jamun, kheer, rasgulla, barfi, ladoos or savories and snacks such as chakli, dahi vada, samosas, kachori and so on. It’s really fun when the whole family gets together and cooks together for the festivity! This spirit of togetherness makes the Diwali delicacies sumptuous and very inviting!
7. Reliving Ancient Stories
Grandparents can read and tell their grandchildren about the stories behind celebrating Diwali. India has a very rich culture, heritage and engaging mythological stories to pass down to the next generations. Diwali is the perfect time to relive the ancient times and ask and answer questions like who, what, why and when with regards to Diwali!
8. Mesmerising Music
Often people play traditional instrumental music during Diwali. Bring alive the charm of Indian classical music with various instruments like sitar, dholak, and tambura and bring back the golden old days on the occasion of Diwali. One can also arrange a karaoke night and sing the tunes of old Bollywood songs and celebrate with great passion and warmth!
9. Playing Fun Games
Another ritual during Diwali is to play various games, especially card games. As a family or a group of friends or relatives, you all can play engaging games like rummy, teen patti, poker, teen do paanch, bluff and so on. It is good not to involve money but just play these games for the spirit of togetherness, fun and celebration. Apart from card games, you can also play other games like Pictionary, memory games, housie, dumb charades, truth or dare, musical chairs, pass and the parcel, antakshari, bingo and the list goes on.
10. Creative Photo Booth
In today’s world of selfies, do not forget to create a photo booth in your house. The entrance, or the living room or any corner of your home can be used to create a captivating photo booth with a traditional background like lights, ribbons, and shimmers along with funny props for those candid clicks to be remembered for years to come!
11. Exchanging Gifts
Diwali also involves exchanging Diwali gifts among loved ones. We love to give thoughtful and relatable gifts to our family and friends on Diwali which could be anything from sweets, assorted chocolates, daisy, oil lamps, candles, clothes, home decor items, dinner sets, drinkware and the list just goes on. Thus, exchanging gifts brings a child-like curiosity and happiness, enhancing the festive mood!
To Summarise
This Diwali, get ready to celebrate the festival of lights with full ardor and bring home the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi, welcoming good luck and prosperity for one and all! For all your home decor and gifting requirements, this festive season, visit us at Vaaree and find a plethora of gift items ranging from bed sheets, wall decor, cushion covers, table lamps, pooja essentials, showpieces and much more at very affordable prices. All our products are curated from the best manufacturers from all over the country, just for you!
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