Diwali and Durga Puja

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Difference between Diwali and Durga Puja

Diwali vs. Durga Puja

Diwali or Deepavali is the Hindu festival of lights celebrated every year in autumn in the northern hemisphere (spring in southern hemisphere). Durga Puja, also called Durgotsava, is an annual Hindu festival in the Indian subcontinent that reveres the goddess Durga. Durga Puja is believed to be the greatest festival of the Bengali people. It is particularly popular in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Tripura, Bangladesh and the diaspora from this region, and also in Nepal where it is called Dashain. The festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Ashvin, typically September or October of the Gregorian calendar, and is a multi-day festival that features elaborate temple and stage decorations (pandals), scripture recitation, performance arts, revelry, and processions. It is a major festival in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism across India and Shakta Hindu diaspora. Durga Puja festival marks the battle of goddess Durga with the shape-shifting, deceptive and powerful buffalo demon Mahishasura, and her emerging victorious. Thus, the festival epitomises the victory of good over evil, but it also is in part a harvest festival that marks the goddess as the motherly power behind all of life and creation. The Durga Puja festival dates coincide with Vijayadashami (Dussehra) observed by other traditions of Hinduism, where the Ram Lila is enacted — the victory of Rama is marked and effigies of demon Ravana are burnt instead. The primary goddess revered during Durga Puja is Durga, but her stage and celebrations feature other major deities of Hinduism such as goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth, prosperity), Saraswati (goddess of knowledge and music), Ganesha (god of good beginnings) and Kartikeya (god of war). The latter two are considered to be children of Durga (Parvati). The Hindu god Shiva, as Durga's husband, is also revered during this festival. The festival begins on the first day with Mahalaya, marking Durga's advent in her battle against evil. Starting with the sixth day (Sasthi), the goddess is welcomed, festive Durga worship and celebrations begin in elaborately decorated temples and pandals hosting the statues. Lakshmi and Saraswati are revered on the following days. The festival ends of the tenth day of Vijaya Dashami, when with drum beats of music and chants, Shakta Hindu communities start a procession carrying the colorful clay statues to a river or ocean and immerse them, as a form of goodbye and her return to divine cosmos and Mount Kailash. The festival is an old tradition of Hinduism, though it is unclear how and in which century the festival began. Surviving manuscripts from the 14th century provide guidelines for Durga puja, while historical records suggest royalty and wealthy families were sponsoring major Durga Puja public festivities since at least the 16th century. The prominence of Durga Puja increased during the British Raj in its provinces of Bengal and Assam. Durga Puja is a ten-day festival, of which the last five are typically special and an annual holiday in regions such as West Bengal, Odisha and Tripura where it is particularly popular. In the contemporary era, the importance of Durga Puja is as much as a social festival as a religious one wherever it is observed.

Aarti

Aarti also spelled arti, arati, arathi, aarthi (In Devanagari: आरती) is a Hindu religious ritual of worship, a part of puja, in which light from wicks soaked in ghee (purified butter) or camphor is offered to one or more deities.

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Ashvin

Ashvin or Ashwin (आश्विन, असोज, আশ্বিন; अश्विन; Malay/Indonesian: Aswin; Thai: Asawin), also known as Aswayuja, is the seventh month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, the Vikram Samvat, which is the official solar calendar of Nepal and the parts of India.

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Assam

Assam is a state in Northeast India, situated south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys.

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Asura

Asuras (असुर) are a class of divine beings or power-seeking deities related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hindu mythology.

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Bangladesh

Bangladesh (বাংলাদেশ, lit. "The country of Bengal"), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh (গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ), is a country in South Asia.

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Bhai Dooj

Bhai Dooj (भाई दूज) / Bhau-Beej / Bhai Tika / Bhai Phonta (ভাইফোঁটা) is a festival celebrated by Hindus of the Indian subcontinent, notably India and Nepal, on the second lunar day of Shukla Paksha (bright fortnight) in the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar month of Kartika.

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Bihar

Bihar is an Indian state considered to be a part of Eastern as well as Northern India.

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Ganesha

Ganesha (गणेश), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, Pillaiyar and Binayak, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon.

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Hindu

Hindu refers to any person who regards themselves as culturally, ethnically, or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism.

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Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a southern region and peninsula of Asia, mostly situated on the Indian Plate and projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas.

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Kali

(काली), also known as (कालिका), is a Hindu goddess.

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Kali Puja

Kali Puja, also known as Shyama Puja or Mahanisha Puja, is a festival dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali, celebrated on the new moon day of the Hindu month Kartik especially in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Tripura and Bangladesh.

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Lakshmi

Lakshmi (Sanskrit: लक्ष्मी, IAST: lakṣmī) or Laxmi, is the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity.

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Navaratri

Navaratri (नवरात्रि, literally "nine nights"), also spelled Navratri or Navarathri, is a nine nights (and ten days) Hindu festival, celebrated in the autumn every year.

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Odisha

Odisha (formerly Orissa) is one of the 29 states of India, located in eastern India.

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Puja (Hinduism)

Pūjā or Poojan or Poosei (Thamizh) (Devanagari: पूजा) is a prayer ritual performed by Hindus of devotional worship to one or more deities, or to host and honor a guest, or one to spiritually celebrate an event.

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Saraswati

Saraswati (सरस्वती) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, wisdom and learning worshipped throughout Nepal and India.

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Shiva

Shiva (Sanskrit: शिव, IAST: Śiva, lit. the auspicious one) is one of the principal deities of Hinduism.

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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu (• tamiḻ nāḍu ? literally 'The Land of Tamils' or 'Tamil Country') is one of the 29 states of India.

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Varanasi

Varanasi, also known as Benares, Banaras (Banāras), or Kashi (Kāśī), is a city on the banks of the Ganges in the Uttar Pradesh state of North India, south-east of the state capital, Lucknow, and east of Allahabad.

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West Bengal

West Bengal (Paśchimbāṅga) is an Indian state, located in Eastern India on the Bay of Bengal.

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