Every year Diwali is the most festive week for us with all the religious ceremonies, the celebrations and of course the DIY’s! As a roundup to our Diwali week, we wanted to share some behind the scene ceremonies we do throughout the week. Read till the end as there is a Giveaway for sharing your own Diwali stories!
On October 27th we will be celebrating Dhanteras, a holiday dedicated to wishing wealth and prosperity to our loved ones. As part of this auspicious day we do a ceremony called “Umrao Puja.” This ceremony is done to our front door threshold in which we wash the threshold with water and auspicious milk thereby cleaning the area and then draw ‘footsteps’ with kanku entering our home – this represents goddess Laxmiji’s stepping into our home. We will pray that she enters our home freely and showers us and those who enter with her blessings always.
That evening, we will also do “Dhan Puja” (the prayer of our goddess Laxmiji). This prayer is also done to welcome goddess Laxmi into our homes with open arms. During the ceremony we wash a silver coin that symbolizes all our home’s wealth. We thank her for everything she has given us and pray that she continue to bless us with health, wealth and prosperity.
On October 30, Diwali day, we do a prayer called “Chopda Pujan,” which is dominantly done by and for business owners. Every year we do this puja at our store, Nina Jewelers, for the prosperity of the business. It is a prayer of the accounting books, in which we reconcile the previous year and start writing new accounts. We ask for all our Gods’ blessings and to forgive past mistakes and grant wisdom for a prosperous new year. We have built an amazing community on Oak Tree Road and a lot of the vendors, who are dear friends, join us on this day to do their “chopda pujan” alongside us.
#MyDiwaliStory is campaign to help promote authentic, pluralistic stories surrounding the festival of Diwali. This campaign, a joint effort between Indian mom bloggers from around the globe and children’s book publisher Bharat Babies, helps celebrate all that is Diwali around the world. By sharing these celebratory stories, we can cultivate a greater global understanding of our heritage and elevate the authentic voices and experiences of the Indian diaspora.
Each week, Bharat Babies will select a winner at random to win a copy of Let’s Celebrate Diwali plus one other book from among Bharat Babies’ five illustrated works.
Share your story on Instagram and/or Facebook using one or more of the following hashtag for additional chances to win. #MyDiwaliStory #BharatBabies #RunwaysandRattles #LoveLaughMirch #MapleandMarigol #ModernDayBrownMom #MyLittlePudding
Participating bloggers include Ami Desai, Love Laugh Mirch, Maple and Marigold, Modern Day Brown Mom, My Little Pudding, and yours truly Runways and Rattles.
