[YMGGK GUPSHUP CORNER #81] - Page 9

Originally posted by: --MasterMind--

😆

i have de kindle app in my tablet but ive never used it.😆 i never even created an account😆

Diwali is one of the most important festivals celebrated in India. It is celebrated on the darkest night of the year, which usually falls sometime in the beginning of November. Diwali, though, is the festival of lights.

All over India, homes are decorated with lights and earthenware lamps filled with oil. These lamps are called diyas. The name 'Diwali' is from the Sanskrit 'dipavali', which means 'row of lamps'. Diyas are lit in every house to banish the dark and welcome in good luck and good fortune.

People wear new clothes, meet their friends and relatives, eat good food, give each other sweets and gifts, decorate their houses with flowers and lights and Rangoli patterns, and set off fireworks.

In the evening, many people hold a small prayer or puja in their homes. They honour Ganesh, the god of wisdom and good luck, the one who removes all obstacles from life; and they worship Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and good fortune. Lights are left burning all night, so that Lakshmi may feel welcome and enter.

Diwali is also the start of the New Year for many communities in India.

Diwali is a festival of joy, prosperity and good luck, and a celebration of the victory of good over evil - which is expressed through different stories in different parts of India.

The story of Ram begins many thousands of years ago in Ayodhya, the capital city of the kingdom of Kosala in what is now northern India. Kosala was ruled by King Dasaratha, a wise and good king. Under him Kosala was a rich, peaceful and prosperous country. Dasaratha had three queens - Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra.

King Dasaratha and his queens had no children. So they decided to hold a great sacrifice, asking the gods for children. Their wish was granted and soon the queens gave birth to four sons - Ram the eldest, Kaushalya's son, Bharat, Kaikeyi's son, and the twins Lakshman and Shatrughn, the sons of Sumitra.

When Ram was old enough, he married the beautiful princess Sita, daughter of Janak. Janak was the ruler of the kingdom of Videha. To win her hand, Ram strung and broke the great bow of Shiv, which no one else could do. Lakshman married Urmila, Sita's younger sister. Sita's cousins, Mandavi and Shrutakirti were married to Bharat and Shatrughn.

The four princes and their wives continued to live happily in Ayodhya with their father king Dasaratha and his three queens. But Dasaratha was growing old, and finding the strain of kingship hard to bear. He decided to appoint Ram to rule as Regent.

Kaikeyi, Bharat's mother, had an evil maidservant called Manthara. Manthara convinced Kaikeyi that if Ram became Regent, he would deprive her of her status of favoured queen, and kill her son Bharat. In panic, Kaikeyi demanded that Ram be exiled to the forest for 14 years, and that Bharat be made Regent.

The king had no desire to exile Ram. But long ago, Kaikeyi had saved his life and he had promised her that she could ask of him two wishes, which he would grant, no matter what. Kaikeyi used this promise to force him to exile Ram.

Ram left for the forest. With him went Sita his wife, and his younger brother Lakshman.

Bharat was furious with his mother for what she had done. He followed Ram into the forest and begged him to return, but Ram refused, saying that he must honour his father's word. Bharat returned sadly to Ayodhya. King Dasaratha, broken-hearted at what he had been forced to do, died of grief.

Bharat refused to be king and ruled Ayodhya in Ram's name. He never sat on the throne, but put there instead a pair of Ram's wooden slippers, symbolic of the fact that Ram was the true king of Ayodhya.

Ram, Sita and Lakshman lived in the forest for many years. One morning, a rakshasni, a female demon, called Surpanakha saw Ram, and fell in love with him. She begged him to marry her. Ram refused, saying he was already married. She then asked Lakshman, who also refused. Surpanakha threatened to eat Sita if neither of the brothers married her. In anger, Lakshman cut off her nose and her ears.

Furious, Surpanakha went to her brother Ravan for help. Ravan was a great and powerful demon, and ruler of the golden city of Lanka. He had 10 heads and 20 arms, and had been granted a boon by the gods - that neither god nor demon could kill him.

When Ravan heard Surpanakha's story he was furious. He decided to carry off Sita. But he could only do this by trickery. He enlisted the help of another demon called Marich.

Marich turned himself into a golden deer and allowed Sita to see him in the forest. Sita was enchanted by the beauty of the deer. She begged Ram to catch the deer for her so that she could keep it as a pet. Ram followed the deer deep into the forest. When he did not return for a long time, Sita sent Lakshman to look for him. As soon as Sita was alone, Ravan appeared, but disguised as a holy man begging for food. When Sita stepped out of her hut to give him the food, Ravan assumed his true form, and grabbing her, put her into his flying chariot and carried her off to Lanka.

Ram and Lakshman came back, and found Sita gone. They learnt from the birds and animals that Sita had been carried off by Ravan.

Ram and Lakshman set off to find Sita. On the way they were helped by all the animals of the forest, particularly the bears and the monkeys. Among the monkeys, Hanuman became Ram's strongest ally and closest friend. Hanuman was not an ordinary monkey - he was the son of the Wind, and had the power to fly over mountains and across oceans.

It was Hanuman who finally found Sita, imprisoned in one of Ravan's beautiful gardens, and guarded by demons. Hanuman managed to whisper in Sita's ear that Ram was looking for her, and now that they knew where she was, Ram and his friends would be here soon to rescue her.

Sure enough, when Ram heard from Hanuman where Sita was, he and Lakshman marched at once towards Lanka, with their army of monkeys and bears. They were joined by Vibhishan, himself a demon and the brother of Ravan, but who felt that Ravan had done wrong in carrying off Sita.

With Vibhishan's advice and the help of their army, Ram and Lakshman killed hundreds of Ravan's demons. Ram himself killed Kumbhakaran, Ravan's fearsome brother who could gobble up entire armies in a mouthful. Lakshman killed Indrajit, Ravan's son who had the ability to turn invisible, and had never been defeated by anyone in battle before.

Now only Ravan remained. The battle between Ram and Ravan raged for ten days, with neither winning. Finally Ram used a special arrow given to him by the gods - and shot Ravan in the breast. This was the end of Ravan.

Ram and Sita were reunited. By now their 14 years of exile were over, and they decided to return to Ayodhya. Hanuman went ahead and gave Bharat the good news. The entire kingdom of Kosala celebrated the return of Ram, Sita and Lakshman. Ayodhya was decorated with flowers and lamps. Ram was crowned king of Ayodhya, and Sita his queen. Ram ruled for many many years. He was a good and great king.

More than five thousand years later, Ram is still remembered in India where he is worshipped as a god. His return to Ayodhya with Sita, and his coronation as king, is celebrated on Diwali, one of the most important festivals in India. All over the country, lamps are lit, and homes, shops, offices, streets are decorated and fireworks set off in his honour, in much the same way as was done in Ayodhya all those thousands of years ago. Diwali day is a holiday all over India, with schools, colleges and most offices and shops closed in celebration.

Ram, the eldest son of King Dasaratha of Kosala, is exiled to the forest for fourteen years. His wife Sita and his younger brother Lakshman accompany him into exile. While living in the forest, Sita is abducted by the demon-king Ravan, ruler of the golden city of Lanka. Ram and Lakshman pursue Ravan to the very gates of Lanka. There a long and furious battle is fought. Ultimately Ram is victorious. He kills Ravan and rescues his wife Sita.

Meanwhile, their fourteen years of exile are over. Ram, Sita and Lakshman return to Ayodhya, the capital city of Kosala. Ram's father Dasaratha is dead, and his younger brother Bharat has been ruling as Regent. Bharat welcomes Ram joyfully, and Ram is crowned King of Ayodhya, and Sita his queen.

The people of Ayodhya welcome Ram as their king. But not all of them are willing to accept Sita - they feel that after spending so much time with Ravan, she could no longer be the pure and virtuous woman Ram had married and who had followed him into exile. Ram, hearing of the suspicions of his people, asks Lakshman to take the pregnant Sita into the forest and abandon her there. Sita, left alone in the forest, is found by the ascetics who lived in the ashram of the sage Valmiki. Valmiki gives Sita shelter. There, in Valmiki's ashram, Sita gives birth to Ram's sons, the twins Lav and Kush.

Fifteen years had passed since Ram, king of Kosala, had exiled his wife and queen Sita to the forest, to the sage Valmiki's ashram.

Fifteen years had passed too since, unknown to Ram, his twin sons had been born to Sita in the forest. The elder twin had been named Kush, after the kusha grass with which Valmiki blessed him on his birth. The younger twin was called Lav, which means 'bit' or 'piece', after the bits of grass stems which Valmiki had used to bless him.

Ram had grieved for Sita, but putting duty and the good of his kingdom before personal sorrow, he had concentrated on ruling Kosala as well as he could. Ram had proved a wise and able ruler. Under his rule, Kosala had become a strong and prosperous kingdom. Bharat and Lakshman had remained by Ram's side in Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala, as his counselors and advisers. Shatrughn had been sent by Ram to rule a kingdom on the borders of Kosala.

Now, fifteen long years after Sita had been banished, Ram felt that his kingdom of Kosala, had become supreme in all the world. He felt the time had come to consolidate his sovereignty over the surrounding lands. So he decided to hold the Ashwamedha yagna, the horse sacrifice held periodically by all the great kings of ancient India.

Ram made Lakshman in charge of the festival. The site for the sacrifice was chosen by Ram - the Naimisha forest on the banks of the river Gomti. All the great sages were invited - Vashishtha, Jabali, Kashyap, Vamadev. So were Ram's friends and allies in the war against Ravan. Sugriv and the monkeys, Jambavan and the bears, Vibhishan and his rakshasa ministers from Lanka, Hanuman, Ram's especial friend and follower - all Ram's closest friends and allies had gathered there with him. Only Sita was missing - his wife and queen. Ram ordered a statue of Sita to be made, cast in pure gold. He commanded that the statue be placed by his side during the sacrifice in place of his banished queen.

When the time was right, the sacrificial horse was led forward. With pomp and ceremony it was taken to the borders of Kosala and let loose, to wander at will across the land for an entire year. Lakshman, together with a small band of priests and warriors, followed the horse around, watching for any challenge to Ram's sovereignty. If the horse remained unchallenged, it would be brought back to Kosala after a year. But if someone were to stop the horse and capture it, it would mean a challenge to Ram's authority and Lakshman and his warriors would have to answer that challenge.

The horse wandered freely over the land. No one stopped it, or came in its way. In fact, wherever the horse went through a village or a town, the people came out in crowds to welcome it, and acknowledged the authority of Ram freely and gladly.

Till one day the horse wandered into a quiet forest by the banks of the Ganga. Lakshman and his warriors followed, quite certain that neither they nor the horse would meet any challenge. Suddenly 'Stop!' commanded a voice. Lakshman and his warriors stopped in surprise to see who had challenged them. A boy was standing in their path, while another the same age, was holding the sacred horse.

'Who are you?' demanded Lakshman. 'How dare you stop the sacrificial horse from proceeding on its way? Don't you know the penalty for challenging my king's authority? You will die for this!'

'We acknowledge no man's sovereignty except that of our father Ram's,' said the boys with equal pride and anger.

Lakshman's face changed. He dropped his weapons. 'Did you say your father Ram's?' he asked in surprise.

'Yes,' answered the boy holding the horse. 'We are his sons. I am Kush, and this is my brother Lav.'

'Where do you live?' asked Lakshman, trying to find out all he could about the boys without telling them who he was.

'We live with our mother Sita, here in the forest,' said Lav.

'And our guardian Valmiki,' added Kush.

Lakshman was now convinced that he was speaking to his brother's sons, the sons of Ram, king of Kosala.

The twins led Lakshman to Valmiki. Lakshman explained how the boys had stopped the sacred horse in its progress around the land. He asked Valmiki's permission to present the boys to the king. Valmiki gave them his blessing. 'Go with the prince my sons,' he said. 'Sing of the glory of Ram your father. Let all the world know his story.'

The boys Lav and Kush went with Lakshman, quite unaware of who he was and who the king they were going to meet.

In Ayodhya, Lakshman led the boys to the royal palace, where Ram was holding court, surrounded by his ministers, advisers and friends. There, in front of the entire assembly, the two young boys began to sing.