Why Do We Celebrate Diwali?

This year's festival of Diwali is upon us, and many people from across the world will be celebrating in this 'festival of light'. But just exactly why do we celebrate Diwali? Blurtit has the answers:

Diwali is celebrated mainly in India, but many other groups across the Hindu faith also celebrate. It is said that Diwali is to Hindus, what Christmas is to Christians, and it basically comes down to a celebration of the triumph over the forces of darkness by the forces of light.

During the festival, homes and houses are usually adorned with many fragrant pieces that are usually home made from Jasmine, although they can also be bought from local market traders. Get down there early though, they are most likely to be sold out by dawn.

While the story behind Deepavali and the manner of celebration varies from region to region (festive fireworks, worship, lights, sharing of sweets), the essence is the same - to rejoice in the Inner Light (Atman) or the underlying Reality of all things. A sense of sharing is wholly encouraged throughout the festival, and people celebrate with light displays comparable to those of Christmas, and by dressing in expensive clothing.

To see some of the spectacles from the festival, see National Geographic's short video below.

Diwali is a festival of lights...it was first celebrated when lord rama chandra returned back after 14 years of vanvaas...this is a festival in which people light up the diyas and candles in their houses and burst crackers  of course eco friendly!! We also exchange gifts to show there love and care towards their relatives and friends!!!...we also worship godess lakshmi and lord ganesha...hay I am telling you this day is full of fun we make rangoli also rangoli we make with dry colours ...with that we make nice designs

Diwali is a festival based on the religion Hindu....

you should understand this India is big so the version of why Diwali is
celebrated is different in the north south, east and the west region...
If you look at all with an open view, you will see that it is different
because of the language used but basically same story line....  

These incarnations are
termed as the avatars of Lord Vishnu...I am explaining so you wont get confused much...now I am going to give a mini lecture on Hinduism

1. Matsya (the fish avatar)
2. Koorma (the tortoise avatar)
3. Varaha (the boar avatar)
4. Narasimha (the human-lion avatar)
5. Vamana (the dwarf avatar)
6. Parasurama (the angry man, Rama with an axe avatar)
7. Lord Rama (the perfect man, king of Ayodha avatar)
8. Lord Krishna (the divine statesman avatar)
9. Balarama/ Lord Buddha (elder brother of Krishna avatar)
10. Kalki (the mighty warrior avatar)

all those are the incarnation of Lord Vishnu in sequence

They are named differently, by the time zone  they were on earth, it also depicts of evolutionary stages of mankind... It is said that they were here on earth since the before dinosaur stage..

there are a total of ten Avatar/Avatharam

taken by Lord Vishnu.... That's why there is a word call ''Dhasavataram'' ...

Dhas means 10 avatharam means avatars taken...
The last Avatar is yet to appear, and in many versions of the mythology, the ninth incarnation is mentioned as Lord Buddha.

It is said that Lord Vishnu in Krishnan avatar, vanquished the Narakasuran....
Sri Krishna Killed Narakaasur: On the day preceding Diwali, Lord
Krishna killed the demon king Narakaasur and rescued 16,000 women from
his captivity. The celebration of this freedom went on for two days
including the Diwali day as a victory festival.

there are other reasons that you can find in this link here hinduism.about.com

And Rangoli means, lots and lots of colour or colourful...
Rangoli is also a koolam design which has a lot of colors in it....
Koolam is what your avatar is...

Hope this help my friend...

Visit this link my friend www.surfindia.com which gives you an idea why is it celebrated. Let me give you my story, diwali (deepavali) is called the festival of light, it is celebrated on 28th october this year (English Calender) and generally celebrated in kaarteeka masam (month). Which generally comes in mid of october to 2nd week of November. The dates vary every year

I am an Indian.There are various reasons for celebrating Diwali.Some say it is the day when Hindu God Vishnu killed Narakasuran a demon.There are many other stories but none knows really why it is celebrated.Each person celebrates for a different reason.When you say diwali all that comes to my mind is crackers.We burst crackers and fireworks .We would have a great time during diwali

Especially
our Indian country is more than festival are celebrating, in particularly Diwali
is most special. Because In our nation lot festivals are celebrating to every
state wise different but that one festival is celebrating by whole people of
India. Anil Celebrations are offered for each crackers 50% off.

Visit: https://anilcelebrations.com/

Seeing how you got your answer already...I think I will just wish you and all the people of the world a happy and safe Diwali.Oh and don't waste your money on more fireworks because they cause pollution,then again its your choice.So enjoy yourselves.

They celebrate good over evil  light over dark and give cards and wear new cloths and have presents

Diwali is mostly celebrated for Rama's return to ayodhya after 14 years. And yes it is true that hindus of eastern india celebrate diwali in honor of goddess kali...

Well I don't know much about it but I think they celebrate it because one of their God(Bhagwan Ram) was came back to his country after spending 14 yeras in jungle. So the day he came back they celebrate it and names it as Diwali.

Diwali is a very prominent Hindu festival. It is often also known as 'Deepavali' and called 'the Festival of Lights.' It is a very important festival that is celebrated the world over. For Hindus, it marks the beginning of the New Year. This festival is also symbolic because it marks the victory of good over evil. This is why one of the most common tings that one will see around Diwali is lights and lamps. Lamps can be in the form of 'diyas' while lights are in the form of lanterns that are lit all over the place.

A series of fireworks also illuminate the night sky throughout the festival of Diwali. However, the time at which the festival occurs differs from year to year and is based on the Hindu calendar. Festivities extend to the kitchen as well and most households make sweets and other eatables to celebrate this time of the year.

Diwali is the hindu celebration! It is one of the biggest celebrations in India. These celebration is celebrated for 5 straight days. Diwali means the festival of lights. People put candles around their house for these 5 days. People put candles or diya's (lamps) around the house because they say it makes them think of god.There is a lot of fireworks in the air. Also, they give gifts to their loved ones. They have to perform a puja for the goddess of wealth.

Diwali is a festival of lights celebrated by both sikh people and hindus

Yes it is 100 % correct.

This festival is celebrates by hinduism to thier goddess Laxmi for wealth and happiness

No! The muslims celebrate Diwali after 30 days of fasting.

Hindus celebrate Diwali because they want to mark the return of lord Ramma

No. Well, some of it I think is right, but I also think that some of it is wrong. I THINK! Maybe you're all correct, maybe you're not.

Because its the story of rama and sita!
BECAUSE ITS THE STORY OF RAMA AND SIT! I think

I think its because they remember the story of rama and sita.
They came late so people of Ayodhya lit little lights called divas