Diwali, or Deepavali, is the festival of Laxmi, the Goddess of prosperity and wealth. It is believed that Maha Laxmi visits everyone during Diwali and brings peace and prosperity to all.

People give expression to their happiness by lighting earthen ‘diyas’ (lamps), decorating the houses, bursting firecrackers and inviting near and dear ones to their households for partaking in a sumptuous feast. The lighting of lamps is a way of paying obeisance to god for attainment of health, wealth, knowledge, peace, valour and fame.
On Diwali night, little clay lamps are lit in Hindus homes, but nowadays coloured electric lights are also used. What is the significance of lighting a lamp? There is a logical answer to this question. It is through the light that the beauty of this world is revealed or experienced. Most civilizations of the world recognize the importance of light as a gift of God. It has always been a symbol of whatever is positive in our world of experience.
To Hindus, darkness represents ignorance, and light is a metaphor for knowledge. Therefore, lighting a lamp symbolizes the destruction, through knowledge, of all negative forces- wickedness, violence, lust, anger, envy, greed, bigotry, fear, injustice, oppression and suffering, etc. During Diwali, Goddess Lakshmi is believed to visit homes that are well lit.
Diwali in Guyana
The tradition of celebrating the Diwali festival was brought to Guyana in the year 1853 by the first indentured immigrants from India. The religious context related to the festival are similar to that of India. The celebration of the festival includes distribution of sweets, illuminating the inside and outside of the house, exchange of greetings, cleaning of houses and wearing of new clothes. The celebrations hold special significance for the people of Guyana. The distribution of sweet signifies the importance of serving and sharing, whereas exchange of greeting cards denotes the goodwill of each other. The sweets distributed mainly consist of mithai, pera, barfi, and kheer.
The tradition of wearing new clothes for the people of Guyana during festive seasons is significant, especially during the Diwali festival. They believe that wearing new clothes is the symbol of healthy souls in healthy bodies. Cleaning of their homes and keeping them well illuminated in and outside is a practice meant to illuminate the road for Goddess Lakshmi so that when Mother Lakshmi visits their home she faces no problem of light as the Diwali night is regarded as the darkest night of the year.

(Collated by Michelle Gonsalves)
(Source:  www.diwali.org)