Festival of Lights

The Rajagopuram of Sammankodu Sri Kathirvelaiyutha Swamy temple in Bambalapitiya, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Festival of Lights

"Karthigai" is a month of purity and devotion. Hindu devotees in Sri Lanka celebrated the festival of "Karthigai Deepam" in the temples and houses.

There is a story linked between "Karthigai" and lamps according to religious references. Brahma- The Creator, and Vishnu- The Preserver had a dispute between them as to who was greater, and who was the supreme. The Lord Shiva wanted to teach them the truth. He appeared before them in a form of huge column of fire.

Both of them referred their quarrel to Lord Shiva. He told them that he who could discover the crown of the light or its foot first might be considered as the superior. Accordingly Brahma took the form of a swan and flew up in an attempt to find the crown of the Light, while Vishnu took the form of a boar (Varaha) and began to dig down to find the foot of the Light. Neither of them succeeded. The knowledge dawned upon them that the Light was superior to both of them.

The Karthigai Deepam is celebrated to bring out this great truth that the supreme God is far beyond the Creator and the Preserver. Brahma and Vishnu thereupon prayed to the column of Light.

In the 'Kalavazhi Narpadu', which dates back to the third Sangam period (after 1,000 BC) the poet says, "In the battle the blood oozing out from the dead soldiers' bodies is like the red coloured flame of the lamps lit during Karthigai Deepam festival".

Tolkappiyam, the oldest available work dating back to 2,000 or 2,500 B C, has concise verse form rules for Tamil grammar. In one of the formulae, Tolkapiyar uses the phrase "like the lamp's flame pointing upwards".

Karthigai Deepam is the oldest festival, which is celebrated in South India, and Sri Lanka. It falls on full moon day. It's also called as "Vilakeedu" among the Hindus in Sri Lanka

Hindu women light earthen lamps with gingelly oil at dusk on the festival Karthigai Deepam

Indumathy Kanagasabapathipillai of Babmbalapitiya lights earthen lamps at her house on Karthigai Deepam

Every Hindu house is adorned with tiny earthen lamps lit in different shape and style

In 'Karnarpadu', the poet describes how in the Tamil month of Karthigai, the lamps are lit by people blossomed on earth, bringing rain in its wake.

The earthen lamps are lit in the shrine room of a house

The lamps are first lit in the shrine room of the house, and moved to other places in the house

The festival of "Karthigai Deepam" is also called as the Festival of Lights

The lighting of a large number of lamps has been a very ancient observance