Vedic Katha
Diwali marks the night Ayodhya lit a million lamps to welcome Rama home after fourteen years of exile and his victory over Ravana.
Of all the stories behind Diwali, the one told most widely across north India is the return of Rama to Ayodhya.
Rama, the eldest prince of Ayodhya and an avatar of Vishnu, was to be crowned king when his stepmother Kaikeyi, holding King Dasharatha to an old promise, demanded that Rama be exiled to the forest for…
In the forest the demon-king Ravana of Lanka abducted Sita. With the help of Hanuman and the vanara army, Rama crossed the ocean, fought a tremendous war, and defeated Ravana, the triumph of dharma over…
With the exile complete and Sita freed, Rama returned to Ayodhya to be crowned at last. The joy of that homecoming, a just king restored, a family reunited, darkness giving way to light, is what Diwali…
The lamps of Diwali are more than decoration. They say that however long the exile, however dark the night, light and righteousness come home in the end.
However long the exile and however dark the night, light and dharma return home in the end. Lighting a lamp at Diwali is an act of that faith, welcoming goodness, learning and fortune into the home.
Vedic Katha
The complete story, its characters and sources, on Vedic Katha.