The festival of light is celebrated on the night preceding Kali-Puja.
Every Hindu home is illuminated with numbers of lamps and a grand display
of fire works is held. The night is filled with the hiss of rockets and
the boom of crackers. Unlike the tradition in upper India, Diwali in Bengal
does not mark the inauguration of the commercial new year. The commercial
new year is reserved for the first day of the Bengali year corresponding
to the 15th day of April. The festivities on Diwali night has rich
cultural content. Gambling is socially permitted. Religious discourses,
recitals from arced books embellished with songs and expositions are held
in temples. Diwali formally ushers in the season of winter.
