Festivals and Fairs

Diwali

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.