We celebrate light

Our cultural tradition is not only to celebrate light, but even worship light. The sun, the moon, fire, even the lit lamp. These have been the symbols of life giving and life sustaining blessings of the Lord, therefore they are sacred and worshipped in our culture. It is only in light that our world becomes visible to us. Life would be destroyed on this planet if it was bereft of the blessings of the sun and the moon. So, we have temples built to worship the sun in all thankfulness. Fire, whether it is kitchen fire, a lamp or a havan fire, is regarded as a symbol of the Lord’s blessings. It cooks our food, it warms our hearths, and lights up the darkness.
The Gita extols the virtues of the path of light, termed as Uttarayan. “The one who treads the path of light attains my highest abode”, says Lord Krishna. This path of light represents the higher ways of living in which in which a human being tries to live nobly and selflessly in the service of mankind. This path of light is a path of self-perfection and man’s yearning for the higher, the divine. Contrasted with this is the path of darkness, termed as Dakshinayana. This path is followed by materialists for sensuous satisfactions, only to garner pain and temporary gain. Darkness is always associated with evil, crime and animals and birds who prey on others at night. The energies emanating from the south are also considered dark and harmful, whereas all auspiciousness energies emanate from the north. Therefore Uttarayan, the northern solstice is celebrated with much song dance and gaiety. People indulge in kite flying as symbolic of their desire to aspire for higher realms of joy and to liberate themselves from earth bound shackles.
The word “bha” in Sanskrit means light. In Vedantic terminology it is used as a prefix for knowledge and enlightenment. The name of our beloved country Bharat means: bha=knowledge, and rata=to revel in, to be absorbed in. So, Bharat means the land of those who revel in knowledge.