What’s the similarity between the festival of lights Diwali and spooky season festival Halloween except the monkey God Hanuman who is summoned to exorcise ghosts & kill our fears, and who who helped Lord Ram in the war after winning which he came home, which birthed the festival of lights called Diwali, in his return?
At first glance, not much seems similar between the the Celtic pagan festival and the Hindu festival but their intertwining this year is a unique blend of cultures and folk that has been shared by people from opposite sides of the world but which may be not so opposite in their stories.
But firstly, what is the history?
Halloween, originally called Samhain, dates back to over 2000 years ago. In Celtic times, October 31 was the end of the year and Samhain was the end of summer, when crops had been harvested and the darkest period of the year began. Interestingly, it is celebrated a day before All Saint’s Day on 1st November, which is the day to honour the dead and pray for their souls.
Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as the eve of All Hallows’ or All Saints’ Day, the origin of the word “Halloween” has evolved over time.According to Kelly, the name is a combination of the Scottish words “hallow,” which loosely translates into “saint” or “holy person,” and “een,” which means “evening.”
– The History of Halloween: Why we celebrate the spooky holiday
Halloween is rather celebrated as the festival of darkness and phantoms while Diwali is celebrated as the festival of light and defeating those phantoms but the fact that Halloween is always on 31st October which can be any night but Diwali is always celebrated on a no moon or the darkest night. One one hand, the houses are lit with diyas (small lamps), the skies are full of fireworks to light up the spirits and welcome the Lord while on the other, tricks or treats, jack o’ lanterns are lit to drive off evil spirits and instead embrace the darkness and all our sides by dressing up as various kinds of characters.
For Diwali: do you know why ghosts are scared of Lord Hanuman? Well, according to a lesser known legend, Raavan had a brother apart from Kumbhkaran and Vibhishana whose name was Ahiravan and he was the demon king of the underworld. To save his brother from losing, Ahiravan disguised himself as Vibhishana and abducted Lord Ram and his brother Lakshman to perform black magic and sacrifice them. It was Lord Hanuman who went to the underworld to rescue them from Ahiravan who was said to have his power fuelled from 5 candles at the altar, which had to be extinguished at the same time, so he transformed into five headed or Panchmukhi Hanuman and blew them all off.
“भूत-पिशाच निकट न आवे, महावीर जब नाम सुनावे”
Translation: No ghosts or demons can approach or harm anyone when the mighty name of Hanuman is invoked. The utterance of Hanuman’s name acts as a powerful deterrent, repelling negative entities and ensuring their inability to come close. This emphasizes Hanuman’s role as the conqueror of evil and protector against malevolent forces.
– Hanuman Chalisa
To celebrate both the festivals, one can:
• Blend candles with diyas
• Pumpkin carvings with rangoli
• Dress up as your favourite folk or mythological characters especially from Ramayana as many do for Ram Leela on Diwali! Or mix and match dark and light aesthetics by styling clothes of both the cultures
• Treats and sweets!
And here are also some of my favourite spooky Bollywood folk movie recommendations for this unique combination of festivals:
• Bulbbul: One of the best acted thriller/horror cinematically shot movies out there
• Stree & Stree 2: With the sequel becoming the highest grossing Hindi movie, need I say more?
• Bhool Bhulaiyaa: No list is complete without the classic. Still debated on whether it was a psychological thriller or horror but the second in this franchise delved into the latter only and whose third instalment also is to be released tomorrow!
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