Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c7.s3.t3.11

c7.s3.t3.11

Divali, in some respects was most delightful and pleasing. It is appropriately designated as ‘the festival of lights’. Once in a year the spirits of the sainted dead were permitted to return to their earthly homes and familiar surroundings to fraternise with the mortals of this earth. The relations were naturally happy to give the spirits of their forefathers a cheerful welcome. Wick lamps were lighted in vast number everywhere, inside and outside their homes and all over the temples and public buildings. The whole place looked like a flood of illumination.³ It was the most popular festival of the Vaisyas or bankers and other commercial classes. Everybody was anxious to divine his luck for the coming year. Gambling was therefore universally resorted to as a magical means of tracing fortune.⁴