Let's pledge for 9 minutes at 9pm on 5th April, distant journeys, Varanasi

 तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय #9pm9Minutes, the 2^nd online Travel, Unique Tourism, Varanasi

In India, almost every  household has a custom of lighting a deepam or diya twice a day — in the morning and evening. This is a part of prayer. All ceremonies, daily worship rituals, auspicious functions, religious occasions as well as  new ventures start with lightning of the lamp. Diya is essential in Hinduism because it signifies purity, goodness, good luck and power. The presence of light means the non-existence of darkness and evil forces.

 It is believed that evil spirits and forces gain power and become active when there is no light. So diyas are lit  to weaken those evil forces. There is a deeper significance to the diya.  The oil in the diya symbolises the dirt in the human mind — such as greed, jealousy, hatred, lust etc — which human beings tend to nurture. The cotton in the diya is symbolic of the atma or the self or the soul. The diya presents light when the oil is burnt by the wick. Hence, lighting of the diyas signifies that one needs to get rid of the selfish and materialistic thoughts. This frees one from all forms of sadness, guiding the path to enlightenment and to connect with the Supreme Being.   .

            There is a shloka in Sanskrit: ‘Tamso-ma-jyotir-gamaya’ which signifies the journey from darkness to light. While the Rigvedic rishi’s shloka linguistically means moving from darkness to light .

Lighting candles or diyas help us move from darkness to light. They invoke goddesses or angels to bless us with divine wisdom which helps us move towards unconditional love. 

On 5^th April at 9PM for 9 minutes by lighting a diya/candle  let’s bring the light of unconditional love in our hearts .

Ramesh Verma CMD , the 2^nd Online Travel , Unique Tourism,  Varanasi