Let's crack the "Crackers"
People across the world celebrate Diwali in honor of the return of Lord Rama, his wife Maa Sita and his brother Lakshman from exile of 14 years after Rama defeated Ravana. To honor the return of Lord Rama, Maa Sita and Lakshmana from Lanka and to illuminate their path, people light Diyas to celebrate the triumph of good over evil.
For some, Diwali also celebrates the return of Pandavas after 12 years of Vanvas and 1 year of Agyatvas in Mahabharata.
Furthermore, Deepawali or Diwali is linked to the celebration of Maa Lakshmi, who is venerated amongst Hindus as the goddess of wealth and prosperity and is the wife of Lord Vishnu. The 5 days festival of Diwali begins on the day Goddess Lakshmi was born from the churning of ocean by the Gods and the demons, while the night of Diwali is the day Lakshmi chose Vishnu as her husband and they married.
Along with Maa Lakshmi, devotees make offerings to Lord Ganesha, who symbolizes ethical beginnings and fearless removal of obstacles, Maa Saraswati, who embodies music, literature, and learning and Kubera who symbolizes book keeping, treasury and wealth management.
Hindus in eastern region, such as Odisha and West Bengal, worship the goddess Kali and call the festival Kali Puja.
In India's Braj and north central region, the God Krishna is recognized. People mark Mount Govardhan and celebrate legends about Krishna.
In West, and central northern parts of India, the festival of Diwali marks the start of a new Hindu year.
Diwali is the festival of lights, when people lamp lights and enjoy with the crackers. But how did burning crackers to celebrate Diwali start?
Let's see.
Ancient India knew of saltpetre, which was described as agnichurna( powder that creates fire), in old Sanskrit texts. In fact, Kautilya Arthasastra( composed between 300 BCE and 300 CE) speaks of using saltpetre, resin and other tree barks for creating poisonous smoke in order to disorient the enemy in the battlefield.
A Chinese text, which can be dated to the seventh century CE, mentions that the people of North-West India were aware of the existence of saltpetre and it's use in producing flames. In third century CE China, saltpetre and sulphur were mixed by alchemists. The volatile substances were stuffed into the bamboo shoots and thrown in the fire which created a blast sound.
However in ancient times, Chinese were the first to use firecrackers as a ritualistic custom as a guard and protection against supernatural evils.
European rulers were the first one to celebrate their victory and decorate their castles on important occasions with a variety of fireworks.
Today, fireworks are used worldwide for large national events, such as Independence day in United States, Guy Fawkes Night in England, Diwali in India, and many other holidays and New years worldwide.
From the history of finding crackers and why Diwali is celebrated, you can derive conclusion that since ancient people of China used crackers for frightening evil spirits and Lord Rama, Krishna, and Goddess Durga killed many evil spirits according to history, we can understand that Indians started using crackers in Diwali.
Talking about Diwali and pollution, academic studies, including the ones from IITs, have proved beyond doubt that in urban areas the commonest sources of pollution are vehicles and construction. And they seem intractable problems. The courts have tried to give some palliative measures, and so have the governments. But the efforts, given the enormity of the problem, have been mostly ineffectual. And worse, people have not been very cooperative when the matter called for a bit sacrifice on everyone's part. Well, then why should Diwali alone be blamed?
I'm not taking favor of crackers on Diwali, but saying firecrackers alone are not responsible for the poisonous air( Delhi AQI >400), in our environment.
Of course, firecrackers must be ban irrespective of any occasions, but not all the poor quality of air is attributable to bursting crackers. In our country, firecrackers are either unregulated or poorly regulated. Some are illegally imported from China, and there is absolutely no saying what chemicals are used to make them.
Not only Delhi, the whole of India needs a policy to deal with pollution, and needs it quickly. We simply cannot afford pollution holding our future generations hostage any longer...
Absolutely true
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