Diwali is a five-day Hindu festival, known as the Festival of Lights, that takes place this year from November 11-15. It is a contraction of the word Deepavali, which means row of lights in Sanskrit.
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(CNN) -- Diwali is one of the most important Hindu festivals in India -- but the colorful customs and meanings associated with it can vary dramatically depending on whether you reside in the countryside or the city.
On the streets of densely populated conurbations like Mumbai, Diwali -- popularly known as the Festival of Lights -- is often a raucous affair, marked by a cacophony of firecrackers on the streets and a flourish of ceremonial gambling in the home. The wealthier urban dwellers splurge on gold, jewelry, clothes and expensive gifts such as electronics, which they buy for themselves and their loved ones.
In the quiet tribal villages, such as those dotted around the vast state of Maharashtra in the west of India, the celebration is generally a more simple affair, defined by humble offerings and wholesome feasts. Few, if any, firecrackers are burst and many follow their own particular tribal traditions. Most villagers try and buy new clothes, but few can afford gold, jewelry or elaborate gifts.
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Common traditions
There are some Diwali rituals common across most of the subcontinent. In both city and countryside, small clay oil lamps (or diyas) are placed at the thresholds of homes, shops and offices throughout the five-day affair to celebrate the legend of the return of the Hindu god, Lord Rama, to his kingdom after 14 years in exile. According to mythology his people lit diyas to welcome his return.
Hindus in cities and villages also believe that during Diwali the Hindu goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, will visit their homes if they are lit, clean and beautifully decorated.
Windows and doors are left open to let the goddess in and homes are cleaned from top to bottom.
Brightly-colored rangolis are drawn using fingers on the ground at the entrances to homes and offices. These geometric designs are usually symbols of nature and their purpose is to welcome guests and to encourage Lakshmi inside.
Gambling card games are often played in both villages and cities, as it is generally considered auspicious to gamble during Diwali.
This springs from a legend that a Hindu deity played a dice game with his consort on the fourth day of Diwali and she won. Some Hindus believe Lakshmi can be invoked through gambling.
Place your bets
Gambling parties are an especially popular pastime during Diwali in Mumbai. The parties typically start at 10pm in bungalows and farmhouses and continue until 5am.
"Bets can start as small as Rs 20 (40 cents) and as big as Rs 5,000 ($93). In a night people can lose up to Rs 50,000 ($930)," explains Vikram Mehta, 30, founder of Red Om Entertainment in Mumbai.
"People don't mind losing -- it's part of the ambiance and people are having fun. Everyone dresses up, everyone is on holiday, everyone is inviting each other to their homes, there is a lot of warmth."
A range of games are played, the most popular being Teen Patti (three-card brag) with Blackjack and poker also favorites.
"People sit on mattresses on the floor. There are rooms where the kids play for fun and then other rooms with the higher stakes," Mehta says. The houses are decorated with diyas, people dress in traditional Indian dress, servants wander round with platters of kebabs, biryani and Indian sweets, he adds.
Across the country Indian sweets -- known as mithai -- are exchanged and people have large family gatherings in their homes.
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New year, new accounts
Diwali also marks the start of the new Hindu financial year and many businessmen, traders and shopkeepers, open new accounts books. Businessmen in certain states, particularly Gujarat, worship their accounts books.
There are various other rituals celebrated in towns and villages on each of the five days. For example, on the last day of Diwali in many parts of India, a sister cooks for her brother and he bestows gifts on her in celebration of the love between siblings.
"The modern world is changing and festivals are the only way to keep our culture and traditions alive. For us Diwali is the victory of good over evil, the returning of good back into our lives and starting a new year with a positive approach and forgetting all the bad that has happened," says 45-year-old Mumbai housewife Heena Damle.
"You have tables ready with sweets to offer if someone comes to your home," adds her nephew Pranav Damle, 29.
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Lighting up the night
Typically fire crackers are set off from dusk, often throughout the night. The noise is believed to herald the defeat of evil and catch the attention of the gods.
19-year-old rag picker Santosh, whose family migrated from a Maharashtrian village to Mumbai, says: "People in the villages have limited means, so it's not very spectacular. In Mumbai, the rich celebrate it with a lot of pomp. We witness huge fireworks and can get such fancy crackers."
Some, however, are concerned that the original traditions of Diwali are being lost in cities.
Inir Pinheiro is managing director of Grassroutes, which promotes responsible village tourism, and will take 60 urban Indians on trips to three tribal villages in Maharashtra this Diwali. He says many of them want to "see an unadulterated way of celebrating Diwali, a less noisy place and to reconnect with the people."
"I think people in the cities are beginning to realize there is a lot of show in the way it is celebrated and a large materialistic aspect to it. People want to see if there is something more to the celebration," Pinheiro says.
Hopes for the harvest
In the 500-person village of Purushwadi in Maharashtra, one of Pinheiro's selected rural destinations, families of five typically live in two-bedroomed stone houses. Dutta Kondar, 27, a farmer from the Mahadeo Koli tribe, says that Diwali is a "celebration of the end of the harvest of kharif (rain-fed crops)."
Since harvest is when the villagers make money, villagers carry out Lakshmi puja (prayer ritual) on their assets at Diwali, giving thanks and praying for a good harvest to come.
"We conduct a small puja of our cattle, grain and cash," Kondar says. Family members hold a plate of offerings to the gods and chant prayers while rotating the plate around the assets, he explains.
"To make sure our bodies are prepared for the winter, we eat lots of oil and sweets," Kondar adds.
"Whenever anyone enters their house, the villagers offer each other sweets. But they don't buy presents for each other - money being a big constraint," Pinheiro says.
Village values
Like many rural villages across India, Purushwadi has its own particular rituals. Pinheiro says one of the most popular is the local singing ceremony.
"This is when children go round the houses holding hand-made lanterns made of sticks and twigs and they sing Marathi songs for the benefit of residents of the homes. In return they are given oil and grain," Pinheiro says.
"The difference in how Diwali is celebrated in the villages is that it is done with more simplicity. It is the rare occasion when they buy clothes and eat nice food and they are celebrating after many months of hard work.. In the cities it is less community-oriented, noisier and more about spending money and showing off," Pinheiro adds.
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Diwali is not only celebrated by Hindus, it is also an occasion for celebration by Jains and Sikhs (pictured). The Sikhs celebrate Diwali to mark the return of the Sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind Ji, who was freed from imprisonment and also managed to release 52 political prisoners at the same time from Gwalior fort by Mughal Emperor Jahangir in 1619.
These small clay oil lamps are known as diyas. Hindus in India adorn their homes with lots of these lamps during Diwali to commemorate the Hindu legend of the return of Lord Rama from his 14 year-long exile after murdering the ten-headed demon Ravana.
According to Hindu mythology everyone lit oil lamps along the road to welcome Lord Rama home. Diwali has come to symbolize the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness and even the illumination of the soul and attainment of higher knowledge.
Brightly-colored rangolis are drawn on the ground at the entrances to homes and offices during Diwali, using the fingers and colored flour, rice power, rice grains, flower petals, powders and chalk. They are usually geometric symmetrical designs and symbols of nature such as peacocks, butterflies, animals and flowers.
In villages the rangolis are drawn on top of fresh cow dung. The purpose of the rangoli is to welcome guests and to encourage the Hindu goddess Lakshmi inside.
Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity, both material and spiritual. She is the household goddess of most Hindu families, and a favorite of women. Both the oil lamps and the rangolis are used to try and encourage Lakshmi to come inside the home, and of course to welcome guests.
Diwali marks the start of the new Hindu financial year. During this time many businesses open new accounts books and on the third day of the festival businessmen in some states worship their accounts books and work laptops. This ritual is called "Chopda Pujan", and blesssings are sought from Hindu deities Lakshmi and Ganesha.
During Diwali it is common to set off fire crackers as the noise is believed to herald the defeat of evil and catch the attention of the gods.
Traditional sweets, known as mithai, are in heavy demand during Diwali. Among them include Karanji, a pastry stuffed with dried fruit, semolina and coconut, Laddoos (ball-shaped sweets), Puran Poli ( sweet stuffed flatbread), poori (fried bread), Gulab Jamun (sticky ball-shaped dessert), kheer (Indian rice pudding) and Jalebi (deep-fried chewy dessert).
Indian women buy gold jewelry on Dhanteras - the first day of the five-day Diwali Festival in the belief it will bring them good fortune.
In the tribal villages of Jharkhand in the east of India the Festival of Lights is associated with the harvest of rice in November and the celebration of cattle which have brought food to the village according to Bulu Imam, environmentalist and author, who lives in Jharkhand. Women also paint beautiful art murals on the walls of their mud homes at this time and the cows are decorated.
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