Queries: Diwali, Buddhism and Brahmins

[Yaroslav Vassilkov]

Thu, 09 Mar 100 03:53 +0300 MSK Yashwant Malaiya wrote to INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK:

1. Diwali or Dipavali is celebrated on Amavasya of Kartika
> (Purmimanta). I am looking for historical mentions of Diwali
> in Indian texts. I will appreciate if someone has some
> information on the history of Diwali.
>
> I know that it was celebrated by Mughals as a popular Indian
> festivals. It is also mentioned in Sandesh-Rasak of Addahamana
> (Abdul-Rahman? 13th cent?).

There is an old but very informative article by W.Crook: The DIvAlI,
the Lamp Festival of the Hindus - "Folk-Lore", vol. XXXIV, No.IV, Dec.
1923, pp.267-292. It contains detailed ethnographic description of the
DIvAlI celebrations in different regions of India. There are also some
speculations on DIvAlI's hypothetical roots in more archaic rites. Being
a folk festival, DIvAlI seems to be poorly represented in the literature
of the "Great (i.e., Sanskritic, Brahmanic) Tradition". But there is
at least one reference to the ViSNupurANa.

Yaroslav Vassilkov (yavass at YV1041.spb.edu)
Fri, 10 Mar 2000 02:05 +0300 MSK