HAPPY DIWALI/KALI PUJA TO ALL THE DEAR AND RESPECTABLE FRIENDS AND WELL WISHERS .... WATERCOLOUR... 11 INCH*11 INCH... 2014 ... Diwali also known as Deepavali and the "festival of lights", is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn every year. The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair. The festival preparations and rituals typically extend over a five day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. In the Gregorian calendar, Diwali night falls between mid-October and mid- November. Diwali is an important festival for Hindus. The name of festive days as well as the rituals of Diwali vary significantly among Hindus, based on the region of India. In many parts of India, the festivities start with Dhanteras, followed by Naraka Chaturdasi on second day, Diwali on the third day, Diwali Padva dedicated to wife– husband relationship on the fourth day, and festivities end with Bhau-beej dedicated to sister–brother bond on the fifth day. Dhanteras usually falls eighteen days after Dussehra. On the same night that Hindus celebrate Diwali, Jains celebrate a festival of lights to mark the attainment of moksha by Mahavira, and Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas. Diwali is an official holiday in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore and Fiji. Diwali is derived from the Sanskrit fusion word Dipavali, formed from dipa (???, "light" or "lamp" and avali (????, "series, line, row". Dipavali or Deepavali thus meant a "row" or "series of lights".Tamil: ???????). Its celebration include millions of lights shining on housetops, outside doors and windows, around temples and other buildings in the communities and countries where it is observed. Diwali is variously spelled or pronounced in diverse languages of India: 'deepabali' (Oriya: ???????), 'deepaboli' (Bengali: ???????), 'deepavali' (Assamese: ???????, Kannada: ???????, Malayalam: ??????? and Telugu: ???????), 'divali' (Gujarati: ??????, Hindi: ??????, Marathi: ??????,Konkani: ?????? Punjabi: ??????), 'diyari' (Sindhi: ??????), and 'tihar' (Nepali: ?????). Kali Puja is light-up night for West Bengal, Mithila region of Bihar and Assam. Kali Puja coincides with the festival of Diwali (pronounced Dipaboli in Bengali), (in Maithili, it is known as Diya-Baati) where people light diyas/candles in memory of the souls of departed ancestors. The goddess Kali is worshipped, not Lakshmi, for whole night on one night during this festival. The festival is popularly called Kali puja, not Diwali. Kali puja is also known by the names of Shyama puja or Nisha puja in parts of the Mithila region and West Bengal. [INFO: WIKIPEDIA]